Guidelines, Criteria & Prizes

Overview

Who should enter:

If you are an innovator with a health care solution that has the potential to be applied in other countries to improve health and health care, we want to hear from you! We welcome entries from any country. We are looking for initiatives that have demonstrated impact and help vulnerable and underserved populations. Entries are accepted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French.

Why you should enter:

• Connect to a global online community that supports the impact you are making, or seeking to make, on the ground.
• Gain visibility with our community and our competition partner, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• Have the opportunity to win cash awards.

What you can win:

• One of three US $10,000 cash prizes in unrestricted funding to boost your project.
• One of two US $500 cash prizes in addition to a private consulting session with industry experts (if you enter before December 12, 2011 and are chosen as one of the two early entry prize winners).

How to enter:

• Take a look at this video or these step-by-step instructions for guidance.
• Read through these tips about how to make your entry stand out.
• Read the Guidelines & Criteria below to help you learn more about how your entry can win.

Competition Guidelines

Innovations for Health: Solutions that Cross Borders is open to all individuals, teams, and organizations (public or private entities). This global competition welcomes entries that:

• Reflect the theme of the challenge: Innovations for Health: Solutions that Cross Borders. The aim of the competition is to identify health care innovations that have the potential to be adapted and applied in different countries experiencing similar barriers to health.
• Have a proven success on some level, with the potential to scale; or indicate a path for growth beyond the conceptual stage and have already demonstrated impact and sustainability.
• Are submitted in English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese.

Please complete the entire entry form and enter by 5pm EST, February 13, 2012. All decisions of the judges will be final.

Assessment Criteria

Changemakers and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio are interested in a variety of approaches that address the challenge of Innovations for Health. The winning entries will best meet the following criteria:

• Innovation: This is the knock-out test. Does the innovation clearly reflect the ability to systemically transform health and health care by focusing on greater simplicity, lower cost, easier access, higher quality, efficiency, or enhanced convenience of services to more empowered and informed consumers? Your entry should describe a new approach to solving a particular problem. The innovation should be a unique model of change that demonstrates a substantial difference from other initiatives in the field.

  Innovations for Health especially seeks solutions that can be applied in other countries to improve health and health care. Innovation is spurred by different income levels, infrastructure, and local health marketplaces, allowing countries to skip over phases of technological development and to evolve improved delivery models, more holistic service ecosystems, and creative add-on applications. We seek innovative answers to global challenges.

• Social Impact: The competition is looking for breakthrough innovations that have the potential to catalyse exponential change in health and health care. Some innovations will have proven success at a small level, while others may have already engaged millions of people in communities around the world.
• Sustainability: For an innovation to be truly effective, it must have both a model of sustainable impact and a viable organization. Innovations will be judged on their long-term vision for increasing impact and creating lasting change. Entrants should describe the current environment in which they are operating and the challenges and opportunities present within it. The most successful entrants go beyond discussing whether or not they will charge for services and describe a business plan. They also demonstrate that they have strong partnerships and support networks to address an on-going need, and to aid in scalability and the maintenance of a clear financial strategy.

Competition Deadlines, Procedures, and Rules.

Online competition submissions are accepted until 5PM EST on February 13, 2012. At any time before this deadline, competition participants are encouraged to revise their entries based on questions and insights that they receive independently or via public comments on the Changemakers online forum. Online participation provides the community and the judges an opportunity to understand the entrant’s project more completely. We encourage entrants to review comments, expert commentary, and other resources, and to update their entries accordingly.