Third Annual eHealth Developers' Summit Awards

The purpose of the Award for Application Excellence is to recognize and promote high quality eHealth application development. The Award is given out annually in conjunction with the eHealth Developers' Summit, which is convened by the eHealth Institute. By recognizing high quality application development, the eHealth Institute hopes that eHealth application developers will improve the quality of and access to eHealth resources. Each year, a specific type of eHealth application is selected for focus. In 2002, a national call for nominations was conducted for the Best Online CME Course. The Award, comprised of a plaque and $2,500, was sponsored by The Health Communication Research Institute.

A total of 48 entries were received. A scoring instrument was used to rate each entry according to content quality and bias, usability and convenience, and use of multimedia and interactivity. Each course was initially reviewed by two judges. Eight semi-finalists were chosen. Then each of the six judges plus the Summit conference organizer (a total of seven judges) evaluated each semi-finalist. After a group discussion, the judges selected a top place winner and two honorable mention winners.

The winner of the Best Online CME Course Award is "Treatment and Management of Type 2 Diabetes" , developed by John Wiecha, MD, and Stefanie Curry, MEd, of the Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine.

The honorable mention winners were 1) "CardioVillage.com" sponsored by the University of Virginia, and developed by Larry Gimple, MD; Ralph Buckley, MD; Jann Balmer, PhD, RN; and Jane Fruchtnicht, MSN, RN, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine; and Debra McMahon, PhD, CardioConcepts, Inc.; and 2) "Ankle Injuries in Athletes", sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and developed by Richard Ferkel, MD and Robin Facer, Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Judges for Best Online CME Award

Gail Lee, MD
Physician, University Health Center, University of Maryland

Richard S. Levine, MD
Physician, Skagit Pediatrics, Mount Vernon, WA

Gary Malet, DO
Board Certified Family Practice Physician, Stockton, CA

Goutham Rao, MD
Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Director, Medical Informatics, UPMC - St. Margaret Hospital

Bernard M. Sklar, MD, MS (Chair)
Consultant, Online Continuing Medical Education, Berkeley, CA

Sheree Starrett, MD
Physician, Correctional Medical Services, Newark, NJ


Best eHealth Research Paper Award

The Best eHealth Research Paper Award, comprised of a plaque and $1,000, recognizes the best eHealth-related research conducted within the last year. The purpose of the Award is to highlight and promote the application of scientific research methods to identify effective eHealth solutions. The 2002 Award was sponsored by the Health e-Technologies Initiative, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A national call for papers was issued for research papers reporting on work completed between August 2001 and September 2002. Research topics included: 1) application effectiveness; 2) impact on health or health care outcomes; 3) cost-effectiveness, ROI, and sustainable business models; 4) usability, application design, and special user populations; and 5) issues of importance to eHealth development, adoption, and dissemination.

A panel of three reviewers evaluated each abstract, "blinded" to the authors' identities and affiliation to the extent possible. The review panel selected the top five papers for presentation at the eHealth Developers' Summit on November 7, 2002. Criteria for abstract selection included: 1) quality, originality, and timeliness of the study; 2) scientific rigor of the study design, analysis, and interpretation; 3) potential impact of study results to similar Health applications and the eHealth sector; and 4) clarity of writing and organization of the abstract. In addition to these evaluation criteria, presenters were judged on the quality and clarity of their presentation, and their ability to answer questions from the audience.

The top five papers selected for presentation at the Summit were:

1.	Testing CrashSite: A Computer Mediated Intervention for Prevention of Impaired Driving in Teens. Simon H. Budman, Emil Chiuzzi, Shalini Tendulkar, Erica Rosenthal, Inflexxion, Inc.
2.	How Women with Breast Cancer Use the Internet and How it Affects Their Quality of Life. David H. Gustafson, Robert Hawkins, Suzanne Pingree, Fiona McTavish, University of Wisconsin
3.	A Randomized One-Year Back Pain Trial Utilizing an Email List. Kate Lorig, Diana Laurent, Philip Ritter, Stanford University
4.	Member Satisfaction with Online Web Services. James Hereford, Ted Eytan, John Lee, Group Health Cooperative
5.	Influencing Dietary Behavior through an eHealth Intervention Implemented in a Managed Care Setting. Victor J. Strecher*, Christine Johnson**, George Divine**, Mack Ruffin*, Lucy Robinson**, Holly Derry*, Mike Nowak*, *University of Michigan; ** Henry Ford Health System

After careful deliberation, the review panel awarded the 2002 Best eHealth Research Paper Award to Kate Lorig et al. of Stanford University, for their paper "A Randomized One-Year Back Pain Trial Utilizing an Email List".

Review Panel for Best eHealth Research Paper Award

David Ahern, PhD (Chair)
Director, Health e-Technologies Initiative

John M. Harris Jr., MD
President, Medical Directions, Inc.

Denise Runde
VP Strategy and Business Development, FACCT


eHealth WIT (Working Innovation Technology) Teams Competition

The purpose of this competition is to promote collaboration and team problem solving among Summit participants from disparate backgrounds and organizations. During the course of the meeting, five small group teams developed an eHealth solution to one of three health problems posed. The three problems were: 1) promoting patient adherence and behavior change, 2) ensuring appropriate and effective clinical care, and 3) supporting systems of care for the uninsured

On the final day of the Summit, each Team presented their solution to the entire audience and a judging panel. Each proposed solution was evaluated by the judging panel based on the following criteria: innovation, feasibility, sustainability/commercial viability, and potential impact on health or health care.

The judges selected the "Health is Hip" concept as presented by Neil Izenberg, the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media; Rose Higgins, iMetrikus; and Joseph Dal Molin, e-cology Corp. as the best Team solution. The product envisioned by the winning Team would help address the enormous obesity epidemic, which had an estimated economic cost in the United States of $117 billion in 2000. As conceived, the device would encourage children to perceive physical activity as a "hip" activity and increase their levels of exercise.

The winning Team will receive $5,000, which will be held in escrow to reimburse Team members for follow-up activities to further develop the concept.

WIT Teams Presentation Judges

John Cummerford
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP

Dee Harris
Senior Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Carmichael & Company LLC

Sam Karp
CIO, California HealthCare Foundation