The Rheumatoid Arthritis Data Challenge

It's that magical time of year when signs of spring emerge and we start posting and sending more notes related to the Health Datapalooza (May 8-11th)! Here's an exciting one: for the first time, Health Datapalooza is pleased to announce and host a code-a-thon using non-governmental de-identified administrative claims data and electronic record clinical data with the goal of establishing algorithms to predict clinical response to rheumatoid arthritis management. Optum, Academy Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will sponsor the challenge. Striking at the heart of a key issue in health outcomes research, participants will be provided access to a secured development environment in a staged competition over three weeks to create the best competitive algorithms to gauge clinical response in rheumatoid arthritis management. "The ability to integrate different classes of healthcare data from different sources has the potential to fundamentally change the way we conduct and deploy healthcare research," said Louis Brooks, Vice President of Real World Data Platform and Applications at Optum. Teams will be competing for $40,000 in prizes with the winners announced at the Health Datapalooza on May 10, 2016. Fifteen teams will be selected for the competition. Teams are encouraged to register from March 7 through March 21, 2016 at 5 p.m. EST. Teams will be notified on March 25, 2016 of their eligibility for the competition phase.