HIMSS announced the winners of the first National Health IT Week (NHIT) Student Advocacy Challenge. Sponsored by the HIMSS Government Relations Team, the challenge had six students from health policy, informatics, public policy, computer science, public health, and other related academic programs across the United States devise and implement plans to advance public health IT awareness in their state.
The Challenge went from Sept. 26-Nov. 30. The three winners are:
- First Place–Reginald Tuyay, University of San Francisco: Addressing California’s childhood obesity problems through use of health IT. He will receive complimentary travel and registration to HIMSS17.
- Second Place–Marilyn Stephen, University of California, Berkeley: Using telemedicine as a campus health insurance offering for behavioral health in California. She will receive a $100 prize.
- Third Place–Nina Smith, University of Texas, Houston: Increasing Texas seniors’ access to telemedicine, online patient portals, wearable devices, and smartphones. She will receive a $50 prize.
Other submissions included bringing awareness to women in health IT fields and using telemedicine to expand access to care in rural Montana communities.
Submissions were judged on their completeness of application and proposal summary, whether the activity was new to the field or an inventive use of an existing practice, and whether the submission incorporated at least one of the National Health IT Week’s priorities.
