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Participants can enter their submissions by visiting the website. Submission requirements and Challenge information, including the judging criteria, are also provided on the site. Participants are encouraged to follow the Challenge on to obtain any updates and reminders of upcoming deadlines. Information on the Challenge can also be found on the ´óÏóÊÓƵwebsite: Challenge Competition on the Impact of AHRQ’s Patient Safety Tools.

Submission Requirements:

Submissions for narratives and measures related to the use of ´óÏóÊÓƵPatient Safety Tools and Resources must be in English and submitted using the online platform by October 27, 2023. ´óÏóÊÓƵwill not accept submissions from an organization whose improvement story related to this specific tool has already been featured in an ´óÏóÊÓƵImpact Case Study.

Challenge submissions must describe in a written document that must be no more than 3 pages, double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, with 1-inch margins, a narrative that includes, but is not limited to:

• the specific patient safety tool, information about the organization that implemented it (for example, hospital, primary care clinic, etc.).
• how it was implemented (for example, hospital-wide, on select units, etc.).
• timeline for implementation (for example, implemented over a 6-month period).
• support for implementation (for example, overseen by the quality improvement department, led by the unit nurse champion).
• positive changes in associated process and/or outcome measures.

Please see the Challenge Goal section for the list of applicable patient safety resources.

For examples of high-quality impact stories, please reference the following case studies from the ´óÏóÊÓƵImpact Case Studies website:

• Georgia Hospitals Improve Medication Reconciliation Process With ´óÏóÊÓƵToolkit
• Tennessee Hospital Association Uses ´óÏóÊÓƵTools To Boost Patient Safety, Saving $17 Million
• AHRQ’s Toolkit Helped Vanderbilt University Hospital Substantially Reduce Patient Falls

Upon submission, submitters understand that, in order to help others understand how tools are being used, Challenge submissions may be posted on the ´óÏóÊÓƵwebsite.

Eligibility Criteria

Each of the Challenges ´óÏóÊÓƵhas supported have some eligibility rules in common. In general, to be eligible to win a prize under the Challenge, an individual or entity:

1. Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the ´óÏóÊÓƵ.
2. Shall have complied with all the stated requirements of the Challenge.
3. In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
4. May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
5. Shall not be an HHS employee working on their applications or Submissions during assigned duty hours.
6. May not be an employee of the ´óÏóÊÓƵ or any other company, organization, or individual involved with the design, production, execution, judging or distribution of the Challenge and their immediate family (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and step-sibling, and children and step-children) and household members (people who share the same residence at least 3 months out of the year).
7. Federal grantees may not use Federal funds from a contract to develop COMPETES Act Challenge applications or to fund efforts in support of a COMPETES Act Challenge Submission.
8. An individual or entity shall not be deemed ineligible because the individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made equitably available to all individuals and entities participating in the competition.
9. The Government will not select as a winner an individual who is currently on the Excluded Parties List.
10. If applicable, the proposed application must be HIPAA compliant to be eligible for entry into the Challenge.
11. All individual members of a team must meet the eligibility requirements.

All potential participants should review the criteria specific to the competition they wish to enter and comply with those standards, which may vary from the general list above.

General Submission Requirements

In order for a Submission to be eligible to win this Challenge, it must meet the following requirements:

1. No HHS or ´óÏóÊÓƵlogo—They must not use HHS’ or AHRQ’s logos or official seals and must not claim endorsement.
2. Functionality/Accuracy—An application may be disqualified if it fails to function as expressed in the description provided by the participant, or if it provides inaccurate or incomplete information.
3. Security—Submissions must be free of malware. Participant agrees that ´óÏóÊÓƵmay conduct testing on the application(s) to determine whether malware or other security threats may be present. ´óÏóÊÓƵmay disqualify the application(s) if in AHRQ’s judgement, the application may damage Government or others’ equipment or operating environment.

All potential participants should review the criteria specific to the competition they wish to enter and comply with those standards, which may vary from the general list above.

Intellectual Property Rights

Each participant retains title and full ownership in and to their submission. Participants expressly reserve all intellectual property rights not expressly granted. By participating in the Challenge, each participant acknowledges that, as a condition of participating the Challenge, each participant grants to the U.S. Government a paid-up, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable worldwide license and right to reproduce the submission, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, perform publicly and display publicly, and authorize others to do so, including, without limitation, for advertising and promotional purposes relating to the Challenge.

Additionally, the grand prize winner will be required to post an open source version of any application code on the GitHub source code repository, made publicly available under the Creative Commons license, CCO 1.0 Universal (CCO 1.0, Public Domain Dedication). For a summary and full text of the CCO 1.0 Universal license, go to  The GitHub source code repository is accessible at .

All potential participants should review the rights, protections, and limitations specific to the competition they wish to enter and comply with those standards, which may vary from the general guidance above.