Dr. Richard Merkin To Announce The $100,000 Progress Prize Winners

MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, recently named one of the global 10 most innovative companies in healthcare for 2012 by "Fast Company Magazine," will announce the winners of the $100,000 third progress prize in the $3million Heritage Health Prize (www.heritagehealthprize.com) on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at the CrowdConf in San Francisco, California.(www.crowdconf.com)

The Heritage Health Prize is the world's largest predictive modeling contest, challenging entrants to create an algorithm that predicts how many days a patient will spend in the hospital. Created, developed and sponsored by Dr. Richard Merkin, the goal is to decrease the number of avoidable hospitalizations, saving the country over $40billion in avoidable hospitalization costs. The prize is larger than the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the Gates Health Prize.

"We are very excited that at the 18 month mark, The Heritage Health Prize has globally attracted over 23,500 entries reinforcing to us the importance of incentivizing competitions in the healthcare sector," said Dr. Merkin. "As we move forward toward the end of the contest, I truly believe we have found a way to create a global community of problem solvers who can help solve our country's $2trillion healthcare crisis."

The $100,000 dollar progress prize (split between the top two teams as $60,000 and $40,000) will be awarded at the 18 month mark in the competition. The duration of the contest is two years, ending in April 3, 2013.

Kaggle, the company managing the submission process, is encouraged by the number of entries, enthusiasm and ongoing continued interest in the prize.

"Many of the teams competing in the Heritage Health Prize have been at it since the competition launched a year and a half ago," said Anthony Goldbloom, founder and chief executive officer, Kaggle. "Their dedication and determination is key to the progress made since the Heritage Provider Network first introduced the data set."

The Heritage Health Prize is one of a number of competitions Dr. Merkin is sponsoring in HPN's ongoing efforts to spur innovations that improve quality and reduce inefficiencies in healthcare.  HPN sponsored the "Go Viral to Improve Health" Prize, together with the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, DC, awarded in June 2012. (http://www.youtube.com/hpnhealth) HPN is also sponsoring the First Lego League Global Innovation Award that recognizes a group of young inventors who have applied outstanding innovation and creativity in solving a particular problem.

ABOUT HPN:

Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN) is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of healthcare delivery: coordinated, patient-doctor centric, integrated health care systems that represent the future of health care in the United States. HPN develops programs and services that are responsive to the healthcare needs of today's patient. HPN designs its networks to offer patients a comprehensive range of medical care in convenient locations.  It organizes and manages medical groups and independent practice associations, integrating with hospitals and ancillary care providers. This system represents a workable, successful business model that has been duplicated with medical groups, IPAs and medical facilities throughout California.  HPN is dedicated to quality, affordable health care and putting patients' wellness first. (www.heritageprovidernetwork.com)

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.