ProPublica is holding its first ever hackathon to celebrate the recent launch of our Vital Signs API. Sponsored by Yelp, we're inviting participants to Chicago to create solutions for helping patients receive better, more affordable health care.

Over two days, participants will work together in small teams to explore, identify and prototype tools to help patients access the best possible care. Speakers will present information on the challenges of identifying quality, cost-effective care; how patients view quality metrics; and existing tools for matching patients with providers that meet their needs.

We welcome industry practitioners who want to build tools for use in hospitals, insurance networks and other professional settings, as well as developers, advocates, students and patients seeking to empower consumers with tools for making more informed choices about their health care.

Details:

May 13-14, 2017

1871, 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212, Chicago, IL 60654

To participate, you must apply. The application deadline is April 30.

To prototype their health care hacks, participants will be equipped with three main tools:

• ProPublica Vital Signs API, which harnesses quantitative and qualitative data from our top health investigations, with a focus on key metrics of quality and cost of care, as well as comparative metrics that flag doctors with unusual practice patterns.
• BetterDoctor API, which provides comprehensive information about doctors -- including contact information, health plan coverage, and more -- straight from the source and in real time.
• Yelp Fusion API, which gives developers access to detailed profile information from providers’ pages on Yelp.

If you’d like to join with ProPublica to take on real-world challenges and learn creative new techniques, apply here.

April 14, 2017: This story has been updated to include the sponsorship of Yelp.