Disease-Tracking App Wins HHS Developers Contest

Awards & Accreditations A Web-based application that tracks disease trends using Twitter has won the top spot in an HHS-sponsored contest for developers. The app MappyHealth was chosen from among 33 applications. To be considered, submissions had to use open-source Twitter data to determine the "top five trending illnesses over a 24- hour period in a specified geographic region and provide this information in an easily accessible Web-based environment," according to the release. The three- person team that created MappyHealth was awarded $21,000, HHS said. Contact information: Maureen McKinney, Reporter, Modern Healthcare, 150 N.Michigan . . .