An HHS mobile-device application contest unveiled today aims to encourage software developers and public health professionals to co-design programs that mitigate public health problems.

The app challenge seeks working Internet-based or mobile prototypes by March 9, 2012, that help public health professionals track, measure and report progress in priority public health areas, according to HHS Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, who announced the contest Monday at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. A panel of judges from the federal government, private sector and academia will select winners based on user appeal, integration of health data and evidence of collaboration.

"When developers jump in, it's exciting stuff," Park said about the contest's potential.

Among the worthwhile apps that the contest might produce, Park said, could be a program to identify local preventative service programs available for individual clients of social workers based on where they lived.

The contest will award a total of $17,000 for the top three app designs.

The public-health app contest is the latest HHS program-development challenge. Also running now is the One in a Million Hearts Challenge, which offers $75,000 in prizes for apps that encourage patients to improve their heart health.