Solve health care woes, win $10,000 contest

A Seattle consultant puts up the award money with plans to send the top three entries to congressional leaders for consideration on health system reform.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Feb. 24, 2003.

Kathleen O'Connor has received some interesting e-mails since she offered $10,000 for the best idea to cure the ills of the nation's health care system.

One doctor claimed he's invented something "that he said cures cancer by radio waves, but he thinks the medical establishment is keeping it under wraps because there will be no need for [doctors]," O'Connor said.

Another optimist suggested placing a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, then closed with, "Send the check to the following address."

O'Connor, a health care consultant and writer in Seattle, dreamed up the nationwide contest as a way to spark ideas about health system reform. Her offer has generated 1,000 e-mails and about 200 entries.

"I couldn't be happier with the number of responses we are getting, and the great ideas. I'm like a school girl in love running around giggling all the time," said O'Connor, who runs a health care communications business and writes health care columns for The Seattle Times.

Bob Crittenden, MD, MPH, is taking a shot at the grand prize.

He has met the March 1 deadline of filing a letter of intent to participate in the contest. Now, the family physician and other prize-seekers have until July 1 to submit their plans for fixing the health care system.

Entry fees range from $500 for corporations to $10 for students and seniors. Proposals can be up to 50 pages.

"I could write for hours," joked Dr. Crittenden, chief of family medicine service at Harborview Medical Center and associate professor in family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.