(RWJF: Houston) -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has announced an Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) $100,000 “app challenge”—a competition among technology developers to create easy-to-use online tools that help consumers find information on the quality of their local physicians and hospitals.

In the RWJF Aligning Forces app challenge, competing developers will create applications for various devices, including smart phones or iPads, that will allow consumers to easily access and experience comparative information about the quality of care provided in various regions of the country. Data to fuel the app will come from RWJF’s “Aligning Forces for Quality” initiative, the foundation’s signature effort to improve the quality of health care in 16 targeted communities nationwide.

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