Patient Safety Prize is sponsored by Elevance Health Foundation. The inaugural Patient Safety Prize will award a total of $5 million to pioneering community-informed solutions that boost patient safety across the United States. Solutions can fall under three categories: Empowering Health Literacy for Safer Patient Care, Innovating to Eliminate Medication Errors, and Promoting Fall-Free Futures.

Application Now Open for Elevance Health Foundation’s Patient Safety Prize Elevance Health Foundation’s inaugural Patient Safety Prize will award a total of $5 million to proven solutions that boost patient safety for communities across the United States. The application is now open. Applicants must register by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Building on its long-standing commitment to improve lives and communities, the Elevance Health Foundation recently launched a new initiative: Community Action Leadership. This initiative brings together external thought leaders from across a range of disciplines. Through their collective expertise and resources, the Foundation is addressing large-scale community health needs and incentivizing action for change.

The inaugural Community Action Leadership challenge focuses on patient safety. The Patient Safety Prize invites pioneering solutions in three key areas: Empowering Health Literacy for Safer Patient Care Innovating to Eliminate Medication Errors Promoting Fall-Free Futures Here are key steps to participating in the Patient Safety Prize. Email us with questions.

Before registering, complete our readiness tool to help determine your eligibility and to ensure your solution is a strong fit for the Patient Safety Prize. To participate, register for the Patient Safety Prize no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Registration is required to submit an application.

Registered participants who meet the eligibility criteria are welcome to submit applications. Apply no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Each valid application will be scored using a common rubric and will receive feedback from five fellow applicants.

Scores are normalized to ensure fairness. View the Scoring Criteria View the Scoring Criteria A subset of top-scoring submissions will receive an additional set of scores and comments from five Evaluation Panel judges, using the scoring rubric . Scores are normalized to ensure fairness.

Meet the Evaluation Panel Meet the Evaluation Panel Informed by Evaluation Panel results, the Patient Safety Prize team will review top-scoring submissions and select at least five Finalists to strengthen their proposals for a final pitch event and an opportunity to receive awards. The Selection Committee will recommend up to three Winners to each receive $1. 5 million and up to two Honorable Mentions to each receive $250,000.

Get answers to frequently asked questions. View our complete FAQ and email us if you have more questions. What is the Patient Safety Prize?

Is it an annual competition? (Updated March 2, 2026) In December 2025, the Elevance Health Foundation launched the Patient Safety Prize to invite pioneering community-informed solutions that have proven impact around improving patient safety.

There are three categories under which solutions can fall: Empowering Health Literacy for Safer Patient Care Innovating to Eliminate Medication Errors Promoting Fall-Free Futures Elevance Health Foundation will offer a prize pool of up to $5 million. Up to three Winners will each receive $1. 5 million and up to two Honorable Mentions will each receive $250,000.

The Patient Safety Prize is the inaugural focus of the Elevance Health Foundation’s Community Action Leadership (CAL) initiative . While CAL is an ongoing initiative, future years’ topics have not yet been determined. How can I ask questions or get help with accessibility?

Please contact us with any challenge-related questions, requests for help with accessibility and special accommodations, and technical support. Once you have registered and throughout the challenge, we will send important notifications to the email address associated with your account, as well as the primary and secondary contacts listed on your registration form.

There are three important steps you can take to make sure these messages are received promptly: Add our email address to your contacts. Whitelist our email address . Here are instructions to add to your whitelist in most major email providers.

Update your registration form right away if one of your contacts changes. If you need to make a contact change after the application window has closed, please email us , and we will assist you. Who can participate?

(Updated February 5, 2026) The Patient Safety Prize welcomes applications from nonprofit and for-profit entities located within the United States and U.S. territories. Each applicant must identify a Lead Organization who will assume responsibility for the receipt and management of any award.

The following organizations are eligible to apply: An entity based in the United States and/or US territories under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) that has received a tax determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).

A private foundation based in the United States and/or US territories under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC that has received a tax determination letter from the IRS. A fiscally-sponsored nonprofit organization. A tribal government or tribal-owned enterprise.

A public college, junior college, or university under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC that has received a tax determination letter from the IRS. A PreK-12 public, private, or charter school. A for-profit corporation organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States.

A benefit corporation, flexible purpose entity, or similar "hybrid" entity organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States. A limited liability company or partnership organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States. Note that public universities that are tax-exempt under section 170(c)(1) are eligible to apply.

Review the Rules for a complete set of eligibility requirements. Am I eligible to apply for the Patient Safety Prize if I also plan to apply for other Elevance Health Foundation funding? (Added February 5, 2026) The Patient Safety Prize falls under a different funding pillar within the Elevance Health Foundation and has a separate selection process than the Grants or Impact Investing programs.

As a result, applicants are eligible to apply for both at the same time. However, the proposed projects must be separate and distinct and there should be no overlap in team members assigned to each proposal. While they are separate review processes, we will be informed of the details of both applications to ensure there is no overlap.

What types of projects are you looking for, and can you provide examples? What solution stages are eligible?

(Updated March 2, 2026) The Patient Safety Prize invites proposals for innovative solutions that improve patient safety through community-informed solutions in three areas: Empowering Health Literacy for Safer Patient Care: Improving health literacy while enhancing patient and caregiver engagement, fostering trust in healthcare providers, and ultimately contributing to a culture of safety and informed decision-making.

Innovating to Eliminate Medication Errors: Pioneer solutions that enhance medication safety, improve adherence, and reduce errors to safeguard patients’ health. Promoting Fall-Free Futures: Developing groundbreaking solutions to enhance fall prevention and ensure safety for the elderly. This is Elevance Health Foundation's inaugural Patient Safety Prize, so we are unable to share examples of proposals.

Community-informed solutions can address patient safety at the patient and/or clinical levels, and can have a local, regional, or national level of impact. Strong proposals should emphasize positive outcomes for vulnerable populations. Eligible proposals should be able to demonstrate proof of concept, evidence of scaling, or current operations at scale.

Projects in the research or ideation phase are not eligible to apply. Be sure to review the submission requirements for more information about the eligible stages and the scoring rubric to understand how applications will be evaluated and how we have defined a strong proposal. For example, proposals that do not have clear goals and objectives will be unlikely to score well on the “Measurable” trait.

As a catalyst for positive change, Elevance Health Foundation is driving the innovative and scalable solutions that address the physical, behavioral, and social needs of America’s vulnerable populations. We’re improving lives and communities.

Be part of the change to redefine the patient safety landscape The Patient Safety Prize invites transformative, community-informed solutions that enhance the safety and quality of healthcare services.