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Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity. Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO).

All prospective applicants should first complete the foundation’sÌý to ensure your project is a fit for the program.

Program Summary

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.

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

Please note that only solutions that indicate a proven track record of demonstrated impact around improving patient safety will be considered and proposals that are purely research-based are not eligible.

Deadlines

• CU Internal Application Deadline: 11:59pm MT February 16, 2026
• Sponsor Registration Deadline: 3:00pm MT March 17, 2026
• Sponsor Application Deadline: 3:00pm MT April 7, 2026

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

• Category (choose one):
  • Empowering Health Literacy for Safer Patient Care
  • Innovating to Eliminate Medication Errors
  • Promoting Fall-Free Futures
• Project Summary (3 pages maximum): Explain how the solution addresses patient safety, aligns with the chosen Prize category, and benefits key stakeholders and communities with initial evidence of impact. Describe how the solution is innovative or improves existing methods, how it integrates with current systems, and any relevant regulatory or compliance considerations. Identify who will benefit from the solution, how stakeholders and beneficiaries will be engaged throughout, and the partnerships and roles necessary for success.
• PI Biosketch / CV
• Budget Overview (1 page maximum): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit:

Eligibility

All proposed projects must serve and impact communities and beneficiaries located within the United States and US territories. Please note that only solutions that indicate a proven track record of demonstrated impact around improving patient safety will be considered and proposals that are purely research-based are not eligible. Solutions should also be community-based and community-informed, in line with the Elevance Health Foundation's focus on Community Action Leadership.Ìý

Limited Submission Guidelines

An organization can submit only one application as the Lead Organization.

Award Information

The will recommend up to three Winners to each receive $1.5 million and up to two Honorable Mentions to each receive $250,000.

Review Criteria

The internal evaluation committee will use the foundation’s (below), with all criteria equally weighted.

• Impactful: Does the solution meaningfully tackle at least one of the patient safety categories of health literacy, medication errors, or fall prevention? Is the approach community-informed and is there demonstrated evidence that it will improve outcomes for those served?
• ±õ²Ô²Ô´Ç±¹²¹³Ù¾±±¹±ð:ÌýDoes the solution offer a novel or breakthrough community-informed approach that will accelerate patient safety? Does the proposal describe original concepts—either in the idea itself or in its approach to rapidly scale-up an existing intervention?
• ²Ñ±ð²¹²õ³Ü°ù²¹²ú±ô±ð:ÌýAre there clear and compelling goals and objectives, with outcomes commensurate with the program’s approach? Can the team sufficiently track and validate both quantitative and qualitative community-informed outcomes throughout the project period?
• ³§³Ü²õ³Ù²¹¾±²Ô²¹²ú±ô±ð:ÌýDoes the team have the experience, plans, resources, and buy-in from key stakeholders to succeed and mitigate risks? Are the project’s plan and budget practical and sustainable, with a high potential to create long-term community-informed impact?