If you read the actual contest summary page (https://www.theheritagehealthprize.com/Page/MediaCenter) it states "A total of three million dollars will be awarded to Teams who achieve the benchmark targets set out for this competition."
This is quite different from a single $3MM award to one team. Also why it's better to post the original source than a blog piece that's just an (inaccurate) rehash.
Curiously, nothing more specific about data availability than "registration will open in 2011, after the launch of the Prize."
Also, the competition is expected to run for approximately two years. They will require teams " . . . to be bound by final competition rules, sign a Master Team Agreement and pay a modest registration fee."
I work in clinical informatics and am eager to see a sample of their datasets though.
Requiring insurance is a significant negative. I have difficulty understanding what liability a competitor in an algorithm design contest could have. Shows how much the medical profession is handtied by excessive liability.
I suspect that this is to cover privacy issues. They don't want a repeat of what happened with the Netflix Prize. The Netflix Prize 2 was canceled because of the privacy issues involved with the data set (http://blog.netflix.com/2010/03/this-is-neil-hunt-chief-prod...).
The FAQ states that participants will be randomly audited to ensure that they are satisfying data privacy standards.
This is quite different from a single $3MM award to one team. Also why it's better to post the original source than a blog piece that's just an (inaccurate) rehash.