On May 29, 2012, CMS published a notice announcing the launch of the “CMS Provider Screening Innovator Challenge,” a competition that aims to help the agency streamline operations, screen providers, and reduce fraud and abuse. The competition involves developing a multi-state, multi-program provider screening software application that would be capable of risk scoring, credentialing validation, identity authentication, and sanction checks, while lowering burden on providers and reducing administrative and infrastructure expenses for states and federal programs. CMS estimates that the total prize amount for the competitions conducted as part of this Challenge will be between $500,000 and $600,000. The challenge will be administered by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s (NASA) Federal Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation.