APPLICATION RULES

ART. 1

To improve the patient journey of heart failure patients in Belgium, the company AstraZeneca NV (0400.165.679), Alfons Gossetlaan 40/201, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden, took the initiative in 2023 to award three projects every year called the "AstraZeneca Heartbeat Awards".

ART. 2

The call for projects for the award of this prize is organized by ASTRAZENECA and supported by the Belgian Heart League.

ART. 3

The prize per winning project amounts to € 3,000 and will be awarded during the ASTRAZENECA sponsored symposium at the annual congress of the Belgian Society of Cardiology.

ART. 4

The applicants must be doctors affiliated to Belgian healthcare organizations. The submitted projects must have been carried out in Belgium no more than a year prior to project submission or are planned to be carried out no later than a year in the future.

ART. 5

The healthcare organizations are eligible for an award only if an affiliated doctor can be present during the ASTRAZENECA symposium to present their project to their peers.

ART. 6

Applications must be submitted to ASTRAZENECA via website by December 16^th, 2024, at the latest. Candidates are requested to fill out the application form and upload their application letter (in English), curriculum vitae (in English) indicating their credentials and the project they wish to propose (in English).

ART. 7

The work submitted must be a coherent synthesis (max. 3 pages, excluding appendix) of clinical work. The impact for the patient of these projects must be clearly stated.

ART. 8

The jury, whose function is to award the best works, is responsible for assessing the value of the works. The jury is composed of the Belgian Heart League Patient Board and two members of the Belgian Heart League Scientific Committee that have both an advisory status. The president of the Belgian Heart League acts as the Chairman of the jury. The deliberation procedures of the jury are defined in the Internal Regulations.

ART. 9

A maximum of three winning projects will be selected. If, in the opinion of the jury, less than three projects reach a sufficient quality, only those deemed of sufficient quality will be awarded.

ART. 10

The winning projects will be presented, and the prize officially awarded, at the ASTRAZENECA symposium during the congress organized by the Belgian Society of Cardiology. ASTRAZENECA will officially communicate the decision of the jury to the applicants at the latest two weeks before the congress.

ART. 11

ASTRAZENECA has the right to use this project in both internal and external communications. The project itself remains the property of the submitter unless otherwise defined.

INTERNAL RULES FOR THE JURY

ART. 1

Applications are collected and anonymized by ASTRAZENECA and sent to the president of the Belgian Heart League for project assessment after the submission closing date.

ART. 2

The active jury will consist of the members of the Patient Board of the Belgian Heart League and two advisory members of their Scientific Board.

ART. 3

All submitted applications will be assessed by the board, blinded for the names of the applicants or affiliated healthcare organizations.

ART. 4

At the invitation of the president, the jury meets to deliberate and select the laureate(s) for the award. The following guidelines must be followed:

4.1 - The prize is awarded to maximum three healthcare organizations who have substantially improved the patient journey in heart failure in one of the below topics

(1) Early detection & diagnosis
(2) Clinical implementation of guideline-directed therapy
(3) Collaboration between specialized and primary care

4.2 - Projects that have been awarded a previous time cannot enter the competition a second time.

ART. 5

The deliberation procedure is as follows:

5.1 - Before the deliberation session of the jury, each member of the jury votes for the candidate of his/her choice
5.2 - The jury deliberates on the nominated candidates and proceeds to the secret ballot by successive elimination.
5.3 - The laureates must obtain at least half of the votes.

ART. 6

A representative of the Belgian Heart League is invited to the ASTRAZENECA symposium during which the winning projects are presented, and the prize is awarded.

ART. 7

The "AstraZeneca Heartbeat Awards" are organized by ASTRAZENECA NV (0400.165.679), Alfons Gossetlaan 40/201, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden with the support of the Cardiology League. As organizer, ASTRAZENECA is responsible for the administration and payments to the healthcare organizations related to the prizes.