Reimagining Post-Hospital Care Through AI: Building a Smarter, Connected Healthtech Future
Heaps.ai is an AI-driven healthtech platform that uses data analytics and artificial intelligence to ease the pain points in patient care management systems for insurers, hospitals and corporations. Focused on managing high-risk patients, Heaps.ai offers comprehensive solutions from hospital admission to post-discharge monitoring, ensuring continuity of care and preventing unnecessary hospitalisations.
Dr Suman Katragadda, CEO and Founder of Heaps.ai
Dr Suman Katragadda , CEO and Founder of Heaps.ai , spoke to The Hans India about how a personal health journey sparked the creation of a transformative AI platform that's addressing systemic fragmentation in healthcare. In this interview, he discusses Heaps.ai's growth milestones, data privacy measures, expansion in international markets, and why unified, intelligent care models are the future of healthtech.
What is the key milestone the company has achieved since its inception in 2020? What was the inspiration behind building Heaps.ai?
Heaps.ai was born out of a deeply personal experience—my own surgery, which exposed critical gaps in post-operative care. I realised that recovery didn't stop at the hospital doors, and the lack of coordinated follow-up could have serious consequences. This inspired me to envision an AI-driven platform offering continuous, connected care.
After nearly three years of R&D, we officially launched in 2020, with a leading hospital based out of Andhra Pradesh as our first client. Our proof of concept soon gained national recognition, winning the FICCI Healthcare Innovation Award and the Asian Hospital Management Award. These early validations gave us the momentum to expand rapidly. By 2023, we had partnered with seven of India's top twelve insurers and entered international markets, including the UAE, South Africa, and Oman. What started as a personal need has since evolved into an enterprise-grade platform driving better care and cost optimisation at scale.
What are the biggest challenges the Healthtech Industry is facing today?
The biggest barrier remains systemic fragmentation. Providers, payers, and patients often operate in isolation, leading to inefficiencies such as revenue leakage, poor risk visibility, and non-standardised care pathways.
Insurers, for instance, struggle to manage risk after underwriting. Without continuous visibility into patient health, the focus shifts to claim settlement rather than prevention, pushing premiums higher and reducing customer retention. On the provider side, healthcare remains largely reactive. There's a clear need for AI solutions that integrate seamlessly into healthcare workflows, not just peripheral tools. The future lies in unified, intelligent platforms that connect fragmented data, enhance risk prediction, and deliver measurable clinical and financial outcomes.
Are you currently seeking the next funding round?
Yes, we are in the process of preparing for our Series B round. This funding will be pivotal for scaling operations, accelerating product development, and deepening our global footprint.
As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, what steps are necessary to maintain patient privacy and data security, particularly in sensitive environments like hospitals and insurers?
As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, protecting patient privacy and data security is critical. The first step is obtaining clear patient consent before collecting or processing any data. Health data must be stored on secure servers that comply with standards like HIPAA, HITRUST, and ISO 27001. Importantly, patients retain ownership of their data—platforms act only as custodians, ensuring data is used ethically and solely to improve health outcomes. Selling or misusing data violates legal and ethical boundaries. To safeguard sensitive environments like hospitals and insurers, organisations must implement strong measures such as role-based access controls, data encryption (both in transit and at rest), and thorough audit trails. These steps build trust and ensure AI can be safely and effectively adopted at scale in healthcare.
Heaps entered the UAE market in 2023 by partnering with Prime Healthcare Group, Dubai. How has that partnership been going?
Our collaboration with Prime Healthcare began with the rollout of our Post-Discharge Care Journey module in 2023, which delivered strong engagement and outcomes. Based on this success, Prime extended the partnership to include Chronic Care and Geriatric Care modules, with implementations scheduled from January 2024. We're also in active discussions for a Women's Health module.
This steady expansion validates both the efficacy of our platform and the scalability of our B2B model. Encouraged by the success with Prime, we've now initiated a strategic pilot with Pure Health, which manages public hospitals and insurers across the UAE. The engagement underscores growing regional confidence in AI-led, integrated care models.
Expansion plans in MENA, South Africa, and other regions?
We are pursuing a phased expansion strategy anchored around insurance-led healthcare ecosystems. In the MENA region, we're deepening our presence in the UAE and Oman, while also engaging with stakeholders in Saudi Arabia. Our partnership with Oman's Ministry of Health marks a significant regional milestone.
In South Africa, we currently support 7 of the country's 23 major medical schemes, with plans to expand to 15 by 2025. In Europe, we are targeting Turkey and Italy. Turkey's second-largest insurer will go live with our platform by mid-2025, alongside commitments from five insurers who collectively cover over 80% of the market. These efforts reflect our broader goal: to enable smarter, AI-powered care across complex and varied healthcare systems worldwide.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
2 days ago
- Hans India
Temple city turns to yoga, gears up for IYD celebrations
Tirupati: The temple city of Tirupati is abuzz with yoga fever as it gears up to celebrate International Yoga Day (IYD) 2025 on Saturday. Over the past month, the district administration has led a series of initiatives including awareness drives, training sessions, and community engagements, sparking a visible transformation across all sections of society. Now, yoga has become a buzzword, embraced by people of all ages for its promise of holistic wellbeing. The main event will take place at SV University's Tarakarama Stadium in Tirupati, where nearly 10,000 participants are expected to gather for a mass yoga demonstration. Elaborate arrangements have been made to mark the occasion with grandeur. Several other universities, schools, and private institutions are also planning celebrations in their own spaces, upholding the spirit of this year's IYD theme, 'Yoga for One Earth, One Health.' 'Yoga is a divine medicine for both physical and mental ailments. It brings discipline into life,' said Ramesh, a postgraduate student at SV University. Speaking to The Hans India, Dr R Lakshmi Narayana, Assistant Professor at the Department of Yoga Vignana, National Sanskrit University, remarked that yoga has reached almost every doorstep in recent years. 'The Prime Minister's consistent advocacy over the last decade has created real impact. People in villages and cities alike are recognising its value,' he said. He believes at least 50–60 per cent of those who take part in IYD will continue the practice, leading to long-term societal wellbeing. Senior yoga practitioner and Founder Secretary of the Chittoor District Yoga Association, S Sreenivasulu Naidu, noted that the past year has witnessed a rapid rise in yoga awareness. 'Everyone from farmers in rural areas to tech employees in cities. is now aware of yoga's benefits. Whether they continue the practice or not, the awareness is firmly in place,' he observed. 'Earlier, people looked for free classes. Now, they seek certified instructors and are willing to pay for quality training,' Naidu added. In a proud moment for the region, five students from Tirupati and four from Chittoor have been selected to perform yoga alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Visakhapatnam on IYD. They will be positioned at a gallery close to the Prime Minister during the event — a symbolic honour for the city's growing yoga community.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Hans India
Reimagining Post-Hospital Care Through AI: Building a Smarter, Connected Healthtech Future
is an AI-driven healthtech platform that uses data analytics and artificial intelligence to ease the pain points in patient care management systems for insurers, hospitals and corporations. Focused on managing high-risk patients, offers comprehensive solutions from hospital admission to post-discharge monitoring, ensuring continuity of care and preventing unnecessary hospitalisations. Dr Suman Katragadda, CEO and Founder of Dr Suman Katragadda , CEO and Founder of , spoke to The Hans India about how a personal health journey sparked the creation of a transformative AI platform that's addressing systemic fragmentation in healthcare. In this interview, he discusses growth milestones, data privacy measures, expansion in international markets, and why unified, intelligent care models are the future of healthtech. What is the key milestone the company has achieved since its inception in 2020? What was the inspiration behind building was born out of a deeply personal experience—my own surgery, which exposed critical gaps in post-operative care. I realised that recovery didn't stop at the hospital doors, and the lack of coordinated follow-up could have serious consequences. This inspired me to envision an AI-driven platform offering continuous, connected care. After nearly three years of R&D, we officially launched in 2020, with a leading hospital based out of Andhra Pradesh as our first client. Our proof of concept soon gained national recognition, winning the FICCI Healthcare Innovation Award and the Asian Hospital Management Award. These early validations gave us the momentum to expand rapidly. By 2023, we had partnered with seven of India's top twelve insurers and entered international markets, including the UAE, South Africa, and Oman. What started as a personal need has since evolved into an enterprise-grade platform driving better care and cost optimisation at scale. What are the biggest challenges the Healthtech Industry is facing today? The biggest barrier remains systemic fragmentation. Providers, payers, and patients often operate in isolation, leading to inefficiencies such as revenue leakage, poor risk visibility, and non-standardised care pathways. Insurers, for instance, struggle to manage risk after underwriting. Without continuous visibility into patient health, the focus shifts to claim settlement rather than prevention, pushing premiums higher and reducing customer retention. On the provider side, healthcare remains largely reactive. There's a clear need for AI solutions that integrate seamlessly into healthcare workflows, not just peripheral tools. The future lies in unified, intelligent platforms that connect fragmented data, enhance risk prediction, and deliver measurable clinical and financial outcomes. Are you currently seeking the next funding round? Yes, we are in the process of preparing for our Series B round. This funding will be pivotal for scaling operations, accelerating product development, and deepening our global footprint. As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, what steps are necessary to maintain patient privacy and data security, particularly in sensitive environments like hospitals and insurers? As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, protecting patient privacy and data security is critical. The first step is obtaining clear patient consent before collecting or processing any data. Health data must be stored on secure servers that comply with standards like HIPAA, HITRUST, and ISO 27001. Importantly, patients retain ownership of their data—platforms act only as custodians, ensuring data is used ethically and solely to improve health outcomes. Selling or misusing data violates legal and ethical boundaries. To safeguard sensitive environments like hospitals and insurers, organisations must implement strong measures such as role-based access controls, data encryption (both in transit and at rest), and thorough audit trails. These steps build trust and ensure AI can be safely and effectively adopted at scale in healthcare. Heaps entered the UAE market in 2023 by partnering with Prime Healthcare Group, Dubai. How has that partnership been going? Our collaboration with Prime Healthcare began with the rollout of our Post-Discharge Care Journey module in 2023, which delivered strong engagement and outcomes. Based on this success, Prime extended the partnership to include Chronic Care and Geriatric Care modules, with implementations scheduled from January 2024. We're also in active discussions for a Women's Health module. This steady expansion validates both the efficacy of our platform and the scalability of our B2B model. Encouraged by the success with Prime, we've now initiated a strategic pilot with Pure Health, which manages public hospitals and insurers across the UAE. The engagement underscores growing regional confidence in AI-led, integrated care models. Expansion plans in MENA, South Africa, and other regions? We are pursuing a phased expansion strategy anchored around insurance-led healthcare ecosystems. In the MENA region, we're deepening our presence in the UAE and Oman, while also engaging with stakeholders in Saudi Arabia. Our partnership with Oman's Ministry of Health marks a significant regional milestone. In South Africa, we currently support 7 of the country's 23 major medical schemes, with plans to expand to 15 by 2025. In Europe, we are targeting Turkey and Italy. Turkey's second-largest insurer will go live with our platform by mid-2025, alongside commitments from five insurers who collectively cover over 80% of the market. These efforts reflect our broader goal: to enable smarter, AI-powered care across complex and varied healthcare systems worldwide.
Hans India
5 days ago
- Hans India
Seema's rose farmer blooms big on the global market
Chilamattur (Sri Sathya Sai district): 'There's no better way to say 'I love you' than with a red rose,' reads a popular Valentine's Day poem. For Hazimullah, a pioneering rose farmer from Kodikonda village in Chilamattur mandal of Sri Sathya Sai district, this sentiment fuels a thriving global business. Recognised by the Andhra Pradesh horticulture department as the state's top rose farmer, Hazimullah exports high-quality roses from his 5-acre farm to markets worldwide. His signature 'Tajmahal' red roses are highly sought after in Dubai, Kuwait, New Zealand, Europe, and several Asian countries, especially during Valentine's Day. Operating from a state-of-the-art farm with polyhouses, cold storage, packhouses, and a farm pond, Hazimullah exports over 2,00,000 red roses annually for the romantic holiday alone. His roses, including red, pink, and yellow varieties, are also auctioned at the International Flower Auction Centre in Bengaluru, reaching global markets through other exporters. 'Rose farming demands hard work, persistence, and resilience,' Hazimullah told The Hans India. While many have left the industry, his disciplined, family-driven approach has led to success. He stands out as the only largest rose producer and exporter in the Rayalaseema region, according to horticulture assistant director Chandrasekhar. Unlike Araku Valley, once known for rose farms, or Kadiyam for nurseries, Hazimullah's farm is a unique export-oriented and training hub. His success is a family effort. Hazimullah credits his brother, Ziullah, an Agriculture graduate, for providing expert guidance. Launched in 2018 with 50 per cent subsidies from Central and state horticulture departments for polyhouses, the farm yields seven harvests annually, producing 8 lakh flowers per acre—totaling over 3 crore roses across 5 acres. Roses sell for Rs 5–6 in Bengaluru and fetch Rs 15–20 in international markets. The venture generates approximately Rs 15 crore annually, with half covering operational costs and the rest as profit for the joint family business, which employs around 40 workers, primarily from Uttar Pradesh. Sri Sathya Sai district collector T S Chethan has been a key supporter, providing administrative encouragement and highlighting Hazimullah's inspiring journey.
