Q&A With Handl Health Founders Ahmed Marmoush, Ria Shah, & Karthik Palaniappan
Meet the team that created Handl Health — a SaaS platform that aggregates and contextualizes price transparency, insurance and demographic data to guide every healthcare purchasing decision.
We sit down with the founders Ahmed Marmoush (CEO), Karthik Palaniappan (CPTO), Ria Shah (COO) to learn more.
Could you provide background on your education and how your experience led to this idea?
Ahmed: Coming from a family of pharmacists, I got my Bachelor of Pharmacy and practiced clinically for a number of years in New Zealand before going into healthcare management consulting. While working as a clinical pharmacist in the hospital, I felt increasingly frustrated by working in what I felt to be a broken system. I tried to find ways to help from the position I had, until I eventually made the decision to go back to business school for a postgraduate degree in Health Management and Healthcare Administration.
This led me to Ernst & Young, where I worked across New Zealand, Australia and the UK to design value-based care models and cost containment strategies for the health industry, eventually bringing me to the US where I worked with major payers and providers to digitize their provider and patient experiences. This is where I met my co-founder, Ria, who specializes in outcomes-based contract design and healthcare data standards development.
We became fast friends, and she helped me acclimate to living in the US, until we came across something that stumped us both: my first surprise medical bill (…for an annual physical that was supposed to be free!). We were both dumbfounded — It took me almost 6 months and countless hours on the phone to finally get it figured out (I had to pay 50% of the bill — turns out it was a “medical code error”). We thought, “if we have worked in healthcare for our entire career and still can’t figure this out, imagine how other people feel.” And that’s when we decided to start a little something called Handl Health.
How did you explore creating your product?
Ria: We knew we wanted to start a company that helped people manage the part time job of accessing healthcare in the US, but there were so many angles we could take to try to do this. We decided to release a survey to hear firsthand what people felt frustrated about and needed help with.
The responses were overwhelming — over 500 in less than seven days that highlighted frustration with a lack of understanding around cost, the inability to properly plan for healthcare, skipping appointments to be able to pay for dinner the next day and more.
Around the same time, the healthcare price transparency legislation came out, which meant all hospitals and health insurers had to publish their prices and give consumers tools that allowed them to “shop” for healthcare services. We realized we’d hit the perfect storm, so we submitted for an SBIR grant to explore the impact of price transparency on healthcare access for American consumers, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. The grant helped us gather all of the pricing data that had been released and validate our technology to enable healthcare shopping.
Why are you the best team to champion this product?
Ahmed: It’s really cool to see people from different perspectives come together to reach a common goal, and that’s what happened with our team at Handl. Having worked across four healthcare markets globally, I bring an intricate understanding of different healthcare models. From her international experience in healthcare strategy consulting, Ria brings experience in value-based contracting and big data. Coming from big tech companies like Meta and Google, Karthik brings experience driving roadmaps for high growth products, architecting petabyte scale data platforms and personalizing experiences for users. We’ve been able to critically assess problems from our unique perspectives and build robust and innovative technology to solve issues the US healthcare system faces.
What were some aspects of the processes that surprised you?
Karthik: Before Handl Health, I didn’t do any work in the healthcare industry, so I was surprised by how archaic most of the existing systems are and how difficult it is to decipher the data that’s being released from the legislation. I was also surprised by how difficult it was for the industry to publish the prices in the first place — the system doesn’t have the proper infrastructure for true transparency. This showed me how important our work at Handl is in accelerating the US healthcare system to become fully transparent.
How does AlphaLab Health help you reach your goals?
Ahmed: Aside from the incredible office space and innovation hub at Allegheny General Suburban Campus, AlphaLab Health has allowed us to be a part of a much bigger network of talented folks who are rooting for us and coaching us along each step of the way. With Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health, AlphaLab Health has given us access to the voice of our customers which has given us invaluable feedback on what our buyers have and want, and what their priorities and pain points are. In a B2B landscape, these conversations are invaluable and have been instrumental in tailoring our products to fit the needs of our customers.
What is the most important thing for readers to know about what Handl Health does and how that’s beneficial to users?
Ria: Our main goal is to enable patients and health plans (health insurance companies and employers) to make more informed decisions when purchasing healthcare. Whether you’re a health plan looking to find a network for your members or a patient looking for care, the Handl Health platform is the intelligence engine that provides unfettered access to meaningful data to make informed healthcare choices. We’re bringing together health insurers, healthcare providers, and consumers to engage with this new paradigm of truly transparent healthcare.
What is next?
Karthik: Scale is the name of the game right now. We’re collecting more data to expand our offerings while listening to our customers and end users. As we raise capital, we’re expanding our team to solidify our place in the market.
Anne explaining the COAST clinician portal to AlphaLab Health Managing Director Megan Shaw and Handl Health CEO and founder Ahmed Marmoush.
Outside of work, what do you like to do in your free time?
Ahmed: At the end of the day, I’m a Kiwi, so you’ll either find me playing rugby or fishing in the ocean trying to catch dinner. I also enjoy a game of Fifa on the Xbox every now and then — If I can’t be a professional sportsman, I can at least pretend.
Ria: Honestly, there’s nothing I love more than a good nap and to veg out and binge a new show.
Karthik: I’m an outdoorsy person and love being in the mountains. You can probably find me hiking, skiing, biking or training for my next marathon.
How can consumers follow you?
Follow Handl Health on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Learn more on our website.
Connect with Ahmed, Ria and Karthik on LinkedIn.
Reach out directly at hello@handlhealth.com
