The Challenge
During COVID-19, hospital bills in India were opaque and inflated. Daily-wage workers couldn't verify charges. 1,500+ teams from around the world entered the MIT COVID-19 Challenge to solve real pandemic problems.
The Solution
Built a hospital billing transparency tool that let patients verify charges against standard rates. Led an international team across time zones. The tool identified ₹25,000 in fraudulent charges from a daily-wage worker's bill. Money that would have bankrupted his family.
Key Takeaways
-
Global Collaboration
Led a distributed team across 4 time zones in a 72-hour sprint.
-
Impact-First Product Thinking
Prioritized the most vulnerable users: daily-wage workers who couldn't afford billing errors.
-
Rapid Prototyping Under Pressure
Shipped a working prototype in 3 days that solved a real, life-affecting problem.