Anand Prakash on Building WhiteGlove: Helping Families Take Control of their Healthcare
By Arunima Rajan
In an in-depth interview with Arunima Rajan, Anand Prakash, founder of WhiteGlove, articulates his strategic pivot from the tech industry into healthcare, a space he characterises as greatly in need of streamlining. Drawing from personal experience, Prakash explains the startup’s goal: a concierge healthcare platform that provides 24/7 personalized care for Indian families, supported by technology. Folding together digitized health records, easy appointment management, and real-time access to medical data, it aims to address systemic inefficiencies and deliver comprehensive, continuous care, including keeping in mind the unique needs of people overseas organising healthcare for relatives in India.
You've had a successful career in tech, founding companies like Gupshup and Droptalk. What motivated you to pivot into healthcare with WhiteGlove?
Transitioning to healthcare with WhiteGlove was driven by a long-standing dream to improve care for families abroad. With WhiteGlove, my goal is to ensure no family has to face health crises due to a lack of accessible, quality care.
Anand Prakash, Founder, WhiteGlove
India's healthcare system faces significant challenges, from physician shortages to lack of electronic records. How does WhiteGlove aim to address these systemic issues?
We are leveraging technology and a network of carefully vetted healthcare professionals. Our platform integrates AI to digitize health records, providing a centralized, accessible repository of patient data. This is in response to the lack of electronic records in India. We partner with full-time, dedicated doctors who are trained to deliver high-quality care, optimizing the use of available healthcare resources. By providing 24/7 telehealth support and coordinating with local specialists, we seek to bridge the gap in care, ensuring our members receive timely, effective, and outcome-based treatments.
There's often a cultural gap between Western and Indian approaches to medicine. How does WhiteGlove navigate these differences when coordinating care?
We recognize that Indian healthcare practices have cultural nuances. Our approach combines the best of Western preventive care with the values and traditions deeply rooted in Indian culture. We work with doctors in India who understand the local healthcare environment and practices, allowing them to provide culturally sensitive care.
You mention your personal experiences caring for family members in India. How did those shape your vision for WhiteGlove?
India's healthcare system faces significant hurdles, including the unfortunate rise of commercial interests driving unnecessary procedures and surgeries. Without electronic health records, the chances of inefficiencies and the potential for fraud increase. My uncle developed pancreatitis due to gallbladder stones. Despite having his daughter and son-in-law, both doctors, involved in his care, they faced intense pressure from a local surgeon to remove the gallbladder, even though the surgeon had no prior experience with the procedure.
This is why I’ve had to travel to India to act as an advocate for my parents to make sure they aren’t taken advantage of in these instances. I've travelled 8,000 miles to ensure my parents in India receive proper care, and my story isn’t unique—this is a challenge faced by many people who move away to pursue education and careers in other countries. Another driving force behind creating WhiteGlove was the loss of my grandmother and uncle to preventable diseases because the system couldn’t catch their conditions early enough.
These experiences with my family inspired me to build WhiteGlove to be more than a navigation tool for finding a doctor. We aim to ensure that families have a trusted partner in managing their loved ones' health journey and to oversee all aspects of care, from routine checkups to finding the right preventative tests to ensure they are following their healthcare plan.
WhiteGlove uses AI to digitize health records and determine baseline needs. What safeguards are in place to protect patient privacy and data?
Customer privacy is of the utmost importance with healthcare data. With our experience in technology, we are prepared to implement gold-standard privacy protocols and security measures. To this end, we are fully compliant with The Digital Information Security in Healthcare Act (DISHA) and will continue to follow regulations as they develop.
The Indian diaspora in the U.S. is sizable and growing. Do you see WhiteGlove's model expanding to serve other immigrant communities?
Absolutely. Our platform is built to support patients in India, whether they sign up on their own or are registered by family members living anywhere in the world—including India, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and beyond. Looking ahead, we plan to expand to other countries beyond India, especially in Southeast Asia, where similar healthcare challenges exist.
Preventative care is a key focus for WhiteGlove. How do you incentivize this approach in a system that's traditionally been reactive?
Preventative care is an integral part of our service model. We pair each member with a dedicated doctor who creates a personalized health roadmap, focusing on routine check-ups, health monitoring, and lifestyle guidance. By building strong, lasting relationships with patients and their families, we foster a mindset shift toward viewing health as a continuous journey rather than a series of reactive responses.
You're partnering with health systems in India. How do you ensure quality control and consistency across different providers?
WhiteGlove will provide doctors to act as primary care physicians for our patients. These physicians will review all your interactions with the health care systems in India. They will work to ensure that each interaction provides the best appropriate healthcare. We will also use the quality metrics of these interactions to build a ratings database which we will use to decide which systems and providers to refer our patients to.
Healthcare is a heavily regulated industry. What legal or regulatory challenges do you anticipate as you scale WhiteGlove?
We are committed to staying informed and up-to-date on the legal requirements in each country where we operate. Our team is experienced in adapting to different regulatory environments, allowing us to provide secure and compliant healthcare solutions across borders.
Looking ahead 5-10 years, how do you envision WhiteGlove transforming international healthcare coordination?
We created WhiteGlove not just to help people navigate the healthcare system in India; we’re also focused on improving it. We aim to bring together the biggest primary care provider network in the world. Our platform will usher in a new level of preventative care and personalized healthcare management in India, setting a standard for quality and efficiency in cross-border healthcare. As we grow, we plan to expand our network of healthcare providers, integrate advanced AI features, and explore opportunities in other countries facing similar healthcare challenges. We’re also aiming to form partnerships with major healthcare institutions and continuously enhance our platform based on user feedback. We aim to herald a new era of medical care, which would prevent severe health issues from happening in the first place through early diagnosis..