Dave
Hey everyone, Dave here with another episode of the Philly TechConnect Podcast. Today I’m speaking with Sandeep Banga, the founder of Scribble, an AI-powered clinician assistant that automates visit documentation for home health. He’s also the CEO and founder of Acutedge, a social enterprise working with nonprofits and driving digital innovation. Sandeep brings decades of experience in strategy, leadership, and technology. Sandeep, how are you doing?
Sandeep
I’m doing well, Dave. Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here. I love speaking with individuals like you who bring decades of knowledge to share with the community.
Dave
I appreciate your time. I’d love to hear more about Scribble. I saw your announcement on LinkedIn recently, and I could tell from the website that this product has been in the works for a while. It’s packed with features, so this didn’t just come out of nowhere. Could you tell us why now feels like the right time to launch Scribble?
Sandeep
Absolutely. We’re excited about this product. Scribble is an AI-powered home health clinician assistant, mainly designed to help nurses, as they are the primary clinicians in the home health space, automatically document patient visits.
The aging population in the U.S. is increasing, and more people want to stay at home, driving demand for home health services. However, we’re not producing enough clinicians to meet that demand. What we aim to do with Scribble is increase the capacity of the existing workforce by automating repetitive tasks. The emergence of Generative AI makes things possible now that weren’t even feasible a couple of years ago.
Dave
That sounds amazing! My mother is a retired nurse, so I really appreciate innovation in this field. From my experience with doctors, I know they often use dictation after patient visits to make notes for themselves. I assume Scribble works differently, right? Could you explain the technology and user experience?
Sandeep
Absolutely. The major leap in recent years has been in speech-to-text technology. My wife, who is also a physician, used to come home and spend hours dictating her notes. With Scribble, we’re eliminating that extra step.
Our solution listens to the conversation as it happens and automatically transcribes it. But we don’t stop at creating notes — Scribble directly fills out the relevant information into the CRM or EHR system. This saves time and ensures clinicians don’t need to go back and manually input data or speak unnaturally into a device.
Dave
That’s impressive. And I noticed that the system allows for edits, so users can adjust the information if needed. It seems like you’ve really thought through the entire workflow. Has your wife provided any input during development?
Sandeep
Yes, she was a big inspiration behind this. Seeing her struggle with documentation motivated me to find a better way. Before founding Acutedge 17 years ago, I worked in health IT, so I’ve seen these challenges firsthand. Nurses in home health visit five to seven patients daily, only to spend hours afterward typing notes. This leads to burnout, contributing to a high attrition rate — 40-50% of nurses leave their agencies within the first year. Scribble aims to improve this by easing their workload and creating a better work-life balance.
Sandeep
(Laughing) Exactly. No more home-cooked dinners from me for a while!
Dave
You’ve been running Acutedge for nearly two decades. What’s it like to embark on a new venture with Scribble?
Sandeep
It doesn’t feel entirely new. I’ve been building products and services along the way, so Scribble is more of an extension of what I’ve already been doing. The difference now is the leap forward in AI, which opens up new possibilities. It aligns with the work we do at Acutedge and our collaborations with nonprofits. We’ve always focused on challenges around documentation, both in healthcare and other sectors, so this feels like a natural evolution.
Dave
Did you face any challenges communicating this new project to your team? As someone running a business, I sometimes worry that new ventures could make the team feel neglected or question my focus.
Sandeep
We’re used to rapid innovation. We work with Salesforce, which introduces major updates multiple times a year, so my team is accustomed to change. I didn’t encounter any concerns about divided attention. Many of the organizations we serve operate at the intersection of social services and healthcare, so the transition feels seamless.
Dave
I noticed that Scribble is currently in beta. Are you aiming for a SaaS model with self-service subscriptions, or do you have a different approach in mind?
Sandeep
The goal is to make the product as easy to use as possible. Right now, we’re still working closely with customers to refine it. Once we’re confident in its functionality and user-friendliness, we’ll move toward a scalable model, likely with an option for self-service subscriptions. But we’re not there yet.
Dave
Developing an app for healthcare sounds complex, especially with regulations like HIPAA. Have your previous experiences helped you navigate these challenges, or did you encounter unforeseen complexities?
Sandeep
Our work with nonprofits has given us experience dealing with sensitive data, including PII and sometimes PHI. Healthcare, however, raises the stakes even more. That’s why we’re not rushing to market. Beyond creating a useful product, we need to ensure data security and compliance to give our customers peace of mind.
Dave
It sounds like you’ve taken on quite the challenge, but with your experience, I’m sure you’re up for it. For those interested in learning more about Scribble and following your journey, where can they find you?
Sandeep
You can connect with me and follow Scribble on LinkedIn. Our website is goscribble.ai. Feel free to check it out for updates. Thanks so much for having me, Dave.
Dave
It’s been a pleasure, Sandeep. Thanks again for joining us!