Engineering Alumnus Named a Game Changer in Health Care
Nick Desai's California-based company is taking healthcare out of the hospital and bringing it to the home with doctor house calls. 
Desai, who serves on the board of the UC Irvine Alumni Association, earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering at UCI and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA. He went on to become an accomplished entrepreneur, starting four venture-funded startups over the last 18 years.
With Heal, Desai and his wife are on a mission to fix the broken $3 trillion health care system. According to Desai, getting patients out of the hospital by delivering primary, preventive and urgent care through house calls not only reduces costly and avoidable emergency room trips by 28 percent, but also leads to better medical care. With doctors able to see patients’ medications, environmental factors, lifestyle and diet, Heal has reduced unnecessary prescriptions, tests and referrals by 51 percent -- resulting in cost savings of $27 million in just 40,000 house calls.
Silicon India magazine also recently featured Heal’s success. Desai shared the news with Samueli School Dean Gregory Washington in an email, writing, “It is what I learned at UCI as an engineering student that launched me into a career of technology innovation and leadership.”
– Lori Brandt
