Health Technology, Data & Intelligence
Where Systems Think.
Platforms Scale.
Data Finds Meaning.
Sarsa Health is a principal-led health technology and intelligence practice. We work with NGOs, global health programs, health systems, and research partners on the systems, platforms, and intelligence questions that shape health outcomes.
Practice Areas
Three practice areas. One way of working.
We engage where strategy, technology, and clinical reality intersect. Most engagements span more than one of these areas, because the hard problems usually do.
Systems Thinking
Strategy that begins with how the work actually flows. We help leaders see the structural picture, identify the leverage points, and design programs that hold up under operational pressure.
- Health system and informatics strategy
- Public health and global program design
- Digital transformation roadmaps
Systems Building
When strategy needs working software, we build it. FHIR-based architecture, EHR integrations, decision support, and surveillance platforms designed by people who have practiced clinical medicine.
- FHIR and EHR integration architecture
- Clinical decision support systems
- Surveillance and registry platforms
Health Intelligence
Data turned into something a clinician or program leader can act on. We design analytics programs, AI strategy, and governance frameworks that work across digital health, clinical, population health, and global health contexts.
- Health data strategy and governance
- Population and global health analytics
- Applied AI, data science, and responsible deployment
Our Approach
We work inside your systems, not from a slide deck.
Sarsa is a principal-led health technology and intelligence practice. Our work spans digital health, informatics, population health, data science, and applied AI, across domestic and global health settings. The name is rooted in Sāra, the essence within complexity. Our job is finding it.
Who We Serve
Built for leaders who shape health.
Health Systems & Hospitals
Clinical and operational leaders working through EHR strategy, data governance, workforce transformation, and the shift toward value-based care. Engagements here tend to be advisory and selective.
Start a conversation →Academic & Research Partners
Researchers and institutions building the evidence base for health informatics, digital health, surveillance, and data-driven population health. Sarsa welcomes co-investigator and collaborator roles on projects of mutual interest.
Collaborate with us →Our Founder & Principal
A builder, strategist, and digital health executive.
Saugat Karki
MD, MS, FAMIA
Saugat is a physician-informatician and data scientist whose work has spanned clinical medicine, digital health, public health, and global health across Nepal, India, China, and the United States. He is a graduate of the CDC Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP), an elite training program that prepares the field's next generation of senior informatics leaders, and a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA), one of the highest recognitions in the field.
During more than seven years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he developed the Syphilis Automated Records Search Algorithm, one of the most impactful innovations in modern public health surveillance, which has more than doubled the accuracy and timeliness of disease investigations across U.S. health departments. His CDC work also included leading national clinical decision support programs, co-developing digital health platforms in partnership with Apple and Google during the COVID-19 pandemic, and redesigning surveillance systems for the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program in Chad.
He has authored peer-reviewed work introducing novel frameworks for evaluating public health information systems and is a frequent speaker at national and international informatics conferences. Sarsa Health is a principal-led practice built on that depth of experience, drawing on a trusted network of clinicians, engineers, and researchers when engagement scope warrants.
Founder's Selected Publications
Peer-reviewed work by Saugat Karki, MD, MS, FAMIA.
A selection of peer-reviewed publications authored or co-authored by the principal during prior roles, spanning clinical decision support, FHIR-based surveillance, digital health, and public health informatics. This work informs Sarsa's practice but predates the founding of Sarsa Health.
An Automated Syphilis Serology Record Search and Review Algorithm to Prioritize Investigations by Health Departments
Foundational publication on the Syphilis Automated Records Search Algorithm, now adopted across U.S. health departments to dramatically improve the accuracy and timeliness of syphilis surveillance.
Read on PubMed →Clinical Decision Support System for Guidelines-Based Treatment of Gonococcal Infections, Screening for HIV, and Prescription of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis
Design and implementation of a clinical decision support system integrating CDC guidelines for gonococcal treatment, HIV screening, and PrEP prescription at the point of care.
Read on PubMed →Estimated Cases Averted by COVID-19 Digital Exposure Notification, Pennsylvania, USA, November 2020 to January 2021
Field-based modeling of the Apple/Google Exposure Notification System during the COVID-19 pandemic, estimating cases averted through smartphone-enabled digital public health intervention.
Read on PubMed →The Incidence of Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infections in the United States: 2019
Updated national estimates of neonatal HSV incidence, cost burden, and case fatality, providing critical evidence for U.S. perinatal health policy.
Read on Pediatrics →A Note on Attribution
Built on a decade of work done elsewhere.
The publications and projects on this page predate Sarsa Health. They reflect Saugat's prior work as a Health Scientist and Senior Service Fellow at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where the IVC-DISC framework, the Syphilis Automated Records Search Algorithm, and the rest of the work shown here were developed. Sarsa Health is built on that depth of experience.
Additional Publications
SmartChart Suite: a FHIR-based framework for longitudinal syphilis surveillance using structured and unstructured data
Read on PubMed →Evaluation of Automated Processing of Electronically Reported Serological Tests for Syphilis Compared With Traditional Reactor Grid Processing in Florida
Read on PubMed →A Modified Public Health Automated Case Event Reporting Platform for Enhancing Electronic Laboratory Reports With Clinical Data
Read on PubMed →Automating Case Reporting of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea to Public Health Authorities in Oregon Clinics
Read on PubMed →Insights
Notes from the Field
Sarsa cross-posts the most relevant writing and video work here from @data.tech.doc, a parallel channel for broader thinking on health, technology, and intelligent systems.
They Used This 1970s Reactor Grid to Investigate Syphilis. We Built an Algorithm to Replace It.
A look at how a decades-old epidemiological tool for syphilis contact tracing compares to a modern algorithmic approach — and what the gap reveals about how health systems adopt new methods.
June 15, 2026
Welcome to Sarsa Insights
A quick note on what this section is for, and what to expect in the coming weeks.
May 4, 2026
Start a Conversation
Tell us what you are working on.
A first conversation is a 30-minute call to understand your challenge and explore whether we are a useful fit. No deck, no pitch, just a working discussion.