Elewa

Understand your SHA hospital bill, right now. Take a photo of your bill and get a plain-English explanation, specific questions worth asking hospital staff, and a guide who stays with you through the conversation.

Built for anyone in Kenya standing at a hospital reception, confused about an SHA bill, with no one on hand to explain it.

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Features

• Photo-based bill reading - take or upload a photo of your bill; Claude reads it directly, no typing required
• Plain-English translation - a clear explanation of what's actually on the bill, no medical or insurance jargon
• Specific questions worth asking - 3-5 respectful, targeted questions for hospital staff, grounded in what's actually on your bill
• Practical next steps - calm, actionable guidance (keeping records, requesting an itemized breakdown) — never legal advice, never an accusation of wrongdoing
• A real back-and-forth conversation - tell Elewa what you were told, and it helps you figure out the next question or step, round by round
• Built-in safety limits - a gentle nudge toward the SHA helpline after a few rounds, and an automatic handoff with a prepared summary if the conversation runs long or anything sounds urgent
• Emergency detection - if a response suggests a refusal of care or an urgent safety issue, Elewa immediately stops suggesting questions and hands off straight to the SHA helpline and official channels
• Guided, one-screen-at-a-time flow with progress indicator - designed to feel calm, not overwhelming, in an already stressful moment
• Responsive design - full nav on desktop, hamburger menu on mobile

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• AI: Claude via the Anthropic API, including image (vision) input
• Backend: A minimal Express server (local) or Vercel Serverless Function (production) - used only to keep the API key secure server-side
• Contact form: Formspree

Project Structure

elewa/
├── index.html          # Main app - all 5 screens (welcome, analyzing, translation, questions, loop, handoff)
├── about.html           # About page
├── contact.html          # Contact page (styled as a conversation)
├── css/
│   ├── global.css        # Shared design tokens, responsive nav, footer
│   ├── home.css           # Screen-by-screen flow, chat bubbles, camera upload
│   ├── about.css           # About page styles
│   └── contact.css          # Contact page styles
├── js/
│   ├── prompts.js          # Isolated AI system prompts (bill analysis, loop interpretation, handoff summary)
│   ├── analyze.js           # Core app logic - image compression, state machine, conversation loop
│   ├── contact.js            # Contact form handling (Formspree)
│   └── main.js                 # Shared nav behavior
├── api/
│   └── analyze.js          # Vercel serverless function (production API relay)
├── server.js              # Local dev server (Express)
├── package.json
└── .env.example

Getting Started (Local Development)

1. Clone the repo and install dependencies

npm install

2. Add your Anthropic API key

Copy .env.example to .env and add your real key:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-real-key-here

Get a key from the Anthropic Console. API usage is billed separately from any Claude.ai subscription — usage-based pricing, not a flat fee.

3. Run the local server

node server.js

4. Open the app

Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser. (Opening index.html directly will not work — the app needs the server running to relay requests securely to the Claude API.)

Deploying to Vercel

1. Push this repo to GitHub
2. Import the project into Vercel
3. In your Vercel project settings, add an Environment Variable:
   • Name: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
   • Value: your real API key
4. Set Framework Preset to Other (this is a plain HTML/CSS/JS site, no build step)
5. Deploy - Vercel automatically detects /api/analyze.js as a serverless function

Your API key stays server-side at all times; it is never exposed to the browser.

Note: photos are compressed in the browser before upload (max 1600px, JPEG quality 0.75) to stay safely under Vercel's ~4.5MB serverless function body size limit.

How It Works

1. Photo your bill - right there at the hospital, on your phone
2. Get the plain-English translation - what the bill actually shows
3. See what's worth asking - specific questions for hospital staff, plus general next steps
4. Work through it, round by round - tell Elewa what you were told, get the next step. After round 4, a gentle nudge suggests calling the SHA helpline. By round 5 (or immediately, if anything sounds urgent), Elewa prepares a full handoff summary
5. Talk to a real person, fully prepared - a clear summary and a ready list of things to ask, plus the SHA helpline number

Boundaries - What Elewa Will Never Do

• Never claims to be affiliated with SHA
• Never asserts that a charge is wrong, fraudulent, or an overcharge - only that something is "worth verifying"
• Never states what SHA is legally required to cover, or what someone is entitled to
• Never instructs anyone to refuse payment or coaches confrontation
• Always defers to official channels (SHA helpline: 147, the formal appeals process) for anything unresolved

Disclaimer

Elewa is an independent AI tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to SHA (Social Health Authority) in any way. It is built to help you understand and ask better questions - always verify anything important directly with SHA or hospital staff.

Author

Alan Macharia I build AI-powered systems, tools and automations for businesses.

🔗 linkedin.com/in/alan-macharia-ai

Elewa was built to solve a real, current problem for a real person standing at a hospital reception. If you're a business owner curious what a custom AI-powered tool could look like for your own challenge, let's connect.