Case-a-thon

Case-a-thon is a case competition organized by the PM Club as part of Infinium 2026, the annual Technical festival of IIIT Hyderabad. Participants will tackle a real-world business challenge, analyze the problem using structured and data-driven approaches, develop a feasible solution, and present their recommendations to a panel of judges. Teams will be evaluated on the quality of their analysis, proposed solution, business reasoning, presentation, and ability to defend their approach during the final presentation. Eligibility Open to college students across India. Participation is in teams of 3-4 members. Students from different colleges may form a team. Students from different specializations/branches may form a team. All team members must be currently enrolled as college/university students at the time of participation. A participant can be part of only one team. Competition Structure The competition will be conducted in three rounds. Round 1 – PPT Submission (Online) The round is open to eligible college students across India. Teams will be provided 7 days to analyze the case and prepare their solution. Each team must submit its solution in PPT format through the designated submission platform. Submissions will be evaluated based on the quality of analysis, understanding of the problem, proposed solution, feasibility, and overall presentation. The top 50 teams will be shortlisted for Round 2. Round 2 – Online Presentation The shortlisted 50 teams will present their submitted solutions online. Presentations will be conducted over 2 days. Teams will present their approach and recommendations to the judging panel. Teams may be asked questions regarding their analysis, assumptions, methodology, and proposed solution. The top 10 teams will advance to the final round. Round 3 – Final Presentation (Offline) The 10 finalist teams will present their solutions offline at the IIIT Hyderabad campus. The final round will be conducted on 4 October 2026 as part of Infinium 2026. Finalists will present their solutions to a panel of judges and defend their recommendations through a question-and-answer session. The final results will be determined based on the evaluation criteria communicated to the shortlisted teams. Problem Statement: Data-Driven Follow-Up Assurance for Rural Teleconsultations Challenge Teleconsultation is now the primary link between rural patients and doctors in Telangana. At Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, a Community Health Officer connects patients with hypertension and diabetes to district hospital doctors over eSanjeevani. However, the consultation is only the first step: patients must collect medicines, complete tests and return for review within weeks. A large share never do, and the system records the consultation as "completed" with no visibility of what happened afterwards. Follow-up data sits scattered across teleconsultation logs, NCD screening records, dispensing registers and ASHA diaries, and is never linked. Design a data-driven follow-up assurance solution that can combine teleconsultation records, NCD screening data, medicine dispensing and visit registers, patient demographics and geographic data to identify patients lost to follow-up, predict who is at risk of dropping out, and guide health workers to bring them back into care. The solution should demonstrate how data linkage and AI can help rural health systems move from counting consultations to ensuring completed care within the constraints of low-end phones, intermittent connectivity, and limited health-worker time. Teams should address How can fragmented teleconsultation, NCD, dispensing and visit records be linked to determine a patient's follow-up status? What stages and factors contribute to patients being "lost to follow-up", and how can these patients be identified? What data-driven intervention should be implemented to improve follow-up, and how would its effectiveness, feasibility and cost be measured? Dataset: A synthetic dataset representing the fragmented healthcare records described in the case will be provided to the teams. The dataset contains information from multiple stages of the patient care journey. Teams are expected to use the provided dataset to perform data-driven analysis and support their proposed solution with relevant findings and evidence. Constraints and Considerations: Solutions should consider privacy-preserving, ABDM-compliant data handling and consent, as well as the practical constraints of rural healthcare delivery, including low-end phones, intermittent connectivity and limited health-worker time. Submission Requirements Round 1 – PPT Submission Teams must submit their solution in PPT format. The presentation should address the given problem statement and clearly communicate the team's analysis and proposed solution. Teams may support their proposed solution with relevant findings and evidence from the provided dataset. Submissions must be made within the specified 7-day submission window. Evaluation Criteria Teams will be evaluated based on: Understanding of the problem statement Quality and relevance of analysis – Depth, rigor, and relevance of the analysis supporting the proposed solution. Identification of factors contributing to loss to follow-up Quality and feasibility of the proposed solution Appropriate use of data and AI/analytics Consideration of rural healthcare constraints Privacy-preserving and ABDM-compliant approach Assessment of effectiveness, feasibility, and cost Clarity and quality of presentation Ability to justify the proposed solution during the presentation and Q&A Rules: Each team must consist of 3–4 members. Inter-college teams are allowed. Inter-specialization/branch teams are allowed. Each participant can be a member of only one team. Teams may use the synthetic dataset provided by the organizers for their data-driven analysis. All submissions must be the original work of the participating team. Plagiarism or substantial copying of another team's work may result in disqualification. Teams must adhere to the submission deadlines and formats specified by the organizers. Shortlisted teams must be available for their assigned presentation slot in Round 2. Finalist teams must be available to present offline at IIIT Hyderabad on 4th October 2026. The decision of the judging panel and organizing committee will be final. The organizing committee reserves the right to disqualify teams for violations of the competition rules or submission guidelines.