UC San Diego Medical Center to implement Allocade's On-Cue System

As part of ongoing efforts to improve patient services, the Department of Radiology at UC San Diego is participating in the Enterprise Patient Flow (EPF) Study. UC San Diego Medical Center will implement the On-Cue™ System -- developed by Allocade, Inc., a developer of innovative healthcare software solutions -- to study process improvement, resource utilization, communication and patient experience.

On-Cue is a software solution that utilizes artificial intelligence to automate patient flow and improve operational efficiencies by creating a dynamic patient itinerary visible to caregivers throughout the enterprise. The system will be deployed into CT, ultrasound, X-ray, nuclear medicine, MR and interventional radiology. Research will initially focus on process improvement within CT, the ED, Surgical ICU and Trauma Units. Results will be published and presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting in 2010.

"This is a prime example of UC San Diego Department of Radiology's goal to enhance clinical services for referring physicians and patients through asset utilization optimization," said William G. Bradley, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.R., Chair of the Department of Radiology, UC San Diego School of Medicine. "We hope to observe notable improvement in efficiencies throughout the department."

Allocade's Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Don Rosenthal, led the Artificial Intelligence Applications Group at the NASA Ames Research Center. The underlying On-Cue engine is the result of Rosenthal's work to optimally utilize the limited resources on the Hubble Space Telescope.

The On-Cue software solution may offer an efficient operating system for healthcare as well, since hospital departments typically operate in a fast-paced environment with caregivers working to effectively manage patient flow and frequent disruptions. UC San Diego will test the On-Cue system to ensure patient logistics can be tracked and managed throughout the hospital enterprise in real-time.