Autorouter
Autorouter is an Ocean Labs project focused on eReferral and eConsult intake. It monitors referral events, analyzes referral content—including form data and attachments—and applies configurable rules to support routing actions.
The underlying problem that Autorouter addresses is straightforward: referral intake teams often deal with high volumes, variable documentation, and triage decisions that are both repetitive and important. That work takes time, and it is not always handled consistently when teams are under pressure.
The result is faster intake operations, reduced administrative burden, and stronger support for scalable virtual care pathways.
Sample Use Cases
Referral Intake & Triage
- Triage & Assignment: Auto-assign to the right central intake hub, specialist, or regional directory listing.
- Messaging: If the referral is incomplete, auto-message the sender for missing information.
- Attachment Analysis: Flag missing or irrelevant attachments for manual review.
Example Use Case: A central intake site automatically routes cardiology referrals to the correct cardiologist based on patient postal code and urgency level.
Automated Pathway Decisions
- Request Management: Auto-decline referrals that don’t meet program criteria (e.g., wrong specialty).
- Decision Support: Provide guidance (e.g., “This referral should be directed to neurology, not orthopedics”).
- Metadata Updates: Update referral category or add booking instructions.
Example Use Case: A diagnostic imaging site automatically rejects duplicate or misdirected MRI referrals with a note to the referrer about correct submission pathways.
Referral Lifecycle Automation
- Messaging: Notify the referrer and patient automatically.
- Triage & Assignment: Redirect the referral if cancellation was due to capacity limits.
Example Use Case: If a clinic cancels a referral due to being at capacity, the autorouter forwards the referral to the next available clinic in the network.
Referral Validation
- Decision Support (CDS Hook): Run pre-submission validation checks and provide warnings, errors or advice.
Example Use Case 1: A screening colonoscopy referral for a patient under 50 prompts a message: “Patient does not meet OHIP criteria for screening.” Example Use Case 2: A dermatology referral prompts a message that recommends an eConsult instead of a full referral where clinically appropriate.
