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Beyond trip planning: More applications of TouringPlans technology

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Update: Our poster presentation won 1st place at the 2016 AACE meeting. Here’s a PDF of our PATH presentation that describes the software we built and its preliminary results.

I’m co-presenting a poster at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) conference this week, with the fabulous Dr. Bradley Eilerman, MD MHI. It’s at the Rosen Shingle Creek – stop by and say hi if you’re there. We’re poster 332 during Friday’s session. You’ll know it’s us when you hear the Epcot background music.

Our poster is titled “Clinical Decision Support Software Versus Primary Care Treatment Recommendations for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.” It’s software to help physicians sort through the complexity of finding the right set of diabetes medicines out of millions of possible combinations and hundreds of insurance plans.

What does this have to do with Disney? It turns out that the same technology we use for our Least Expensive Ticket Calculator can be used to find good therapies for treating diabetes. We’ve already got some interesting results, and we’re looking forward to a real-world trial this fall.

I’m most excited about showing off Brad’s approach to diabetes treatment. It’s a new way of thinking about the trade-offs between cost, efficacy, side effects, and more. What Brad’s created is a framework that makes it easy to implement this on a computer. He’s a smart guy, and I really think this has a lot of potential to help a lot of people.

 

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Len Testa

Len Testa is the co-author of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, and has contributed to the Disneyland and Las Vegas Unofficial Guides. Most of his time is spent trying to keep up with the team. Len's email address is len@touringplans.com. You can also follow him on Twitter: @lentesta.

13 thoughts on “Beyond trip planning: More applications of TouringPlans technology

  • Len, every July there is a “Friends for Life” conference in Orlando for families dealing with Type 1 Diabetes (alternating between the Marriott World Center and Coronado Springs).

    I have no clue what you can do with this knowledge, but I figured since it is related to Diabetes and Disney World, I should let you know.

    Reply
    • Neil,
      The work we are doing now is with Type 2 Diabetes. Len and I saw some absolutely fantastic progress on the artificial pancreas project during the meeting last week, so I think the people with Type 1 are in great hands.

      Reply
  • Len, I think that you are a genius! I am a Nurse Practitioner & would love for you to keep us posted on this! Good for you & Great work!

    Reply
  • Yay for helping diabetes – mom of a Type 1 here. Good job, sir!

    Reply
  • As a person with diabetes and a huge fan of Disney / Touring Plans, I’m really happy to read this. What a fantastic way of putting your technology to new uses (I’m Type 1 and in the UK, otherwise I’d be signing up to trial it for you!) If my personal experience is anything to go by, your work on Touring Plans is already helping those of us with diabetes in less obvious, but still very significant, ways – minimising wait times (especially in the Florida heat) is definitely important for me, particularly for certain rides where I have to disconnect my insulin pump and leave it with a family member. Thank you, and good luck with your continuing research.

    Reply
  • Len,

    You remain one of the most remarkable people I’ve come across. You make this world a better place.

    Reply
  • Len, I was at your talk at Cincinnati Children’s on the 13th. I admire that you are using your statistical models and computing power for the greater good. Keep it up and I am looking forward to seeing the results of the clinical trial coming up. In the meanwhile, I will have to make do with using your technology to plan our next trip to Disney World! Thanks for all you do.

    Reply
    • Thanks very much, Tony! I’ll pass your name on to Brad so we can all stay in touch.

      Reply
  • Way to go Len! It’s great how a one concept can lead to unexpected directions. One day there might be someone who will be able to plan their trip to Disney because their taking the appropriate and affordable meds. Now that’s a beautiful thought.

    Reply
  • I love this! When I was studying Industrial Engineering at the University of Tennessee, electronic medical records were what I really wanted to get into. I love all the potential uses for algorithmic decision making that is automated and user friendly!

    I love seeing that the technology I use to streamline my visits to Disney World is being used in such a practical way! Way to go, Len!

    Reply
  • Nice work, gentlemen!

    Reply

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