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Proactive Pharmacogenetics: Standard of Care
Personalized Medicine has the potential to change fundamentally how health care is practiced.
Proactive Pharmacogenetic Testing as a Standard of Care
In a case study by PPMI regarding St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, they stated, “Our philosophy is that pharmacogenetic tests results should be a part of the EMR prior to drug prescribing. If a genetic test is ordered at the time a drug is prescribed, clinicians must wait for the test results, which are often only available after the patient has already started therapy. A pre-emptive approach allows time for the reporting and interpretation of genetic test results so that the information is available to guide clinicians making drug therapy decisions.
Pharmacogenetics has existed since the 1950s and genetic testing to guide the safe and effective use of medication, is finally becoming standard of care in many health institutions.
With the adoption of EMRs, it is now easier then ever to include pharmacogenetic data when making point of care therapy decisions.
PGx Medical focuses on the field of aging services to help address clinical concerns such as falls, dementia, sleep pain and overall staff efficiencies through medication management. According to research from CMS the use of 9+ medications in elders increases the risk of adverse drug events (2010). Pharmacogenetics can play an important role in effective use of medications by optimizing drug dose, identifying responders and non-responders to medications, and avoiding adverse events by aligning medications with each persons unique genetic profile.
For hundreds of senior communities across the country, this is standard of care. They perform a simple pharmacogenetic test (swab of the cheek) and with the PGx Medical program, within 48 hours they have a personalized report for that individual allowing them to properly prescribe medications for that individual that their body can metabolize. This allows the resident to live a more active lifestyle and helps the clinical caregivers be more efficient.
With a tool like pharmacogenetics that is covered by Medicare B, why wouldn’t a healthcare professional include this as standard of care? Better therapeutic decisions, better quality of life for the resident and a reduction in cost for unnecessary medications, re-hospitalization and a host of other expenses related to adverse drug events.
For more information on how you can implement this no-cost medication management tool into your aging services community, contact: PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Source: ashpmedia.org
7 Things to Know About Pharmacogenomics
If medication is not working for you, could new testing tell you if your genes are to blame?
Up to 99 percent of us may have small variations in our genes that can also impact how we react to common medications. (ISTOCKPHOTO)
By: Mark Dunnenberger
We all know a medication that works well for one person might not work for another – or even cause some people unwanted side effects. These differences in response can be caused by factors such as age, gender or other drugs and supplements that a person might be taking.
However, up to 99 percent of us may have small variations in our genes that can also impact how we react to common medications, including pain relievers, antidepressants and blood thinners.
Now, through a new kind of genetic testing in a field known as pharmacogenomics, some doctors are able to identify a number of these variations to help predict how their patients might respond to a new medication.
These tests are very different than genome sequencing services that provide data on your ancestry, analysis of disease-related genes or information on your risk of developing certain diseases. Instead, the tests look for specific gene variants that can help physicians minimize the trial and error of prescribing certain medications and help narrow down medication choices, especially when it comes to treatments for pain and psychiatric medications.
Understanding the basics of pharmacogenomics:
1. Pharmacogenomics will not tell you why your eyes are blue or predict your risk of cancer. Unlike other genetic tests, pharmacogenomics does not measure disease risk. Instead, it helps doctors identify treatments that are most likely to work by examining how your genes affect your response to medications.
2. The tests cannot give information about how you may respond to every single medication. Currently, research only supports testing for certain drugs, most commonly those for cardiology, pain management and depression/mental illness.
3. A pharmacogenomics test has value throughout your life. By studying a set of your genes, clinical experts can analyze a broad amount of information regarding drug therapy for many conditions, including psychiatric disorders, pain management and cardiology. Because your genes don’t change over time, you only need one test to discover genetic information that could be applied to future care. At some hospital-based testing centers, results can be added to your electronic medical record for easy access and used as a reference for medication and treatment choices throughout your life.
4. Pharmacogenomics is especially helpful for non-responders – people who have tried numerous drugs to find ones that effectively treat their symptoms. For some people, the tests can help explain why they didn’t respond to medications in the past, or provide peace of mind in knowing they are not genetically predisposed to a negative outcome on a new medication.
5. Make sure that the medications covered by the genes being tested are related to your current clinical situations or medications.
6. Pharmacogenetic testing is “not a crystal ball” and will not tell you the perfect drug for your condition. It can, however, narrow down your options and help doctors prescribe the right medicine faster avoiding the “trial and error” process.
7. Is no news good news? No specific feedback from your genomics test means that your suboptimal response to a particular medication is not the result of your genetics, but could be caused by other factors such as diet or age.
Especially when it comes to pain medication and psychiatric medications, pharmacogenomics testing can minimize the trial and error of prescribing medications, plus help a physician to narrow down treatment choices.
PGx Medical specializes in education and implementation of pharmacogenetic testing in the field of aging services. If you are interested in learning more, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Read entire article at: health.usnews.com
Putting the “personal” in Personalized Medicine
For some, being a clinical caregiver at a long term care facility is just a job. For others, it is personal.
Personalized medicine helps residents live longer…better!
As most of you know, PGx Medical has expanded our focus within the field of aging services. Why? Because of the thousands of nursing homes, assisted living and home health residents who get lost in the system. Those who walk into a facility on 8+ medications from multiple physicians. And for the clinical caregivers that signed up for this job because they are passionate about caring for seniors and want to do everything in their power to help them live a long, healthy life.
As we were launching our new website, we decided to reach out to a few nurses, administrators, and physicians across the country to hear what they had to say about personalized medicine, also known as pharmacogenetics. One common theme we heard was “better patient outcomes” and “improves quality measures.”
Personalized medicine is just that, aligning current and future medications with each persons unique genetic profile – it is personal. No medicine works the same for everyone, so why should everyone take the same medication? With pharmacogenetics (personalized medicine) you can now know which medications your body can metabolize and which ones it can’t. Not only does this provide you relief when it comes to pain, or therapy for other disease states, but it also saves you money.
For many seniors who are on a fixed income, they have been taking the same medication for years and they don’t appear to be having any problems. So why test them? What if this simple no-cost test was able to tell you that the medication(s) you are taking are providing you no therapy so you are just throwing your money away? Just because you aren’t having an adverse event from medication, doesn’t mean the medication is working for you. It could be, and we’ve seen it many times before, that a medication doesn’t even have the ability to work due to your genetic makeup so it is like swallowing candy each day…no therapy, expensive medications, and who knows, at some point it may interact with other medications you are taking. So why keep taking it?
Now, your doctor can order a simple swab of the cheek and within 48 hours a report is available that is “personal” to each person. Personalized medicine helps address clinical concerns such as falls, dementia, sleep, pain and overall staff efficiencies as it relates to medication management. The best part is…it is covered by Medicare B so there is no cost to the facility and no cost to resident.
To get more information on personalized medicine and how to implement it into your aging services community, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
Better Efficiencies in Communities with Pharmacogenetics
Tiffanie Riggs RN, BSN
Chief Nursing Officer
Diakonos Group, LLC
“Quality of care for the residents in our network of facilities is of the upmost concern and importance at Diakonos. My team and I are now able to work with, consult and educate family members with the PGx Pharmacogenomics data for more precise medication management and best practices. The PGx system has added tremendous value to the care we provide and is simple to manage in each facility. It has helped to eliminate needless amounts of “trial and error” in our prescribing and allows for better efficiencies in our communities with our daily medication management processes. It is the ultimate tool for true personalized medicine.”
Pharmacogenetic Testing In My LTC Communities
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
-Cami McKinney, RN
“I can honestly say that the goals of pharmacogenomics can be realized and implemented effectively in an LTC community, because I’ve experienced it”
As a Corporate Quality Assurance nurse for an LTC Company, I see all kinds of great ideas and programs that promise benefits to my facilities and our residents. I evaluate most of them and then work with various companies to assist us in bringing the programs that add value to our communities.
One such program I saw a presentation on was Pharmacogenetic testing for LTC Communities. I began researching and saw great promise for the testing, but had no idea how to implement, the cost, or who to partner with at the time.
With the physician onboard, we did a small sample testing of five (5) residents who we thought test results would help us see what might be improved with the medication regimens. I will not mention the name of the lab or the representative in this article, but I can sum up our experience in one simple term: Disastrous.
We had issues with the specimen collection, getting results, and follow-up assistance with interpretations after the testing. Needless to say, I was very jaded to the idea of expanded testing and shelved the program for about 9 months.
Then I met Clay Bullard with PGx Medical at a conference where he was speaking. I was very skeptical to hear another pitch on pharmacogenetic testing, as you might imagine. However, I learned PGx Medical is not the lab, they partner with the community to assist in gathering information to properly and effectively implement a pharmacogenomics program.
So, I decided to partner with PGx Medical to implement their pharmacogenetic program and gave them a very tight deadline, with a long list of “to do’s” for one of my communities. To my great satisfaction, they delivered on time, met all my expectations, and then some. I have continued to engage PGx Medical with our pharmacy consultants, our EHR and training implementation now that we have test results.
I can honestly say that the goals of pharmacogenomics can be realized and implemented effectively in an LTC community, because I’ve experienced it. It is a valuable tool and it will be a quality program we continue to utilize on all of our current and future residents.
PGx Medical helped us implement this program and is a great resource and partner to LTC communities across the country. Their pharmacogenetics program helped us enhance our med management, falls and dementia programs. It also helped with compliance issues related to anti-psychotropic meds and overall unnecessary medication reduction.
For more information on pharmacogenetics, contact PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112
PGx Medical Provides Ongoing Education for Pharmacogenetic Program
Terry Pearce RN, BC, RAC-CT
“I’ve worked with PGx Medical and found their program to be very beneficial to the quality of care we provide our residents. Their team works alongside ours to ensure they are educated and the test is implemented within our community. PGx also provides follow-up education as staff changes and their support team is available to answer any questions we might have.”
Terry Pearce RN, BC, RAC-CT
Regional Nurse Consultant for Americare Systems