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Pharmacogenetics: The Myth about Blanket Testing
So you are thinking about implementating pharmacogenectic testing in your senior community. Who should you test?
Recently as we have been educating healthcare professionals regarding pharmacogenetic testing, we have been told, “Our physicians don’t want to blanket test. And the last company that was in here said that is what we need to do.”
Blanket testing your residents is not the proper protocol by either PGx Medical or CMS. Pharmacogenetic testing is for residents with medical necessity. In other words, anyone who is on a prescription drug, poly-pharmacy, physician is considering placing them on, or has a comorbidity associated with one or more of the following panels has medical necessity (depression, anxiety, psych, cardio, pain, anti-coag, ADHD or thrombophila).
As a healthcare professional, you can treat symptoms and you can “react” to side effects. But how can you be certain if a medication is, or is not working? Or even has the possibility to work before prescribing? If a person tells you they are in pain, you can assume their pain medication isn’t working. You might even throw something else on top of the prescription they are already taking to help ease the pain. By doing this, you are creating a cascading effect that could possibly turn toxic if they are a poor metabolizer of the medication. So how would you know if a cardio medication isn’t working? Or a psych medication? Sometimes you don’t…until it’s too late.
Testing all residents in a senior community isn’t the answer. Testing residents who are on multiple medications but don’t show any symptoms is what we call, Metabolic Validation. You are validating that the medications they are taking are working…or are not working. But you are putting together a medical plan of action.
This once-in-a-lifetime test can be used not only to validate the medication the resident is currently taking, but it gives you pinpoint accurate options for future prescribing.
The PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program gives healthcare professionals a guide, or roadmap of medications that will metabolize in each individual resident. Allowing the physician to know ahead of time what medications have the ability to metabolize allowing for pinpoint accurate prescribing and confirmation of current regimen of medications.
So what if your phyician only wants to test residents on an “as needed” basis?
Testing “as needed” usually means you have exhausted all efforts. You’ve tried the trial-and-error process and that hasn’t worked. Now testing is your last resort.
That is exactly what you are trying to avoid. Residents in senior communities sometimes don’t have the luxury of waiting for their medications to work, their mobility, and quality of life depends on it. So if you test them prior to the fall, prior to the re-hospitalization and prior to the adverse drug event – you have happier and healthier residents, billable beds and staff that can spend more time making life more enjoyable rather than dealing with behavioral issues.
PGx Medical is known for our continuing education. We want to make sure you understand the program before you test your residents and we are there on the back-end to assist you in implementing results.
If you are interested in more education, having PGx Medical speak at your next event, or doing a webinar for your healthcare team, let us know. Our job, is to make your job, easier.
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
PGx Medical Educates and Implements Pharmacogenetic Testing
The PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program, via pharmacogentic testing
At PGx Medical, our goal is to educate healthcare professionals across the country on the value and benefits of pharmacogenetic testing (PGx).
Pharmacogenetic testing can stop the “trail-and-error” or guessing by providing information about the metabolic phenotype of your patient that translates into a clinical action plan to guide your choice of therapy and dose.
Pharmacogenetic testing will help guide physicians to target treatment and medications to patient’s genetics. Allowing them to make more precise prescribing decisions. Right drug, right dose, right person.
This test is a great way to determine if medications are metabolizing in your body. It is “personalized” to fit your genetic make-up. It is a simple buccal swab, is reimbursed by medicare and can help guide healthcare professionals when dosing patients.
So why wouldn’t you test?
Clay Bullard, President of PGx Medical headquartered in Oklahoma said, “I hope more doctors will choose to test, particularly for the geriatric population.” By knowing a person’s genetic make-up you can eliminate the medications that don’t have the ability to metabolize in an individual. Saving money on unnecessary medications, possible adverse drug events and even hospitalization.
Bullard, who founded PGx Medical has a passion and a reason for starting the company. His wife’s physician recommended the test about 10 years ago. She wasn’t getting results from her rheumatoid arthritis treatment, and the doctor said the genetic screening could better determine which medicine would work well for her.
Bullard said there are other companies out there that offer the test. Most are toxicology labs that do this on the side. But this is all his company, PGx Medical does. “We concentrate on pharmacogenetic testing and we have consultants across the country that educate healthcare professionals. Since our test comes on a physicians authorization, we try and spend time educating the physicians and their staff prior to testing. That way you know the results are going to be implemented and outcomes are going to be better.”
PGx Medical has partnered with some of the leading healthcare organizations who understand the need for quality care in senior communities.
Pharmacogenetic testing isn’t new, and it isn’t going anywhere. As baby boomers age and healthcare cost continue to rise, eventually there will be a tipping point. “I am already talking to organizations across the country who see this as not only a way to improve quality of life, but also a way to help lower healthcare costs,” said Bullard.
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
www.pgxmed.com
PGx Medical Pharmacogenetic Testing
PGx Medical analyzes clinically relevant genetic variants for 19 genes and receptor sites related to medication reponse.
The PGx Medical program, Metabolic Validation, via pharmacogenetic testing is a non-invasive buccal swab of the cheek that helps healthcare professionals customize prescribing decisions.
The test results are ready to view 48 hours from the date our lab receives the sample allowing clinicians to make proper prescribing decisions quickly and accurately for each individual patient.
Individual patient response to medications is influenced by genetic variation in the enzymes responsible for drug metabolism as well as targeted receptors and transporters. Variations in metabolism can cause life-threatening toxicity in one patient and reduce drug effectiveness in another.
Prescribing the right drug, and the right dose, for the right person. Individualized care tailored to fit each person moving beyond the trial and error process.
While the science behind each test is complex, the process for providing personalized medicine to each patient is designed to be simple.
For more information on identifying the best medications for your patients, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
www.pgxmed.com
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
Personalized Medicine Customizes Healthcare
Personalized Medicine is a medical model that proposes the customization of healthcare – with medical decisions, practices, and/or products being tailored to the individual patient. ~wikipedia~
Personalized Medicine involves identifying genetic, genomic, and clinical information that allows accurate predictions to be made about a person’s genetic make-up and response to treatment. It is also known as pharmacogenetic tesing (PGx).
Is Personalized Medicine Only For People Who Are Sick Or With Symptoms?
Definitely not. Most healthcare professionals treat patients based on diagnosis and medications available to treat the diagnosis. But how do you know if a 75 year old resident in a memory care unit is getting the therapy they need?
By knowing how an individual can metabolize medications will help guide healthcare professionals when treating that individual and focus more on wellness and prevention of future medical events.
Avoiding Adverse Drug Events
According to a report from the U.S. Health and Human Services, over 770,000 people are injured or die each year in hospitals from adverse drug events (ADEs), which may cost up to $5.6 million each year per hospital. National hospital expenses to treat patients who suffer ADEs during hospitalization are estimated at between $1.56 and $5.6 billion annually. Patient injuries resulting from drug therapy are among the most common types of adverse events that occur in hospitals.
More than 80% of ADRs causing admission or occurring in hospital are type A (dose-related) in nature, and thus predictable from the known pharmacology of the drug and therefore potentially avoidable. ~ncbi.com~
The process of prescribing a medication is complex and includes: deciding that a drug is indicated, choosing the best drug, determining a dose and schedule appropriate for the patient’s physiologic status, monitoring for effectiveness and toxicity, educating the patient about expected side effects, and indications for seeking consultation. With Personalized Medicine, we call that, Right Drug, Right Dose, Right Person. And a simple buccal swab of the cheek can tell you what medications will work for that individual.
So Why Wouldn’t A Healthcare Professional Perform The Test On Patients With Medical Necessity?
Education is the key. The purpose of PGx testing is to determine the risk of side effects and/or likelihood of effectiveness of a given medication. Physicians are often asked about side effects of prescribed drugs and factors that may alter the effectiveness of a drug, and if PGx testing is an option, it should be part of that conversation. Educating healthcare professionals and patients that this test is a “drug response test” that will help healthcare professionals with proper prescribing to help save time (trial-and-error), cost (medications that don’t work) and more importantly help patients live a better quality of life.
Outcomes of PGx Testing
Pharmacogenetic test results are not only important for the drug which prompted the testing, but potentially for other drugs prescribed in the future. Therefore, test results can help inform other treatment decisions in the future.
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
sources: ncbi.com, nih.com
Can Pharmacogenetic Testing Change Psychiatric Treatments
Are psychiatric medications really working?
Trial-and-error has been the approach for many years when prescribing medications. There are dozens of psychiatric medications that can be prescribed for depression, anxiety, ADHD and more. But how do we know the medications are really giving the patient the therapy they need?
What if doctors could know ahead of time based on a pharmacogenetic test if the medications even had the ability to work? What if they took the guess work out of it and found medications that would work the first time?
Research shows that after your first antidepressant prescription, 4 out of 5 people will experience little relief, if any at all, from their depressive symptons. Today, some healthcare professionals are prescribing medications randomly with no regard to your individual genetic makeup.
Pharmacogenetic testing isn’t a cure all. It is a guide to help healthcare professionals know what medications your body can metabolize to help give you the therapy you need.
So what’s the downside? Well, there really isn’t any. The test is 100% reimbursed by medicare B, medicaid and most private insurance companies (minus normal co-pays and deductibles). The PGx Medical test is back within 48 hours and is a once-in-a-lifetime test that is a simple buccal swab of the cheek. Better “personalized” care that can help improve your quality of life…and it’s paid for.
The only downside would be not doing the test and continuing the trial-and-error process. Then when another catastrophic event happens it is brought to light again. A cycle that we now have the ability to stop, or at least slow down. It’s about being proactive and owning our healthcare.
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing,
Contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
www.pgxmed.com
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
PGx Medical Testimonial
PGx Medical is proud to partner with healthcare professionals across the country. And your feedback is important to us.
Rachel Moore PA-C
Diana O’Connor Family Medicine
PGx: Do you find our metabolic validation program to be easy to administer?
Rachel: Yes, it was very easy.
PGx: Do you find the test results to be helpful when dosing or treating your residents?
Rachel: Yes. Test results are very user friendly.
PGx: How has the program changed the culture of your home and med review for residents in your home?
Rachel: It saves time and frustration for us as providers and the patients.
PGx: What percentage of residents on average do you see after testing are in need of a dose change, med change or discontinuing of medication?
Rachel: About 90%
PGx: Would you recommend the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program to other homes, clinics or pharmacies across the state?
Rachel: Yes
PGx: Do you have a success story you can share?
Rachel: One patient we had tried so many SSRI/SNRIs and after her PGx test, we were able to find the right med regimen and now she feels great!
Tell us your success stories at info@pgxmed.com
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112