There are 7 billion people on Earth. We’re entering an age of remarkable potential for personalized medicine to save and improve lives like never before. ~forbes.com~
Your genome is a complete set of your DNA. It holds all information for creating and maintaining you. As a human, yours has more than 3 billion DNA base pairs.
In short, it’s your human blueprint, your personal instruction manual.
What if we told you that with a single buccal swab of the cheek, we could analyze your individual make-up and know what drugs your body can metabolize, and which ones you can’t? We can, it’s called personalized medicine.
Past: Trial-and-Error
Present: Targeted, Personalized Medicine
Medications and geriatrics:
When you are dealing in the geriatric population, time matters. Days matter. At PGx Medical, our goal is to educate healthcare professionals across the country on the tools and resources available. “One day, and one day soon, I believe this will be the new normal. Metabolic Validation, via pharmacogenomic testing, will be mandatory for everyone with medical necessity before prescribing medications. Doing away with the guess work and knowing exactly what a person has the ability to metabolize, that will be part of standard of care,” said Clay Bullard, President of PGx Medical.
It’s a misconception that this tool will tell you what to do. It is a resource available that maps out an individual’s blueprint. A road map of sorts. It will guide healthcare professionals when dosing patients and help take away the old “trial-and-error” process that we have lived by for so many years. Can you imagine knowing the “first” time that you are on the right medication? And that your body will metabolize it the way the manufacturer of the drug intended for you to?
That’s the beauty of personalized medicine.
This tool wasn’t designed to decrease the amount of medications a patient is on. But to help them get on the appropriate medications. Medications their body can metabolize. According to the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, on average, individuals 65 to 69 years old take nearly 14 prescriptions per year, individuals aged 80 to 84 take an average of 18 prescriptions per year. And 15% to 25% of drug use in seniors is considered unnecessary or otherwise inappropriate and 36% of all reported adverse drug reactions involve an elderly individual. And today there are over 43.1 million adults aged 65 and older in the United States; by 2040, that number will rise to 79.7 million. Those numbers are stagering when you think about drug use and healthcare costs in seniors.
Is it affordable?
Currently in the U.S. CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), reimburses for pharmacogenomic testing. In short, you could know exactly what medications your patients can metabolize and it is covered by Medicare B. Medicaid reimburses in select states, and most private insurance companies cover the test with normal copays and deductibles.
Personalized medicine has been around for decades. So why now?
Personalized medicine, via pharmacogenomic testing, has been around for many years. But up until the last 5 years, it wasn’t affordable. Now that insurance companies are covering the test and CMS is reimbursing for the test, it has now moved to the forefront of the healthcare industry and is seen as a way to help cut healthcare costs. But many healthcare professionals still aren’t aware this tool even exists – or that this is an option in their day-to-day care.
“We work with physicians that won’t see a patient until they have a pharmacogenomic test done first. If that patient has medical necessity, then those physicians make sure they have their patients on the right medications,” said Bullard. “It’s just part of their patient care.”
How do I get tested?
A pharmacogenomic test comes on a doctors order. For individuals who want to be tested, get with your physician and request a test. For physicians or pharmacists who want to include this in their patient care, contact us and we will get you the information necessary to get you started.
The PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program is available to review on a secure online portal within 48 hours from the time our lab receives the sample.
Helping people live longer…better! That is our goal.
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
www.pgxmed.com
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
Sources: forbes.com, www.ascp.com