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