Pharmacists can provide value by focusing on pharmacogenomics associated with medication use.
Pharmacogenetic Testing in the Pharmacy:
Pharmacogenetics is among the many areas of care in which pharmacists can serve as important collaborators with physicians and patients.
Pharmacists and physicians often team up when it comes to patient care. But when it comes to information related to drug metabolism, it is sometimes difficult for physicians to keep up with, so pharmacists can provide input for the team when it comes to pharmacogenetics.
Pharmacogenetic testing analyzes genes involved in drug metabolism, transport, or targets and is able to provide important information about a patient’s genetic likelihood to respond to a given medication or risk of an adverse drug response. A simple cheek swab will help determine the effectiveness of a person’s prescription medication based on their genetic makeup.
Warfarin, clopidogrel, and statins have long been known to be impacted by a patient’s individual genetic make-up. While this is an area of focus, on a wider scale, numerous drug labels have been revised to include information about the impact of genetic variants on drug efficacy or ADRs. Having access to reliable sources of drug information becomes even more important for the pharmacist when focusing on pharmacogenomics and providing collaborative services around it.
The test is ordered by the patients physician, but a pharmacist can play a role in helping to determine if the test is medically appropriate and consulting with the patient when results are ready. The goal of the program is to ensure that a patient’s medication is right for them based on their genotype.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) has also encouraged the integration of pharmacogenomics into pharmacy practice through medication therapy management. To achieve the integration, the APhA suggests the profession define a process to apply pharmacogenomic data into pharmacy practice through alignment with medication management services and interchange of data between electronic health records.
For more information on pharmacogenetic testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care/Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
source: APhA