by brant bullard | Jul 9, 2015 | News
So what are you doing to help reduce antipsychotic medications in your home?
Currently, long-term care providers are being asked to reduce antipsychotic medications by 25% by the end of 2015, and that number will increase to 30% by the end of 2016.
“This is an area our program is focusing on”, said PGx Medical President, Clay Bullard. The PGx Metabolic Validation Program is a no-cost tool to help guide healthcare professionals when treating patients. The simple buccal swab helps determine which medications are being metabolized in each individual, and psychotropic medications are one of the panels analyzed by the program.
“By determining if an individual even has the ability to metabolize a medication will help you make a decision based on science rather than “trial & error” to see if that person is even capable of receiving therapy from the medication. You save so much time and money by eliminating the guessing game,” said Bullard.
In 2014, Bullard educated Oklahoma State Surveyors and was invited to speak at Provider Training meetings throughout the year.
“Why wouldn’t you use this program if it cost your home nothing and the resident nothing? But the best part is, while the mandate for reducing antipsychotics keeps going up, our tools and resources are becoming more wide-spead. We’re not here to tell you how to do your job, or what medications you should give your residents. We’re here as a resource to help educate and implement a tool that is available for your use to help your residents live longer…better!”
Bullard travels around the country educating healthcare professionals on “Metabolic Validation Testing – Rethinking Your Approach to Pharmaceutical Usage in LTC”
For more information on the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program. Or to schedule Clay to speak, contact:
PGx Medical
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
www.pgxmed.com
by brant bullard | Jul 6, 2015 | Metabolic Validation Program
PGx Medical provides test results that provide clinicians with valuable patient-specific information to make better therapeutic treatment decisions.
Pharmacogenetics uses information about a person’s genetic makeup, or genome, to choose drugs and drug doses that are likely to work best for that particular person.
What causes so much variablity in drug response among individuals?
Much of the variation in drug response is a result of genetic differences and drug interactions in addition to environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle.
How do genomic differences cause this variablity?
Research shows that genes of the cytochrome P450 family directly correlate with how individuals metabolize many common psychiatric medications. If a clinician knows ahead of time tht a resident would metabolize certain drugs too quickly (UM) or slowly (PM), they can make more informed medication decisions and reduce the likelihood of side effects and medication failures.
How does PGx help a clinician with medication management?
PGx Medical provides the clinician with a personalized report indicating which medications may be more or less appropriate based on the individuals metabolic profile.
Which genes are analyzed?
We analyze multiple genes of the cytochrome P450 family linked to a person’s metabolic capabilities for many medication categories. In addition to cytochrome P450, we analyze 19 genes associated with medication response.
Which medications are included in the reports?
Over 100 of the most commonly prescribed, FDA-approved medications in the following categories:
Behavioral Health: Antidepressants, anti-anxieties, and anti-psychotics
Pain: Analgesic medications
Cardiovascular: Cardio and anti-coagulants
Is it affordable?
Medicare B covers 100% of the testing cost and PGx Medical does not balance bill. We also have medicaid coverage in many states. In addition, many commercial insurance plans reimburse for the testing.
How do I get more information on the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation program?
Contact one of our consultants across the country.
Call: 405-509-5112
Email: info@pgxmed.com
RIGHT DRUG, RIGHT DOSE, RIGHT PERSON
by brant bullard | Jun 19, 2015 | News
LeadingAge Oklahoma is excited to announce our strategic partnership with PGx Medical. The PGx Metabolic Validation Program allows for a personalized/unique patient report validating the patient is getting the right drug, in the right dose, for the right diagnosis, based upon how each individual patient metabolizes certain medications. This helps eliminate unnecessary medications, reduce possible side effects, help maintain mobility, reduce falls, and avoid drug on drug interaction that can have significant and often negative effects.
PGx Medical helps facilities and communities gain an understanding of the role metabolic validation testing can and should have within the care provided to older Oklahomans. They also educate the facility owners, physicians, administrators, and staff as to the value the test results can have on the bottom line and helping their residents be more active and age in place.
We chose to partner with PGx for three very specific reasons. First, we have seen in many of our members’ facilities that this tool can have a tremendously positive effect with residents they serve. Secondly, PGx has been advocating with the Oklahoma Department of Health with ongoing training for the State Surveyors and speaking at the State Education Symposiums throughout the 2014 calendar year to help with CMS Psychotropic Med Reduction and Unnecessary Med Reductions Initiatives. Thirdly, this technology should inspire us all to look at what we are doing and realizing that new tools are available to provide better care and accessible with NO COST to our members.
We encourage you to reach out to PGx Medical to have them educate your team of caregivers on the value this tool can provide and work with your physicians and encourage them to work with you to provide the best care possible with the best tools available.
The PGx website is www.pgxmed.com and they can be reached via phone at 405.509.5112.
by brant bullard | Jun 9, 2015 | News
Personalized medicine can address a significant unmet need by improving efficacy and safety, reducing healthcare costs, and promoting patient adherence.
Did you know…
- $289 billion – cost of adverse events in the United States annually
- 33% – 50% – rate of medication nonadherence, which impacts drug efficacy
- >76% – percent of Americans aged 60 and over who use two or more prescription drugs – 37% use five or more
- 20% – percent of drugs that account for 90% of all reported adverse events
- 43 – drugs withdrawn from the market between 1990 to 2012 due to severe adverse events
- 100,000 – emergency hospitalzations annually among >65 year old adults due to adverse events
- 7x – greater risk for older Americans vs. younger Americans to have adverse events requiring hospitalization
For more information, or to implement the Metabolic Validation Program, via pharmacogenomic testing into your home, clinic or pharmacy, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
by brant bullard | Jun 7, 2015 | News
Every patient has a unique metabolic phenotype, which results in varied responses to standarized drug dosages.
Despite the use of patient characteristics such as age, ethnicity and weight to optimize drug selection and dosing, adverse responses to prescription drugs persist and are associated with approximately 5% of hospital admissions and an estimated 100,000 deaths annually in the United States. The field of pharmacogenetics, also referred to as pharmacogenomics and often abbreviated as PGx, looks at how specific genetic variants impact medication response, and offers health care providers a more personalized way to select and prescribe appropriate drugs at safer doses.
Metabolic phenotype can influence systemic drug exposure and the likelihood of therapeutic responsee or toxity.
PM – Poor Metbolizer: Poor metabolizers have two non-functional alleles and therefore have little to no enzyme activity.
IM – Intermediate Metaboizer: Intermediate metabolizers have one non-functional allele and one normally functioning allele, and therefore have decreased enzyme activity.
EM – Extensive Metabolizer: Extensive metabolizers have 2 normally functioning alleles and therefore have normal enzyme activity.
UM – Ultra-rapid Metabolizer: Ultra-rapid metabolizers have one or more alleles which result in increased enzyme activity compared to extensive metabolizers.
A “one-size-fits-all” approach to drug selection and dosing does not account for the impact of patient genetics on drug metabolism, efficacy, and toxicity.
For more information on the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program, via pharmacogenomic testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
Source: Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative
