by brant bullard | Apr 6, 2015 | Metabolic Validation Program
The battle, known as polypharmacy, is estimated to cause the death of 100,000 older adults each year.
Polypharmacy may be defined as the number of medications (eg, using a large number of different medications prescribed by different providers), the necessity of the medications that are prescribed, or the complexity of a patient’s problems. Whatever the definition, polypharmacy is an important issue in elderly patients. Sometimes this issue cannot be helped, but many times polypharmacy occurs simply because healthcare providers fail to communicate proper patient recommendations to the patient’s primary care provider.
(more…)
by brant bullard | Mar 29, 2015 | News
The use of pharmacogenomics as a tool for medication management and metabolic validation can be extremely valuable for Hospice caregivers and medical directors.
Metabolic Validation has specific medical necessity guidelines for Hospice utilization that are very different from Home Health, Physician Clinics and other medical settings.
Unfortunately, this tool is currently being promoted in ways that are not appropriate and can be financially and legally detrimental to a Hospice company. Things such as paying a physician for referral via a survey or registry for patient that could never meet the criteria that the OIG for CMS has warranted against; and billing for every panel or gene that is not appropriate for Hospice patients.
(more…)
by brant bullard | Mar 29, 2015 | News
As a healthcare professional, are you aware of the pharmacogenomic information on FDA-approved drug labels?
Pharmacogenomic information can appear in different sections of the labeling depending on the actions. Drug labeling may contain information that describes risk for adverse events, drug exposure and clinical response variability along with many other things.
The FDA has a number of drugs with pharmacogenomic labeling. Below are a few that are prevalent in elderly patients.
(more…)
by brant bullard | Mar 23, 2015 | News
According to the CDC, each year, millions of adults aged 65 and older fall.
Falls in older adults can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Fortunately, falls are a public health problem that is largely preventable.
In 2013, 2.5 million non-fatal falls amoung older adults were treated in emergency rooms and more than 734,000 of those patients were hospitalized costing an estimated $34 billion.
(more…)
by brant bullard | Mar 19, 2015 | Journal articles
Dr. Scott Dellinger, MPC Geriatrics
Metabolic Validation has become an integral part of my house call practice for everyday patient care. My practice is in nearly 30 Assisted Living facilities with approximately 1,100 patients and growing. Pharmacogenomic testing allows for tailoring better preventative efforts and finding the best pharmaceutical therapy for each individual patient.
(more…)
