by brant bullard | Jun 7, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
Pharmacogenetics, also now known as pharmacogenomics, is the study of genetic variability in the response to drug treatment.
Past:
The Human Genome Project was published in 2003, which was a large collaboration targeted at understanding the effects that the human genome can have on physiological functions, particularly the response to pharmaceuticals.
Present:
Presently pharmacogenetics is used to target drugs according to the specific genetic makeup of each patient and has tangible benefits in practice, if implemented correctly. Healthcare professionals need to be educated on the process as well as implementing any recommended changes based on the individual’s test report. Since the pharmacogenetic test is a once-in-a-lifetime test, the results are not only good for their current medication regimen, it is also a roadmap for future medications. This is why ongoing education is so important. (more…)
by brant bullard | May 16, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
PGx Medical test results provide clinicians with valuable patient-specific information to make better therapeutic treatment decisions.
The PGx Medical team works alongside healthcare professionals to implement pharmacogenetics in the Long Term Care setting. A simple swab of the cheek will help healthcare providers manage medications by reducing unnecessary medications, or confirming residents are on the right medications and dosage.
Medications may be assessed in the following areas of clinical care: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhythmia, anti-coagulation, thrombophilia, depression, psychosis, anxiety, ADHD, pain (including musculoskeletal, arthritis, migraine and neuropathic), bipolar and seizure.
With the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program, via pharmagogenetic testing, you will receive a customized patient report which includes personalized result interpretations and actionable treatment recommendations.
For more information, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
by brant bullard | Apr 10, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
Clay Bullard travels around the country educating healthcare professional on Medication Management, via pharmacogenomic testing.
Clay Bullard, President
PGx Medical
PGx Medical President, Clay Bullard has made it his goal to reach as many healthcare providers as possible to educate them on a tool that is available to manage medications. Clay’s passion for the test shows when he asks providers, “if this was your loved one, would you want to know if their medication is working properly? You don’t know, what you don’t know. And our simple buccal swab of the cheek will tell you if your loved one is even capable of metabolizing their medications.
“Pharmacogenomics isn’t new, it has been around for a long time,” said Bullard. What is bringing it to the forefront of the healthcare industry is how affordable it has become. PGx Medical works with hundreds of senior communities, clinics and pharmacies across the country and there is no cost for patients with Medicare B. And in select states, Medicaid reimburses for the test as well.
Adverse reactions attributable to prescription drug use cause an estimated 100,000 deaths and more than two million serious reactions in the United States each year, costing the healthcare industry more than $136 billion annually. By 2030, about 72 million people will be 65 or older. Today’s seniors live longer than before, which makes it important to make your extra years as fun-filled and pain-free as possible.
“Our PGx Medical team works with physicians and care providers who are desiring to increase medical efficiencies, reduce cost, increase better outcomes and ultimately do the best they can for each individual patient,” said Bullard.
For more information on pharmacogenomic testing, or to schedule PGx Medical to educate your group or organization, contact:
PGx Medical
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
by brant bullard | Mar 28, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
Often a move to a nursing home represents the loss of independence to elderly people.
Today’s nursing homes have improved from years past. Now with beautiful gardens, allowing pets to visit or sometimes stay, and larger rooms. Still, for many elderly people, the move to a nursing home represents the end of the road and a loss of independence. It’s a place you go to die.
For many seniors, these thoughts can lead to depression, ranging from mild to chronic, which affects approximately 40% of nursing home residents, according to the American Geriatrics Society. Despite its prevalence, few elders in nursing homes will openly admit that they are depressed. That means in many cases, the family must look for the warning signs, which can be subtle: Dad isn’t quite as chatty and social as he once was. Mom just picks at her meals.
Often, depression goes undiagnosed and untreated, or treated as a “normal” part of aging. Because the signs of depression can mirror the signs of dementia, especially problems with focusing and concentrating, diagnosing depression in an older adult can be difficult. While medication or therapy or both could be prescribed for any patient with depression, knowing the cause can lead to more effective treatment.
Kenneth M. Sakauye, a geriatric psychiatrist at UT Medical Group in Memphis, Tenn., says getting to the root cause of depression is key. “Depression can have a biological cause or a psychological cause.”
According to agingcare.com, 50% of people develop depression. Dr. Sakauye explained that brain changes caused by Alzheimer’s, such as decreased blood flow, can result in a sort of vascular depression. If the cause is a biological factor like this, medication may be more effective than therapy because it treats the chemical imbalance.
On the other hand, if depression is mild and caused by psychological factors, such as lack of socialization and stimulation, therapy could be more helpful. “Elderly patients often say the best times of their lives are over,” Dr. Sakauye explains. “They were forced to move from home. They feel as if they don’t have anything left to live for.”
These people can benefit from talking to a professional therapist as well as lifestyle changes such as socialization, stimulation, exercise and bright lights.
There are many ways to treat depression the key is recognizing the symptoms and knowing how to treat it. Medication can play a key role in managing depression. But how do you know what medications will work best?
“There is a simple test available that cost the facility nothing and the resident nothing when they are covered by Medicare B. This simple buccal swab of the cheek will let the healthcare providers know if the depression medications they are taking has the ability to work, or if it isn’t being metabolized by that individual. Or, it might be that the other medications they are on aren’t working therefore adding to the depression,” said Clay Bullard, President of PGx Medical.
Making sure your elderly parent, friend or patient is on the right medication is key to helping them live longer…better!
For more information on medication management via Metabolic Validation, contact:
PGx Medical
info@pgxmed.com
405-509-5112
www.pgxmed.com
source: agingcare.com
by brant bullard | Mar 17, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
PGx Medical is proud to partner with Brookdale Senior Living!
Rose Willingham, Wellness Director
Brookdale Senior Living Norman
On October 14, 2014 I heard PGx Medical President, Clay Bullard speak in Tulsa at the State Provider Training meeting. Pharmacogenetics was the only thing I took away from the seminar. I wrote Clay’s name down and went back and spoke to our doctors about doing the test.
I had several residents at the time on 3-4 blood pressure medications that I knew would benefit from something like this. I remember thinking, if this test can get them off of some of their meds and help prevent falls, that’s what I need to do. When something is wrong, you always look at the medications. And when someone is on three pages of meds and they are tiny, you start to wonder what is going on.
I was so impressed with Clay’s talk that I came back and told Dr. Dellinger about the program. He has always been so receptive to anything I talk to him about, so I asked Dr. Dellinger if he had ever heard about the test. He said a little, but not a lot. I told him I really want to try it and see if we can get some of our residents off medications they don’t need to be on and get them on the right medications. He said, “It sounds great! Check into it for me.”
I called PGx Medical and one of their consultants came out right away and explained the program to us. Dr. Dellinger started writing orders for me and I began testing. I also have a couple of physicians outside the facility that the residents still go out to see and they have started testing their residents as well.
We’ve been using the Metabolic Validation Program (pharmacogenetic testing) for about two years and now we test all of Dr. Dellinger’s patients with medical necessity. Dr. Dellinger comes in every two weeks and knows everything about the residents, he’s great!
I have one resident who wasn’t metabolizing any of her medications. That is one of those residents who was on three pages of medications. She was on all the wrong ones. We made some tweaks and it’s amazing, her hallucinating went away. She doesn’t hallucinate anymore and she sleeps better too. She is doing well now!
We have another lady who liked to take things away from other people. Then she quit eating. We did the test, got her on the right medications, and she did so well after we made changes to her meds that we were able to discharge her back out into the community. She was just doing that well. She is now living at home with no problems. It was the medication changes and finding the one that she metabolized and worked for her.
The majority of Dr. Dellinger’s residents that we’ve tested, we’ve made changes and tweaked and they are doing so much better. There are none that we have tested that it hasn’t worked on.
It’s great, we love it, and I will tell anyone they need to do it!
For more information on Metabolic Validation, via Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact:
PGx Medical
info@pgx.med.com
405-509-5112
www.pgxmed.com
by brant bullard | Jan 6, 2016 | Metabolic Validation Program
PGx Medical starts the new year with the addition of bipolar and seizure to their medication classes.
Pharamcogenetic Testing:
PGx Medical test results provide clinicians with valuable patient-specific information to make better therapeutic treatment decisions. Medications may be assessed in the following areas of clinical care: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhythmia, anti-coagulation, thrombophilia, depression, psychosis, anxiety, ADHD, pain (including musculoskeletal, arthritis, migraine and neuropathic), bipolar and seizure.
With the PGx Medical Metabolic Validation Program you will receive a customized patient report which includes personalized result interpretations and actionable treatment recommendations.
By adding bipolar and seizure medications, PGx Medical now reports on 19 genes and 16 medication classes to help physicians target treatment and medications to each individual patient’s genetics. This takes away the “trial and error” process by finding a medication that works best for each person. With a simple buccal swab of the cheek, physicians will now know what medications a patient has the ability to metabolize, and which ones they don’t. Guiding them in dosing decisions and helping the patient live a better quality of life.
“We’re excited about 2016 and the enhancements to our program that we will rollout. Adding the two medication classes is just the beginning. Through our local and national partnerships, we have been able to educate and implement our Metabolic Validation Program in hundreds of homes, clinics and pharmacies across the country. We look forward to expanding our work to many more physicians and care providers who desire to increase medical efficiencies, reduce costs, and ultimately give the best care possible to each individual patient,” Clay Bullard, President, PGx Medical.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com
www.pgxmed.com
