by PGx Medical | May 16, 2017 | Uncategorized
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.
In the U.S. we spend billions of dollars managing the side effects of psychiatric medications.
Serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earning per year. And mood disorders such as depression are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults ages 18-44.
According to the Washington Post, the mental health-care system in the United States is a multibillion-dollar industry that is still not big enough to serve all those who need it. Costs are a big barrier to treatments — but so are attitudes about mental health. New laws might change access to mental health, although significant barriers still remain. Here’s a look at what we invest in the mental health-care system, what that buys us and where gaps in coverage remain.
Between prescription medication, therapy sessions and hospital visits, the costs of having a mental health condition can add up quickly.
A report published in Health Affairs shows that not only are mental health conditions expensive, they are the most expensive – costing Americans over $201 billion a year. Charles Roehrig, Ph.D., states in the article, “Not only is spending on mental disorders way ahead of heart conditions, the spending is growing unusually fast. We are getting better at preventing heart disease and stroke, but spending on anxiety and depression has grown very rapidly within the mental disorders area.”
With mental illness, you often don’t know if a medication is working for a patient until something catastrophic happens. So how do you know if the medications they are prescribed are giving them therapy, or doing more harm with adverse events?
Studies show that over 50% of patients have a variant gene that alters the rate of which they metabolize medications. So what does this mean for mental illness?
Predicting patient response
Pharmacogenomics is now being used to help identify genes to help physicians improve the selection of medications for patients with depression and other psychiatric disorders. The test is a simple buccal swab of the cheek that is sent to a laboratory to determine how patients will respond to medications. It is reimbursed by medicare and in some states medicaid.
The test results are designed to aid healthcare professionals when treating patients and eliminate the “trial and error” process which may take too long when dealing with mental illness.
Pharmacogenomics is a way to personalize medicine for each individual. It will help identify patients who might experience adverse effects from antidepressants or antipsychotic medications and help improve adherence.
At PGx Medical our team of consultants work with Mental Health agencies and physicians across the country to educate and implement pharmacogenomics into their patient population.
by PGx Medical | May 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
Study shows older adults need help managing medications
According to a recent article in ScienceDaily, a study of nearly 9,500 people showed that over a 10 year period, 10.3% of people aged 65 to 69 needed help managing medications and 23.1% needed help managing finances.
These rates rose with age, to 38.2% and 69%, respectively, in those over age 85. Women had a higher risk than men, especially with advancing age. Additional factors linked with an increased risk for both outcomes included a history of stroke, low cognitive functioning, and difficulty with activities of daily living.
“These aspects are very important to patients’ life and are not traditionally assessed in practice,” said Dr. Nienke Bleijenberg, lead author of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society study. “It is important that professionals ask about these serious daily functions at an early stage to reduce the consequences and burden of these impairments.”
As a caregiver, if you’re helping an older person with health and healthcare, chances are they are taking at least a few prescription medications, if not several.
Do you ever wonder if he or she is on the right medications? Do you worry about side-effects and interactions?
These are sensible concerns to have. Although medications do often help maintain health and well-being, studies have repeatedly shown that lots of older adults end up suffering from problems related to medications such as adverse events.
Adverse events can be costly – not only financially, but physically and emotionally as well. If medications aren’t being metabolized properly, or they are interacting with other medications, adverse events have a higher chance of happening.
Pharmacogenetic testing is a simple test that can help determine what medications your body can metabolize and which ones it can’t. This test helps guide healthcare professionals when prescribing medications taking the guess work out of it. This simple test can help guide healthcare professionals when prescribing so you know the medications you are taking have the ability to give you therapy and less chance of interacting and causing adverse events.
For more information on pharmacogenetic testing in the field of aging services, contact: PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
source: sciencedaily
by PGx Medical | Apr 6, 2017 | Uncategorized
Each Friday we will post new and relevant information regarding Pharmacogenetics. We hope you will find this useful and pass along to colleagues. If you should have any questions regarding pharmacogenetics, please feel free to reach out to us at PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112. 
Antipsychotic / Dementia:
An estimated 25% of nursing home and 13% of assisted living residents in the U.S. receive at least one antipsychotic medication in a given year. These medications are often used off-label and put the resident at risk for serious side effects. CMS has focused surveys on the reduction of antipsychotics in the nursing home over the past few years and rates have slowly declined. Antipsychotic rates in nursing homes are required to be monitored as part of an overall quality program. The antipsychotic prescribing rate in both assisted living and nursing homes and the relationship between the use of antipsychotics and mortality remain an area of concern for providers, patients and families. It is essential that if used, antipsychotics should be carefully monitored to ensure efficacy and safety of the drug. One of the methods for ensuring that an older adult is on the right drug is pharmacogenetics. Pharmacogenetics offers the following benefits:
- Aligns medications with personal DNA.
- Optimizes medication use.
- Identifies responders and non-responders.
- Avoids adverse drug events such as serious side effects.
- Reduces trial and error.
- Reduces costs.
- Enhances confidence regarding medication use.
- Provides for person centered medication regimen.
To learn more about getting started with pharmacogenetics, call us at 405-509-5112 or email info@pgxmed.com
by PGx Medical | Apr 2, 2017 | Uncategorized
Implementing precision medicine could shift the relationship between health care providers and their patients.
Pharmacogenetics can help revolutionize healthcare
Implementing precision medicine, via pharmacogenetic testing, could change the way healthcare providers and their patients interact. By having information at your fingertips, a pharmacogenetic test result can guide healthcare professionals on what medications can and cannot work based on a patients unique genetic make-up. It changes the relationship to a scientific approach rather then the previous trial and error treatment approach.
When medications work the way the drug manufacturer intended for them to work, you don’t have the guessing game prescribing and re-hospitalizations due to adverse drug events. Patients start to receive therapy, feel better and potentially save money by reducing unnecessary medications.
Precision medicine has been around for decades but it is just now becoming affordable. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) understands that precision medicine can be a cost savings when monitored and used for long term med management.
The healthcare professionals who understand precision medicine and implement it with their patients understand the importance of proper prescribing and the risks involved if a patient is on a medication their body doesn’t metabolize properly.
Pharmacists can work alongside physicians to manage test results and offer ongoing medication therapy management (MTM) services afterwards. The consultant pharmacist can also decipher pharmacogenetic test results to determine whether patients have the proper enzymes to metabolize their medications. When healthcare professionals work together, precision medicine can bring a proactive approach and give healthcare professionals a more “preventative care” approach to patient care.
As healthcare changes, precision medicine can revolutionize how physicians treat patients. Being proactive can save money and give patients a better quality of life.
For more information on precision medicine via pharmacogenetic testing, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
by PGx Medical | Mar 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
At PGx Medical, Pharmacogenetics isn’t “one” thing we do, it’s ALL we do.
Pharmacogenetics is not “one” thing we do, it’s ALL we do.
As we travel the country educating healthcare professionals on pharmacogenetics, we hear time and time again, “We’ve tried that with another company and once we tested, we haven’t heard from them and we don’t know how to implement results.”
After digging a little deeper, we find that the company they worked with did many other lab services and pharmacogenetics was just one of them. That isn’t who we are.
PGx Medical is the trusted and experienced resource for the implementation of pharmacogenetics in the field of aging services.
We aren’t a lab, we are educators, consultants and advocates for a medication management tool that can help take the guesswork out of prescribing medications. We work alongside clinical staff to educate them on pharmacogenetics, and then step them through the process of implementing it into a senior community, pharmacy or clinic to provide the best care possible for their patients.
The PGx Medical process impacts quality, adds value and enhances the patient experience by addressing clinical concerns such as falls, dementia, pain, sleep, med management and overall staff efficiencies.
The PGx test analysis 19 different enzymes in the body that are responsible for medication processing. When clinicians see how those enzymes work in your body, the test results let them know what medications are a better fit for their body and will provide the most therapy. It also lets them know what medications they should stay away from avoiding the cascading effect of “trial and error” prescribing. By providing healthcare professionals with an evidence-based tool, this allows them to prescribe only the medications they know a patient can metabolize, or adjust dosage based on test results.
“The beauty of pharmacogenetics in seniors is it is covered by Medicare B,” said Clay Bullard, President of PGx Medical. “As people age, their body metabolizes medications differently. Now there is a tool to help manage those changes. Whether you are a poor metabolizer, ultra-rapid metabolizer, or you don’t metabolize a medication at all, now the clinician can prescribe medications based on their patients unique genetic profile.”
Bullard went on to say, “Once you decide to implement the program, make sure you are working with a reputable company. Check references and see how long they have been doing pharmacogenetics. Unfortunately, some companies got into pharmacogenetics for the wrong reason and because of that, they aren’t providing their partners with adequate information to implement the results once they are ready. You can have the results and not know what to do with them and it does you no good. That is a waste of everyone’s time and medicare dollars. But if used correctly, pharmacogenetics saves money on unnecessary medications, re-hospitalizations and overall when your staff is more efficient and not dealing with behavioral problems because someone’s medications aren’t giving them therapy.”
To learn more about pharmacogenetics, contact: PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112. Or got to www.pgxmed.com
by PGx Medical | Mar 16, 2017 | Uncategorized
Pharmacogenetic testing has been shown to improve outcomes in psychiatric patients in clinical trials
Outcomes for Psychiatry Patients
Studies from The Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Carolina Partners, Raleigh, NC show that depression and psychosis have low success rates with the initial selected medication. In fact, the initial medication typically achieves meaningful response in 40% or less of patients.
Now, precision medicine offers a tool to help enhance the success rate. Many psychiatric medications have specific verbiage on their label highlighting information regarding genetic variants that alter activity. With pharmacogenetics, physicians will now know scientifically which medications can give a patient appropriate therapy, and which ones won’t.
Studies found that psychiatric symptoms improved significantly more for patients with pharmaogenetic testing compared to those that were not tested. The study provided the treating physician with information regarding how the biology and genetics of individual patients was likely to influence the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of commonly used psychotropic medications and classes of medication. The treating physician then incorporated this information into his personalized treatment plan for each individual patient.
Virtually all tested patients had at least one genetic variant with actionable information indicating that routine testing would be beneficial to most patients being treated with psychotropic medications.
Tested patients experienced significantly greater improvement over time in a number of symptom dimensions. Aggression, anxiety, depression, fatigue, impulsivity, mood instability, panic, and suicide symptoms improved more in tested patients compared to untested patients.
In routine clinical practice, pharmacogenetic testing can enable significant improvement in clinical outcomes for psychiatric patients with a variety of diagnoses.
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or (405) 509-5112.
Source: Journal of psychiatry
