For some, being a clinical caregiver at a long term care facility is just a job. For others, it is personal.
Personalized medicine helps residents live longer…better!
As most of you know, PGx Medical has expanded our focus within the field of aging services. Why? Because of the thousands of nursing homes, assisted living and home health residents who get lost in the system. Those who walk into a facility on 8+ medications from multiple physicians. And for the clinical caregivers that signed up for this job because they are passionate about caring for seniors and want to do everything in their power to help them live a long, healthy life.
As we were launching our new website, we decided to reach out to a few nurses, administrators, and physicians across the country to hear what they had to say about personalized medicine, also known as pharmacogenetics. One common theme we heard was “better patient outcomes” and “improves quality measures.”
Personalized medicine is just that, aligning current and future medications with each persons unique genetic profile – it is personal. No medicine works the same for everyone, so why should everyone take the same medication? With pharmacogenetics (personalized medicine) you can now know which medications your body can metabolize and which ones it can’t. Not only does this provide you relief when it comes to pain, or therapy for other disease states, but it also saves you money.
For many seniors who are on a fixed income, they have been taking the same medication for years and they don’t appear to be having any problems. So why test them? What if this simple no-cost test was able to tell you that the medication(s) you are taking are providing you no therapy so you are just throwing your money away? Just because you aren’t having an adverse event from medication, doesn’t mean the medication is working for you. It could be, and we’ve seen it many times before, that a medication doesn’t even have the ability to work due to your genetic makeup so it is like swallowing candy each day…no therapy, expensive medications, and who knows, at some point it may interact with other medications you are taking. So why keep taking it?
Now, your doctor can order a simple swab of the cheek and within 48 hours a report is available that is “personal” to each person. Personalized medicine helps address clinical concerns such as falls, dementia, sleep, pain and overall staff efficiencies as it relates to medication management. The best part is…it is covered by Medicare B so there is no cost to the facility and no cost to resident.
To get more information on personalized medicine and how to implement it into your aging services community, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com