Pharmacogenetic Testing & EHR Integration Help Avoid Trial-and-Error Prescribing
Vancouver, Canada (April 21, 2022): GenXys Health Care Systems, Inc., the global leader in precision prescribing software with embedded pharmacogenetic data, added a record five pharmacogenetic companies as customers in the first quarter of 2022. The unprecedented growth advanced GenXys’ support of reducing adverse drug events through the Right Drug Dose Now Act, legislation currently making its way through Congress.
The co-chairs of Congress’ Personalized Medicine Caucus, Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Tom Emmer (R-MN), brought forth the legislation to address the prevalence of adverse drug events and advance the clinical adoption of pharmacogenetics (PGx). The Congressmen recently participated in a GenXys webinar to discuss the legislation, a significant step forward in a national effort to make precision healthcare available to everyone and address the barriers to the broad use of PGx information.
The Right Act legislation will:
- Require an assessment and update of the National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention;
- Create educational campaigns on preventing adverse drug events, through the use of evidence-based PGx information;
- Incentivize updates to electronic health record (EHR) systems, including incorporating clinical decision support software (CDSS), so healthcare providers are alerted to interactions between medications when making prescribing decisions;
- Enhance reporting systems that would assist with the reporting of PGx associated adverse drug events; and
- Authorize sustained funding for PGx implementation and guideline developments.
More than 1.3 million emergency department visits each year in the US result from harm from medication. Adverse drug events result in prolonged hospitalizations and higher medical costs. Even more concerning is that adverse drug reactions continue to be one of the top five leading causes of death in America, with direct and indirect costs at an estimated $30.1 billion annually.
An important step to improve medication management is incorporating evidence-based PGx testing into clinical decision support software (CDSS), as proposed in the Right Act. Currently, many EHR systems do not readily alert healthcare providers of relevant PGx information. The Act would result in updates to EHR systems to allow healthcare providers to be alerted to and utilize information on drug-gene interactions when prescribing medicine for each patient. And, more importantly, the Act will enable CDSS to incorporate PGx with other data points, which GenXys’ software platform does seamlessly at any point of care.
“Ninety-seven percent of the population has at least one pharmacogenetic variant that influences how medication is metabolized by the body,” says Karl Pringle, CEO of GenXys HealthCare Systems. “GenXys is committed to addressing this critical patient safety issue and fully supports the Right Drug Dose Now Act, which sets in motion history-making changes needed in precision medicine. Our software solution, which is being used by a growing number of significant lab companies and health systems in the US and Canada, reduces trial-and-error prescribing and provides clinicians with ultimate confidence in their prescribing decisions to get the right dose of the right drug to the patient at the right time.”
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GenXys Health Care Systems, Inc.
GenXys is the global leader in precision prescribing software with embedded pharmacogenetic data. The organization is solving one of health care’s biggest challenges: inappropriate (trial-and-error) prescribing. GenXys has developed a clinical decision support software suite that is used by major insurance providers, health systems, and pharmacies across North America. The GenXys platform is also used by genetic labs companies, its largest customer segment, for pharmacogenetic interpretation and delivery to any point of care.
Ongoing global clinical studies are paving the way into geographical markets to enable GenXys to realize its vision of making every prescription better with its software, to increase patient safety, improve population health and reduce healthcare costs. genxys.com