Genelex Enables EHR’s Genetic Risk Analysis & Precision Medicine

HIMSS 2015, Booth #5220 – Genelex, a pioneer in comprehensive medication management, pharmacogenetic testing and analysis, is offering new ways for the healthcare IT community to use its patented clinical analytics software to improve prescribing safety and reduce unnecessary ER visits and hospital re-admissions.

“Treating adverse drug events costs the U.S. health system more than the drugs themselves”

Research has shown that adverse drug events cause 1 in 8 hospitalizations and 10.7% of readmissions, many of which can be attributed to genetic variability and cumulative interactions missed by most drug-interaction checking systems. Integration of YouScript^® Personalized Prescribing Software through new application programming interfaces (APIs) into EHR, population health, e-prescribing and patient health software applications brings genetic analysis and precision prescribing — burgeoning facets of personalized medicine —to technology platforms that currently do not leverage genetic information. This is a win for any software provider or developer interested in improving their prescribing workflow or reducing overall population health risk.

YouScript clinical decision support software predicts drug levels based on the cumulative impact of a patient’s genetics and medications. It identifies when genetics may affect drug metabolism; whether a patient might be at risk for an adverse drug event; suggests when testing might be appropriate and provides alternative drug/dose options less likely to cause an interaction or adverse drug event. YouScript is the first and only commercially-available drug interaction program to predict potential drug-drug, drug-gene and cumulative multi-drug-gene interaction risk.

Drug-gene interactions – already recognized by the FDA as similar in importance to drug-drug interactions – account for a third of potentially clinically significant, costly adverse drug events, and are currently missed by most healthcare software systems. By enabling healthcare providers to choose the safest, most effective medication and dose for a patient’s unique drug-metabolizing capacity, YouScript can help improve treatment efficacy and patient outcomes.

“Treating adverse drug events costs the U.S. health system more than the drugs themselves,” explains Kristine Ashcraft, Genelex Chief Operating Officer. “By helping risk managers and healthcare providers identify and prevent probable genetic interactions, we can significantly improve patient safety and reduce costs. The key is incorporating genetic analysis in a user-friendly way, directly into their current workflow.”

The new APIs offered by Genelex make that possible and are a step toward achieving interoperability across healthcare IT platforms – a current priority for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in its draft Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap. YouScript already integrates with leading healthcare platforms, such as Allscripts^TM, and conforms to RxNorm medication interoperability standards.

Key Integration Benefits

Specific benefits of integrating YouScript APIs for various software makers include:

EHR – Integration makes identifying which patient to test, and leveraging genetic results, easy and part of the physician workflow.

Population Health – Integration helps identify patients at highest-risk for a potentially costly adverse drug event.

e-Prescribing – Integration enables use of genetics and cumulative drug interaction analysis to provide more targeted drug and dose selection.

Patient Health Applications – Helps patients determine their adverse drug event risk and check for possible interactions with current or future medications, which allows them to better advocate with physicians for more personalized healthcare.

APIs and Architecture

The new APIs expose several important functions of the YouScript system, including genetic risk assessment and testing recommendations (Genetic Risk API); identification of drug-drug, drug-gene, and cumulative drug-drug-gene interactions (Interactions API); safe medication selection with impact-ranking for drug substitutes (Alternates API); and patient lab/pharmacy consult reports and genetic test result reports (Patient Report / Patient Results APIs).

Using the APIs, most YouScript analysis and recommendations can be embedded into existing workflows and user interfaces. To provide seamless access to more detailed analysis, and a comprehensive database of more than 17,000 notes and references, developers can enable single-sign on access to YouScript via the Single-Sign-On API, which launches the patient’s record and interaction report in a separate YouScript browser window from any healthcare application. Future, additional APIs will be delivered to developers as they are published.

YouScript software is cloud-based and can be accessed via standard web protocols. The APIs are HIPAA compliant, delivered in JSON or XML format, and follow a general REST model. To utilize YouScript APIs, RxNorm standards drug identifiers must be implemented in the external data set.

Licensing Information

The YouScript Genetic Risk API is available for free; the full set of YouScript APIs can be licensed on annual or per-member, per-month model. Fees vary based on contract structure and YouScript single-sign on access.

Interested software developers can request a developer account at https://www.youscript.com/api or by email at integration@genelex.com. Approved developer accounts receive free evaluation access for 120 days.

HIMSS15 attendees can see YouScript at booth #5220 and in the Interoperability Showcase from April 12 – April 15.

For more information about Genelex and its YouScript Personalized Prescribing System, visit www.genelex.com or contact the company at 800.837.8362 or email: info@genelex.com.

About Genelex

Genelex is a pioneer in comprehensive medication management, pharmacogenetic testing and analysis. Its patented YouScript^® Personalized Prescribing System is the only medication management system to assess the cumulative effect of a patient’s genetics and entire drug regimen. YouScript was a finalist in the Allscripts Open App Challenge, and is used by healthcare providers, clinical researchers and managed and accountable care organizations. Founded in 1987, Genelex is based in Seattle and was one of the first labs to provide pharmacogenetic testing and interpretation. For more information, please go to: www.genelex.com or www.youscript.com.