Author Name Kyle Murphy, PhD | Date September 25, 2013 | Tagged Clinical Decision Support, Clinical Decision Support Systems, EHR Adoption, EHR and Genomics, EHR Best Practices, EHR Integration, Meaningful Use
Integrating patient genomic into EHRs and using that information to better inform clinical decision-making is the focus of next month’s issue of Genetics in Medicine, according to an announcement by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).
The shift from volume-based and pay-for-service care to pay-for-performance and accountable care has many in the healthcare and health IT industries looking into EHR systems and services that are predictive than reactive when it comes to delivering high-quality.
In an invited commentary published earlier this month in the ACMG’s office journal, Kannry was part of a team of authors highlighting opportunities for using genomic information to support clinical decision support, a feature of EHR use gaining support in future stage of meaningful use as part of the EHR Incentive Programs.
“Clinical decision support (CDS) embedded into clinical information systems, such as the electronic health record (EHR) and the personal health record (PHR), is recognized as being necessary to facilitate the appropriate use of genomic applications,” write Overby et al.
As part of the commentary, the authors opened with an important statement on the fact that interest in EHR integration of genomic data is well ahead of practical application:
The development and availability of genomic applications for use in clinical care is accelerating rapidly. The routine use of genomic information, however, is beyond most health-care providers’ formal training, and the challenges of understanding and interpreting genomic data are compounded by the demands of clinical practice.
According to the ACMG, genomics is one area that can deliver meaningful and useful information to providers at the point of care using EHR systems.
“Our hope is that this issue of Genetics in Medicine will serve as a ‘how to’ and ‘what to think about’ for any group tasked with launching a genomics program and integrating this data into the EHR at the point of care,” Joseph Kannry, MD, Technical Informaticist of the Epic Clinical Transformation Group at Mount Sinai Medical Center and coauthor of an editorial featured in next month’s issue of the journal, said in a public statement. “This issue should serve as a reference point for many years to come.”
In particular, the October issue of Genetics in Medicine will provide answers to five questions on the subject of genomics in the EHR:
How can genomics be meaningfully incorporated into routine healthcare?
How will genomic data be stored, processed, updated and retrieved?
How will genomic data first be used to help patients?
How will patients be involved in decisions about their genomic information?
What does the future hold for the integration of genomic information into the EHR?
As coeditor Marc William, MD, FACMG, Director of the Genomic Medicine Institute, Geisinger Health System adds, the ability to make use of genomics in clinical care “a vision, a strategy that will achieve the vision, and an actionable implementation plan.”
Presumably, that plan first and foremost needs to take into account how genomic data in the EHR will impact providers’ clinical workflows, particularly in providing evidence-based insight in a digestible and meaningful way. source
