Clinical Pharmacy Forum
Sunday, October 13, 2024
12:45 PM–02:15 PM
Abstract
Service or Program:
A pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing service was implemented in two ambulatory collaborative practice settings that provide behavioral health services, including a federally qualified community health center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Crossroads Health Center, and a direct primary care practice in Searcy, Arkansas, OneLife Direct Care. Both settings integrated a pharmacist into the patient care process to provide medication management while utilizing PGx testing.
Justification/Documentation:
When treating mental health disorders, many factors influence medication selection. Due to a lack of objective information to inform treatment, prescribing often follows a trial-and-error approach, with patients having to trial several medications before ever achieving remission. Since genetic variation may play a role in how patients metabolize or respond to their medications, utilizing pharmacogenomic data may help reduce some of the trial-and-error process.
Adaptability:
While the workflow and implementation of PGx into medication therapy management (MTM) services can vary based on practice setting, there are some key similarities in how PGx testing is utilized in the behavioral health treatment process. By comparing the implementation and workflow of PGx services in two different outpatient practices, pharmacists can adapt processes that might work best for their own outpatient settings. The reimbursement of pharmacist services related to PGx testing can also vary state to state, but different methods of billing for PGx testing services may be utilized in these ambulatory settings.
Significance:
Pharmacists are ideally positioned to interpret and contextualize PGx results, given their extensive training in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and MTM. Since the inception of these PGx services in 2016 at Crossroads and in 2022 at OneLife, 1451 patients and 146 patients have undergone PGx testing, respectively. Pharmacist-led implementation of PGx at both clinic sites demonstrated the feasibility of testing in a collaborative setting and increased patient confidence in the providers’ medication selections.
Presenting Author
Samantha Socco Pharm.D.Myriad Genetics
Authors
Morgan Freas Pharm.D.
Myriad Genetics
Kale Hanavan Pharm.D.
Myriad Genetics
Ellen Jones PharmD, BA Music & Theatre
Harding University College of Pharmacy
Sue Paul BS Pharm
SyneRxgy Consulting, LLC