Popular science fiction movies and TV shows feature medical care that involves holding a device next to the patient and immediately knowing the precise medication or treatment needed. While in current reality more work goes into gathering the data for clinical decision making, precision medicine and the technology that supports it is bringing healthcare closer to this fictional future.

Precision medicine takes into account genetics, environment, and lifestyle to determine the best treatment for an individual patient.¹ Worldwide there is a growing need for improved drug safety and efficacy.² Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) rank as the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.³ In response, focus is being placed on precision medicine solutions, such as targeted drug therapies and adoption of treatment procedures that reduce side effects and achieve accurate results.²

With more focus on precision medicine, we have the potential to increase doctors’ ability to use genetic and other molecular information as part of routine care. We can better understand underlying causes of disease. We can improve approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.¹

To enable healthcare providers to quickly, efficiently, and accurately predict the most appropriate course of action for a patient, we need to equip them with tools that enhance their clinical workflow and decision making. The right tools can simplify the process of determining the right laboratory testing, medication, or dose.⁴  

For example, using pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing, we can learn how our bodies are likely to process and react to medication. With PGx test results, the provider can select an increased or lowered dose or choose one medication over another to best suit the patient’s genetic makeup. With an increase in the use of PGx testing, however, comes additional responsibility for the healthcare provider to select a test from the more than 65,000 available and to interpret the results to select the correct treatment.

DecisionRx helps healthcare providers wade through all of the information by combining conventional medication therapy management (MTM), pharmacogenomics, and integrated engagement and monitoring workflows specific to the individual patient. PGx Advisor enables precision prescribing by producing a detailed Rx Scoring Report using a real-time database of drug interactions, FDA warnings and pharmacogenomic markers combined with prescription and medical claims, formulary and demographic data. To learn more about DecisionRx request a demo  today.