PGx is an abbreviation for Pharmacogenomics or Pharmacogenetics. Although those “in the know”, in the large drug companies, now just call it “PG”. Today was the first day of the ‘5th Workshop: Regulatory Decision Making’, sponsored by the FDA and the DIA (Drug Information Association), held in Rockville, MD. The crowd was about 300 attendees, […]
Adoption of the EHR in Physician Office Settings
Conventional wisdom suggests that physician-based office practices have been slow to adopt Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. According to a survey from 2007, the biggest barriers to adoption include the cost of initial capitalization (84% of respondents), start-up financial costs ongoing financial costs (82%), and loss of productivity (81%) for physician office settings (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2215070/?report=abstract). There […]
Personalized Medicine Ignites Hospital System
The Ignite Institute is a new non-profit institute based in the National Capital region. Ignite is one of the first entities to fully integrate biomedical research, development, commercialization, all integrated into a hospital and healthcare network. In November 2009, Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine announced a $200 million commitment from the State and its partners to […]
Outlook for a NHIN Seems Dim
The Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) is still being defined by the Office of the National Coordinator’s Office for Health IT – more specifically the Health IT Policy Committee. The goal appears to be to build a new infrastructure using “a collection of protocols, legal agreements, specifications, and services that enables the secure exchange of […]
Feds Enable Genome-based EHR
Although not mentioned as one of the ‘Meaningful Use’ or ‘Initial Set of Standards and Certification Criteria’ for a Certified or Complete Electronic Health Record (see http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc/), a new federal guideline to enable the use of personal genomic data in EHRs is being developed, according to sources within HHS. The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department (VA), […]
FDA Expands Gene Testing for Drug Prescription
“The FDA considers both unwanted harmful effects and lack of efficacy to be adverse events. When considering candidates for pharmacogenomic relabeling, the FDA evaluates the severity of the adverse reaction, the degree to which genetics predicts the reaction, and the total number of individuals likely to be affected. These factors are important in assessing the […]
One-on-One w/MedStar Health’s Gerry Higgins – Part 2
Gerald Higgins, PhD., MBA, MS, is not your typical CIO — that’s because Higgins is a chief innovation officer. Getting paid not to carry out EMR implementations or persuade physicians to embrace CPOE, Higgins is remunerated to “see what’s happening one or two hills over the horizon.” With a dizzying array of jobs and accomplishments […]
One-on-One w/MedStar Health’s Gerry Higgins
Gerald Higgins, PhD., MBA, MS, is not your typical CIO — that’s because Higgins is a chief innovation officer. Getting paid not to carry out EMR implementations or persuade physicians to embrace CPOE, Higgins is remunerated to “see what’s happening one or two hills over the horizon.” With a dizzying array of jobs and accomplishments […]