other companies will only test for 30 genes. Ask vendors to provide you with a sample report so you can get a detailed idea of what kind of information you will be able to share with your patients.
"The feedback we have been getting from our patients is that
our panel is more extensive and provided at a lower cost than what they are able to find online," Nichols said.
When Greenwood Pharmacy decided on Rx Genomix as their
vendor, they enrolled with the company as a provider, which means they can send samples to the company's lab for testing. They pay Rx Genomix for each test rather than paying on a contract basis.
"It's very simple. We send the tests in and receive the lab
reports, and then we get an invoice for the test, which we pay for," Nichols explained. "It allows for really good cash flow prediction, which made it an easy decision for us to start offering the service."
On the patient side of the payment equation, some insurance
plans cover pharmacogenetic testing, but that coverage is spotty. Greenwood offers their pharmacogenetic testing as a cash service, and the service began turning a profit just a few months after implementing it.
IMPLEMENTING PHARMACOGENETICS
WHO IS PHARMACOGENETIC TESTING FOR?
"It's still a relatively new service, but it was nice when we started to
Most patients can benefit from learning more about how
and those referrals really helped us along," Nichols said. "I would
Like any new service, one of the biggest challenges Greenwood Pharmacy faced was simply getting the word out to the community. have providers reach out to us asking questions about the service,
their genes affect their medical treatment, but certain
definitely recommend that people reach out to local providers to
conditions are more frequently treated with medications
see who is interested." Tell them about the test that you offer and
that have a pharmacogenetic implication. Patients with
the kind of results you can share with patients, because they may
these conditions may see an even greater benefit from
see a way to apply that information to their practice.
pharmacogenetic testing:
Another asset Greenwood had when starting its program
was an online scheduling program where patients book their
• Acute or chronic pain • High blood pressure • Depression • Anxiety • Mental health conditions • Diabetes • High cholesterol • Cancer Source: Rx Genomix
• Arthritis • Acid reflux • Peptic ulcer • Migraines • Thyroid disorders • Asthma/COPD • Heart attack
appointment online. "It made things a lot easier that we could predict when people were going to be interested in the service and make sure to have it available for them," Nichols said. "It definitely helped us manage our workflow a little better."
Training staff on the cheek swabbing was fairly easy, as the
skill overlaps with some of the other services the pharmacy offers. "There's not much of a training barrier," Nichols said. "We were doing the nasal swab for patients during Covid, and transitioning to a cheek swab for the pharmacogenetic testing meant that training for that collection was really easy."
Greenwood Pharmacy is one of the University of Iowa’s
community-based residency sites, and the residents can easily perform the service. "In pharmacy school, we learn a lot about the main enzymes that pharmacogenetic tests evaluate, so our residents are already trained and knowledgeable about how to evaluate these tests," he said. Overall, pharmacogenetic testing has required no time-consuming staff training or burdensome workflow disruption.
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