Objective: Prior to implementing a trial to evaluate the economic costs and clinical outcomes of pharmacogenetic testing in a large safety net health care system, we determined the number of patients taking targeted medications and their clinical care encounter sites.
Methods: Using 1-year electronic medical record data, we evaluated the number of patients who had started one or more of 30 known pharmacogenomically actionable medications and the number of care encounter sites the patients had visited.
Results: Results showed 7039 unique patients who started one or more of the target medications within a 12-month period with visits to 73 care sites within the system.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that the type of large-scale, multi-drug, multi-gene approach to pharmacogenetic testing we are planning is widely relevant, and successful implementation will require wide-scale education of prescribers and other personnel involved in medication dispensing and handling.
Keywords: Pharmacoepidemiology; genetic polymorphism; genotype; patient safety; pharmacogenetics; pharmacogenomics.