EHR and Interoperability Must Evolve to Integrate Genomic Data

“As genomic data becomes more prevalent and complex, EHRs must adapt and evolve to provide better patient care, according to a statement released by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).

Genetic and genomic testing has become an important tool to enhance clinical decision-making and ultimately precision medicine. However, health IT, especially the EHR, are not able to integrate and interpret this data, ACMG said.

In order to integrate genomic information into EHRs, amplifying patient autonomy, access, genetic literacy, privacy and protection, transferability of data, and assigning a data set must occur.

“The electronic health record serves as a powerful interactive tool in improving the healthcare of patients and populations,” Terri Grebe, MD, FACMG Chair of the ACMG Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues Committee, said in a statement.

“As an integral component of medical treatment, genomic data in the EHR must therefore be continuously and easily accessible to both patients and providers, while simultaneously receiving appropriate privacy protection, to achieve the goal of personalized medicine. This ACMG document provides guidelines on the storage and access of genomic information, improvements in EHR systems, and ethical issues surrounding the sharing of genomic data.”

ACMG addressed types of genomic information in the EHR, mechanisms of placement, data entry, usage, patient/provider access, results disclosure, portability, and privacy.

In the past, there have been differing viewpoints of why EHRs may not be adequate for precision medicine and genomic research, and it mostly circled around the lack of interoperability.

However, ACMG outlined specific points that highlighted placement, data usage, entry, patient and provider access, privacy, portability, and results disclosure that address the potential for genetic data EHR integration.

In order to achieve further EHR optimization, ACMG outlined a series of guidelines…”

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View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P