HHS considers adding genetic information to EHRs

This has been the first public announcement I have heard on the topic, even though I began commenting on this about 6 months ago on the blog here, good to see it is work in progress.  First order of business is to get some standardizations in place.  The National  Library of Congress is already working on the project to help supply the software vendors the information needed to create such interfaces.  Patient consent will also be required.  This will be a large project indeed and then there is work to bring information in to the PHR as well, as patients may want the option to have the information first in their own personal health records before sharing with a physician with services such as Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health.  BD 

The American Health Information Community is recommending that the federal government prepare for the day when people will choose to electronically store their genetic makeup so that doctors can match medical treatments to their genes.
Scientists are beginning to make connections between patients’ genetic characteristics and responses to particular medications. For example, certain breast cancers are linked to the patient’s genes, and those cancers can be treated more effectively now that that connection is understood.

http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350407-1.html

Technorati Tags: PHR,EHR,Genomics,DNA,HealthCare

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