System and method for genetic based efficacy testing

Abstract

System and methods for alerting a healthcare provider to prescribed treatments having reduced or no effectiveness due to genetic composition is provided. A database containing treatments known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having particular genetic markers is queried to determine whether any treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, a healthcare provider to the patient are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient. An alert containing such information is displayed at a healthcare provider system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for alerting a healthcare provider to prescribed treatments likely to have reduced or no effectiveness due to genetic composition, the system comprising:
 a healthcare provider system comprising an electronic display and one or more electronic storage devices comprising data regarding treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to each of a number of patients treated by the healthcare provider;   one or more databases comprising data regarding treatments known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having particular genetic markers;   one or more genetic sequencing machines; and   a laboratory system in electronic communication with the one or more databases, the healthcare provider system, and the one or more genetic sequencing machines, said laboratory system comprising one or more processors and one or more electronic storage devices comprising software instructions, which when executed, configure said one or more processors to:
 electronically receive genetic testing results from the one or more genetic sequencing machines comprising genetic markers of a patient from said number of patients treated by the healthcare provider; 
 electronically receive a list of the treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient from the healthcare provider system; 
 query the one or more databases to determine whether any of the treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient is known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient; and 
 transmit instructions to the healthcare provider system configured to cause said healthcare provider system to automatically generate an alert for display at the electronic display indicating any of the treatments in the list of treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient which are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient following attempt to access or modify information regarding said treatments in the list of treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient which are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 said healthcare provider system comprises an electronic medical record system. 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein:
 said healthcare provider system comprises one or more processors and additional software instructions stored at the one or more electronic storage devices, which when executed, configure the one or more processors to display a list comprising identifying information for each of said number of patients treated by the healthcare provider; 
 said alert comprises an indicator associated with the patient which indicates whether any of said treatments prescribed, or likely to be prescribed, to said patient are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient; and 
 said instructions are configured to designate said treatments prescribed, or likely to be prescribed, to said patient that are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient as an allergy in an allergy field of the electronic medical record system. 
 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein:
 said healthcare provider system further comprises diagnostic codes and treatment codes for each of said number of patients treated by the healthcare provider stored at the one or more electronic storage devices; and 
 the one or more electronic storage devices of the laboratory system comprise additional software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors of the laboratory system to:
 receive said diagnostic codes and said treatment codes for the patient from the healthcare provider system; 
 automatically determine which genetic tests qualify as medically necessary based on the diagnostic codes and the treatment codes; 
 automatically generate a list of ordered tests with the genetic tests qualifying as medically necessary; and 
 automatically transmit the list of ordered tests to the healthcare provider system. 
 
 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein:
 the one or more electronic storage devices of the laboratory system comprise additional software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors of the laboratory system to generate and transmit instructions for the automated assembly of a genetic testing device for one of the one or more genetic sequencing machines in accordance with the list of ordered tests. 
 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 said one or more databases comprise a list of alternative treatment options, each associated with one or more treatment options; and 
 the one or more electronic storage devices of the laboratory system comprise additional software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors of the laboratory system to retrieve, and include in the alert, certain of the alternative treatment options from said list of alternative treatment options associated with the one or more treatment options matching each of said treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient which are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient. 
 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 the one or more electronic storage devices of the healthcare provider system comprises standardized diagnostic codes for each of said number of patients treated by the healthcare provider stored at the electronic storage device; 
 said one or more databases comprises a list of alternative treatment options, each associated with at least one of the standardized diagnostic codes; and 
 the one or more electronic storage devices of the laboratory system comprise additional software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors of the laboratory system to retrieve certain of the alternative treatment options from said list of alternative treatment options associated with the standardized diagnostic codes matching each condition diagnosed by the healthcare provider as recorded as one or more of the standardized diagnostic codes at the healthcare provider system known to normally require at least one of the treatments which is known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient for inclusion in the alert. 
 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 one or more personal electronic devices in electronic communication with the healthcare provider system, wherein said healthcare provider system comprises a web-based portal accessible by way of the one or more personal electronic devices. 
 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 said one or more databases comprise standardized diagnostic codes and a list of commonly prescribed treatments, wherein each of the standardized diagnostic codes is electronically associated with one or more of the commonly prescribed treatments; and 
 said one or more electronic storage devices of the laboratory system comprises additional software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors of the laboratory system to:
 receive certain of the standardized diagnostic codes from the healthcare provider system for the patient; and 
 query the one or more databases to retrieve the commonly prescribed treatments associated with the received one or ones of the standardized diagnostic codes to determine the treatments likely to be prescribed to the patient. 
 
 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 said healthcare provider system, said one or more databases, and said laboratory system are remote from one another and are interconnected electronically by way of one or more networks; and 
 said one or more genetic sequencing machines and said laboratory system are interconnected electronically by way of one or more local networks. 
 
     
     
         11 . An automated system for providing genetic efficacy testing results, the system comprising:
 user systems, each comprising an electronic display and one or more electronic storage devices comprising medical records information, and treatment codes indicating various treatments prescribed by healthcare providers to patients;   one or more databases comprising data regarding medications known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having particular genetic markers;   at least one machine for determining genetic markers for individuals; and   a laboratory system in electronic communication with a health information exchange server, the one or more databases, and the at least one machine, wherein the laboratory system comprises one or more processors and one or more electronic storage devices comprising software instructions, which when executed, configure the one or more processors to:
 receive the treatment codes for a particular one of the patients; 
 transmit electronic instructions to said at least one machine to cause said at least one machine to perform testing for certain of the genetic markers; 
 receive testing results from the at least one machine indicating the certain genetic markers; 
 query the one or more databases to determine whether any treatments associated with the treatment codes received for the particular one of the patients are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the certain genetic markers as determined in the testing results; and 
 transmit an indication to at least the user systems associated with the healthcare provider ordering the tests, said indication indicating the treatments having reduced or no efficacy for the particular one of the patients, which indication is configured to be automatically displayed in the particular one of the patients previously existing electronic medical records file at the user systems. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein:
 said laboratory system comprises additional software instructions stored at the one or more electronic storage devices, which when executed, configures the one or more processors of the laboratory system to determine if tests for each of a plurality of the genetic markers qualify as medically necessary based upon the standardized treatment codes received for the particular one of the patients, wherein the certain genetic markers comprise those determined to qualify as medically necessary. 
 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein:
 the healthcare information exchange system is in electronic communication with each of the user systems, wherein transmission of the instructions to the user systems is by way of the HIE. 
 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  wherein:
 said one or more databases comprises a list of alternative treatment options; and 
 said laboratory system comprises additional software instructions stored at the one or more electronic storage devices, which when executed, configures the one or more processors to retrieve available one or ones of the alternative treatment options for each of the treatments having reduced or no efficacy. 
 
     
     
         15 . A method for automatically alerting a healthcare provider to prescribed treatments having reduced or no efficacy, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing, at a healthcare provider system, an electronic list of treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, a healthcare provider to each of a number of patients treated by the healthcare provider;   providing a database comprising data regarding treatments known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having particular genetic markers;   providing a healthcare information exchange system (“HIE”) in electronic communication with a plurality of healthcare provider systems, including the healthcare provider system;   electronically receiving genetic testing results at a laboratory system indicating the presence of non-presence of tested for genetic markers for a patient of said number of patients treated by the healthcare provider;   querying the database, by way of the laboratory system, to determine whether any treatments in the list of treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient;   generating, at the laboratory system, instructions for generating an alert indicating which of the treatments in the list of treatments prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient; and   displaying, at an electronic display associated with the healthcare provider system, the alert following access to data regarding the patient at the healthcare provider system in accordance with the instructions.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the steps of:
 electronically storing, at the healthcare provider system, standardized diagnostic codes, standardized treatment codes, and insurance information for the patient; 
 electronically determining, at the laboratory system, which genetic tests are covered by the patient's insurance; 
 automatically adding, at the laboratory system, tests for genetic markers covered by the patient's insurance to a list of ordered tests; and 
 electronically transmitting instructions from the laboratory system to one or more genetic sequencing machines for performing the list of ordered tests. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising the steps of:
 providing, at the database, a list of commonly prescribed treatments, each associated with one or more of the standardized diagnostic codes; and 
 querying the database to retrieve the commonly prescribed treatments associated with each of the provided ones of the standardized diagnostic codes to determine the treatments likely to be prescribed to the patient. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising the steps of:
 providing, at the database, one or more alternative treatment options, each associated with one or more of the standardized treatment codes; 
 querying the database to retrieve alternative treatment options for each medication prescribed by, or likely to be prescribed by, the healthcare provider to the patient which are known to have reduced or no efficacy in persons having the same genetic markers as the patient; and 
 displaying, at the healthcare provider system, each of said alternative treatment options. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein:
 said healthcare provider system comprises an electronic medical record; and 
 said alternative treatment options comprise medications. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the steps of:
 generating, at the laboratory system, electronic instructions for one or more genetic sequencing machines to perform genetic testing; and 
 transmitting, from the laboratory system to the one or more genetic sequencing machines, said electronic instructions to perform said genetic testing.