Abstract
First Databank (FDB), a company that provides drug and medical device knowledge to health professionals, and Translational Software, a clinical decision support tools developer, recently launched a collaboration to bring pharmacogenomics drug knowledge to clinical workflows, including electronic health records (EHRs). The joint effort will combine FDB’s medicine management expertise along with Translational Software’s genomic content.
“With Translational Software’s [knowledge] base from over 80 labs, we see a battle-tested repository of interpretive knowledge for genomic findings to build on top of,” said George Robinson, senior product manager at FDB. “FDB has a long history of tight integration with many of the players in hospital EHRs, ambulatory EHRs, pharmacy management systems, and increasingly, population health solutions.”
Don Rule, the founder and CEO of Translational Software, said that in addition to the network of labs the company works with now, it could also work with organizations that want to conduct in-house testing.
“I think one of the things that is unique to the solution that we’re offering is that it allows folks to integrate genetic results from a variety of different sources,” said Chuck Tuchinda, president of FDB. “This solution will really make genetic testing results, their interpretation, and their impact in medications available to a bulk of clinicians because it can leverage results from external labs, internal labs, from anywhere they may be.”
pe-art / Getty Images
Tuchinda added that FDB plans to provide “highly actionable data” so that when a clinician is about to prescribe a relevant drug and there is a known genetic result for that patient, the system can automatically inform them of dose or drug adjustments that are required. “One of the big differentiators of our partnership is it’s focusing on the research insights that will actually change the prescriber’s behavior,” Tuchinda noted.
“At this point, we’re prepared to support early adopters of the content,” Robinson said. “What we’re learning is that we really need to work closely with our vendor partners to deliver solutions that are going to meet their unique needs.” Currently, FDB is working with EHR and health information system vendors Epic Systems, MEDITECH, and athenahealth.