Introducing pharmacogenetic testing with clinical decision support into primary care: a feasibility study.

backgroundInappropriate prescribing increases patient illness and death owing to adverse drug events. The inclusion of genetic information into primary care medication practices is one solution. Our aim was to assess the ability to obtain and genotype saliva samples and to determine the levels of use of a decision support tool that creates medication options adjusted for patient characteristics, drug-drug interactions and pharmacogenetics.

methodsWe conducted a cohort study in 6 primary care settings (5 family practices and 1 pharmacy), enrolling 191 adults with at least 1 of 10 common diseases. Saliva samples were obtained in the physician's office or pharmacy and sent to our laboratory, where DNA was extracted and genotyped and reports were generated. The reports were sent directly to the family physician/pharmacist and linked to an evidence-based prescribing decision support system. The primary outcome was ability to obtain and genotype samples. The secondary outcomes were yield and purity of DNA samples, ability to link results to decision support software and use of the decision support software.

resultsGenotyping resulted in linking of 189 patients (99%) with pharmacogenetic reports to the decision support program. A total of 96.8% of samples had at least 1 actionable genotype for medications included in the decision support system. The medication support system was used by the physicians and pharmacists 236 times over 3 months.

interpretationPhysicians and pharmacists can collect saliva samples of sufficient quantity and quality for DNA extraction, purification and genotyping. A clinical decision support system with integrated data from pharmacogenetic tests may enable personalized prescribing within primary care.