2bPrecise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allscripts, is conducting an early adopter program at the National Institutes of Health.

A longtime Allscripts Sunrise EHR client, NIH is deploying 2bPrecise’s cloud-based genomics and precision medicine platform at its hospital, National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, or NIH/CC.

The goal is to take clinical and genomic information and make it actionable, structured, machine-readable and machine-learning for physicians. And then take those results and inject the relevant information back into workflows, according to Assaf Halevy, 2bPrecise founder and CEO.

“We focus on the last mile of genomics and cross-collating clinical info with genomics and bring it to the point-of-care,” Halevy said. “With NIH, we’re putting this to the test and demonstrating the value of genomics in clinical and research activity.”

[Special Report: Precision medicine: Analytics, data science, EHRs in the new age]

Researchers are currently analyzing data sources and specific end users. And in October 2bPrecise plans to release results of the early stages, which will act as the code used at NIH, Halevy explained.

The biggest goal is to demonstrate the potential value of genomics at the point-of-care and its ability to work within workflows today, he added.

As a whole, the Precision Medicine Initiative has brought genomics into the spotlight, but providers have been resistant. 2bPrecise CMO Joel Diamond, MD, however, explained that many healthcare organizations have already been using genetic tests — some without even realizing it. Genomic testing has been expanding, and in some instances, being routinely used in places like the NICU and cardiology departments.

The problem is access, where the genomic data isn’t readily-accessible in EHR workflows. “If I have to go look somewhere for genomic data, then the reality is that I’m not going to go looking for it,” Diamond said. “Anytime doctors have to go outside their workflow or use another source, it’s pretty certain they’re going to skip that step. Adding genetic data to the workflow will be a giant step and dramatically change how genomics is done.”

Right now, 2bPrecise researchers are working on the concept of bringing genomic knowledge into the workplace to determine how to bring data into the workflow, Halevy explained. This will become the foundation for doing interesting things with genomics.

“People are recognizing genomics is needed, powerful and useful,” Halevy said. “What’s missing are regulations and reimbursement around this type of data. As healthcare continues to move into this space, I think we’ll see another spike in interest, with a huge level of interest and motivation to try to use genomics more.”

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

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