Precision Insights Podcast

Dr. Jamie Wilkey, Founder of PGx Consulting Confidence Academy and CEO of Arches Health is joined by our CMO, Dr. Bernard Esquivel, to share her thoughts on implementing pharmacogenetics into point of care and the changing role of pharmacists.   

Show Notes: 

(0:15) - Dr. Jamie Wilkey introduction 

(3:08) - PGx as a piece of the puzzle

(5:16) - Delivering PGx to point of care

(9:20) - Education and training 

(12:02) - The role of the pharmacist 

(15:49) - Trends for pharmacists

(17:52) - Takeaways for pharmacists

(20:53) - Closing remarks 

Dr. Asha Pai Bohannon, PharmD, CDCES, CPT, Owner & CEO of Patient Advocacy Initiative (PAI) Wellness Group joins us to discuss holistic approaches to patient care, patient empowerment and education, and making an impact.  

Show Notes:

(0:23) - Dr. Asha Pai Bohannon introduction

(1:44) - Dr. Asha's holistic approach

(7:02) - Patient empowerment

(11:11) - Diabetes success story 

(18:15) - Helping pharmacists become their own advocates

(21:45) - Making an impact

(26:50) - Provider Collaboration 

(28:00) - Closing remarks

Sue Paul, RPh, Founder of SyneRxgy Consulting and Co-Founder of Medipreneurs and PGx101, and Dr. Amy Van Milligan, Internal Medicine/Pediatric Specialist, join us to discuss deprescribing, collaborative care, and pharmacogenetic success stories.  

Show Notes:

(00:11) - Introducing Sue Paul & Dr. Amy Van Milligan

(3:00) - Benefit of introducing pharmacogenetics to Dr Van Milligan's clinic 

(4:15) - Eliminating Trial and Error

(12:14) - Benefits of having a pharmacist on a care team

(15:17) - Deprescribing success story

(24:55) - Adoption of pharmacogenetics in cardiology pain management and opioids

(26:21) - Another success story 

(32:00) - Advice to pharmacists

(33:18) - Collaborative care

(34:38) - Sue's certification program

Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa, Chief Scientific Officer of Genome Canada as well as Founder & President of ODNS Canada, joins our very own Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bernard Esquivel, to share her expertise on how genomics can reach its full potential, tackle health disparities, create equity, and have a global impact.

Show Notes:

(00:25) – Introducing Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa

(02:55) – The intersection of COVID-19 and Genomics

(06:10) – How data sharing will help pharmacogenomics reach its full potential

(14:30) – The delivery of pharmacogenomics into clinical care

(19:30) – Using genomics to tackle health disparities and create equity

(25:20) – What is the future strategy for using genomics?

(32:30) – Key takeaways for clinicians, the industry, and academia

(36:20) – Catalina’s message for women, minorities, and intersectional groups pursing science

(38:25) – Closing Remarks

Neda Leonard, CEO of Rx Gene IQ and a Dual Board-Certified Pharmacist in Pharmacotherapy and Geriatrics, joins us today, with her patient, Joey Stanford, to discuss how precision medicine identified the underlying cause of Joey’s lifelong health issues.

Show Notes:

(00:35) – Introducing Neda

(01:30) – Neda Leonard’s background and professional interests

(07:00) – Introducing Joey Stanford

(07:50) – Joey's Story

(12:30) – The Complications of Multiple Insurers

(15:00) – Joey’s two big discoveries from Pharmacogenetics

(18:50) – Say Goodbye to Trial and Error

(19:30) – How to solve the patient’s puzzle

(24:00) – How to decongest the “Polypharmacy Highway”

(25:00) – Education and Advocacy to Scale

(26:40) – What is the problem and why are there so few solutions for it?

(31:40) – Using a team effort to detect which patients benefit the most

(35:00) – Closing remarks

Wrenda Teeple, the Chief Clinical Officer and Director of Regulatory Affairs at Arbit Consulting, joins us today to provide her expertise on PGx implementation, study designs, and the tension between the evidence we have and the evidence that we need.

Show Notes:

1:30 – Introductions

5:40 –Wrenda’s Passion for PGx

6:45 – STRIPE and Playing the PGx Long game

11:05 – Studying PGx

13:25 – What is the validity and implications of the data?

18:47 – The tension improving quality of evidence and implementing PGx today.

24:00 – Under Construction

26:20 – Wrenda’s key takeaways

29:00 – Resources to investigate

1:41 Dr. Limdi’s introduction to pharmacogenetics

2:55 The value of mentorship

6:03 Qualities of a good mentor and how to find a mentor

8:12 Academic research from a clinical pharmacist’s perspective

9:48 The evolution of pharmacogenetic research

15:36 How pharmacogenetic implementation may be changing

20:47 The intersection between race and genomics

25:13 Equity, race, and genomic research

30:16 Final thoughts: The importance of diversity in genomic research, the impact of genomic research on the overall scientific community, and the implementation of genomics in practice

Stephen Creasy, the Director of Clinical Services at PharMerica, joins us to talk about how PharMerica approached pandemic response at their long-term care facilities, the potential of pharmacogenetics and precision medicine in long-term care settings, and the importance of embracing new technologies to improve patient care.

Show Notes: 

2:15 Stephen’s past experience and why he joined Pharmerica

5:40 Key takeaways working at Pharmerica / What is long-term care?

7:07 Pandemic response

9:10 Vaccine rollout

12:00 Application of pharmacogenetics in prescribing

16:24 How the vaccine rollout can inform the best approaches to future novel programs

18:10 Potential for pharmacogenetics in long term care settings

20:40 Challenges for precision medicine in long term care

22:34 Importance of embracing new technologies

Find Stephen Creasy on LinkedIn

Jennifer Leib and Megan Anderson Brooks, Founder and Principal respectively of Innovation Policy Solution, joins us in this episode to discuss some of the most important US policies that relate to precision medicine, how COVID-19 has impacted the discussions surrounding the intersection of precision medicine and politics and the upcoming policy decisions that will shape the landscape of precision medicine in years to come.

1:04 - What does Innovation Policy Solutions do?

2:56 - What were your respective journeys to IPS?

7:45 - Politics and progress: what can regulations do?

15:20 - Recent changes in the regularization of lab-developed tests

25:46 - Pharmacists: how has COVID changed their role, and how does that affect PGx?

28:44 - The regulatory story behind value-based care

33:15 - The implications of gene patenting regulations

38:00 - Keep an eye out: the landscape and future of data sharing regulations

45:30 - Precision medicine and politics: The most important takeaways

Todd Sega is the Senior Vice President of Development and Strategy at Pharmacy Quality Solutions, or PQS, which is a company specialized in performance management solutions for pharmacies. Todd joined us in this episode to talk about value-based pharmacy services, and the current landscape of precision medicine and what types of quality measures might be developed in response to these changes. 

Show Notes:

To ensure high quality of care, Pharmacy Quality Solutions (PQS) develops performance management solutions for pharmacies that help identify areas for operational enhancement, rebates, and financial programs.

Todd shares insightful trends being seen within community pharmacies.

1:28 – History of PQS and quality measures

4:15 – PQS’s current role

7:30 – The relationship between community pharmacies and health plans before PQA was created

8:00 – Pharmacy services administrative organizations (PSAOs)

9:26 – The evolving “bridge” between community pharmacies and health plans

12:00 – Todd’s background

18:30 – The PQS Industry trend report

24:00 – Preparedness of pharmacies and payers to transition into outcome-based quality measures

25:24 – The correlation between adherence to antidepressant medication and other medications

26:56 – The focus of payers on mental health outcomes

29:35 – The opportunity for pharmacogenetics in community pharmacy

32:56 – Quality measures needed for the adoption of pharmacogenetics

35:08 – Impact of COVID-19 on the future of community pharmacies

38:40 – Hear more from Todd