Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem has launched a new Pharmacogenomics Clinic, the first of its kind in the Chicagoland area and one of only a handful in the country.
Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affect a person's response to drugs. Because of each individual's genes, a drug that works well for one person may not be as effective for another.
Pharmacogenomics — a pharmaceutically focused area of personalized medicine — ensures physicians are administering the right dosage of the right medicine at the right time to patients, resulting in safer and more effective drug treatment.
NorthShore's Pharmacogenomics Clinic will allow the system to preemptively screen patients' genetic makeup and integrate individualized clinical decision support alerts for medications into the system's EMRs.
Through the clinic, patients are also able to speak with genetics counselors, pharmacogenomics-trained pharmacists and medical geneticists.
The Pharmacogenomics Clinic is part of the NorthShore's Center for Medical Genetics, which is under the umbrella of the system's Center for Personalized Medicine.
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