Released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs …
Program is part of nation’s largest pharmacogenomic testing efforts
October 7, 2019
GAINESVILLE, FL— The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Sanford Health, a Midwest-based health care system, will provide pharmacogenomic testing to U.S. Veteran patients at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. The donation-funded program is part of an innovative partnership to improve patient outcomes to medications.
Pharmacogenomics Action for Cancer Survivorship (PHASeR), is funded by a $25 million gift from philanthropist Denny Sanford and a matching fundraising effort from Sanford Health. The pharmacogenomic test results will help patients’ physicians with clinical decision-making for a variety of pharmaceutical treatments, including mental health and cardiovascular diseases, and pain management. The test can help determine which medications may be more effective for patients and those that are less likely to produce adverse reactions. Pharmacogenomic testing allows providers to make informed decisions about Veterans health care.
“This is an important opportunity to give back to Veterans for the service they gave to us,” said Deepak Voora, M.D., Director, VA PHASeR Program, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine. “This only enhances VA’s ability to meet new and emerging needs for Veterans, their families and caregivers.”
While cancer survivors are of specific interest, a diagnosis of cancer is not required to participate in the program. It will expand to up to 250,000 U.S. Veterans at over 100 sites by 2022. It launched in March 2019 in Durham, North Carolina.
Veterans can get access to the pharmacogenomic testing through a blood draw at their local VA facility, Sanford Health processes the tests at its South Dakota-based Imagenetics facility, and the patient and their physician will receive the results to help with their clinical decision making.
About Sanford Health
Sanford Health, one of the largest health systems in the United States, is dedicated to the integrated delivery of health care, genomic medicine, senior care and services, global clinics, research and affordable insurance. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization includes 44 hospitals, 1,400 physicians and more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations in 26 states and nine countries. Nearly $1 billion in gifts from philanthropist Denny Sanford have transformed how Sanford Health improves the human condition. For information, visit sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.
Sanford Imagenetics began in 2014 thanks to a $125 million gift from Denny Sanford. More than 90 percent of their patients who have been tested have been found to carry a genetic change that could affect medication selection or dosing. Test results are shared with physicians through the electronic medical record to ensure efficiency and accuracy in choosing treatments.
For additional information, please contact the local site coordinator, Katherine Solis at 352-548-6000 ext. 10455 or omerea.solis@va.gov.