Retired innovation

This innovation is no longer being updated.

Last updated 2024-06-13T15:10:49Z

Pharmacogenomics testing for Veterans (PHASER)

Our goal is to optimize the use of nearly 40 medicines by adjusting prescriptions to a Veterans genetic profile. Using a blood sample, Veterans are tested for 11 different genes that affect medications for mental health, pain, cardiovascular, & inflammatory conditions. Alerts are placed in the medical record to warn a provider during prescribing of a drug-gene interaction & to recommend changes.

Origin:

March 2019, Durham VA Medical Center

Adoptions:

13 successful, 9 in-progress

Awards and Recognition:

FedHealth IT Award

Overview

Problem

Solution

Results

Diffusion tracker

Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)

AL: Birmingham VA Medical Center (Birmingham, Alabama) AZ: Carl T. Hayden Veterans' Administration Medical Center (Phoenix, Arizona) DC: Washington VA Medical Center (Washington, District of Columbia) FL: Malcom Randall Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Gainesville) GA: Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center (Atlanta, Georgia) MA: Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center (Jamaica Plain) MO: Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Columbia, Missouri) NC: Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Asheville) NC: Durham VA Medical Center (Durham) NC: W.G. (Bill) Hefner Salisbury Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Salisbury) PA: Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) TX: Michael E. DeBakey Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Houston) UT: George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Salt Lake City)

AR: John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Little Rock, Arkansas) CA: Palo Alto VA Medical Center (Palo Alto, California) FL: Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Miami) KS: Robert J. Dole Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center (Wichita) NM: Raymond G. Murphy Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Albuquerque) OH: Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic (Columbus, Ohio) PA: Pittsburgh VA Medical Center-University Drive (Pittsburgh) SD: Royal C. Johnson Veterans' Memorial Hospital (Sioux Falls) WI: William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Madison)

There are no unsuccessful adoptions for this innovation.

Multimedia

Images

Deepak Voora, MD (Director, PHASER program) discusses the pharmacogenomic testing offered through the PHASER program with one of his patients and the first Veteran to be tested under the program. PHASER testing is typically offered by providers during a patient encounter. Results are returned to patients by the PHASER program and stored in the medical record for future use.

Implementation

Timeline

Month 1

Signed letter of commitment
Months 2-3

Kickoff Meeting

End-to-End Test with Sanford Health (Dry Run)

PHASER Steering Committee Established

First Project Plan Review
Months 4-12

Second Project Plan Review (Go-Live +1 Month)

Primary care clinic deployment

Behavioral health clinic deployment

Cardiology clinic deployment

Oncology clinic deployment

Departments

Pharmacy
Geriatrics
Coronary care unit
Education and training
Information technology
Information management
Primary care

Core Resources

Files

PatientBrochure_v23_2020-05-21_Pre_TestDM.pdf PHASER Patient Pre-Test Brochure

PHASER_Sample_Complete_Sanford_PGx_Report.pdf PHASER Sample Test Report

PHASER_Brief_Program_Overview_2020-05_draft.pdf PHASER Program Overview

PHASERDrugList.pdf PHASER Impacted Medications List

Links

PHASER Program Website

PHASER Sharepoint Site

PHASER Provider Education Videos

Risks and mitigations

Risk	Mitigation
Providers will not be sufficiently trained to apply pharmacogenomics test results	Provider-friendly interpretation report in VistA Imaging and active, clinical decision support to alert providers at the point of prescribing to the presence of a drug-gene interaction, e-consult with pharmacogenomics trained pharmacist
Insufficient resources to support implementation	Funding for operational coordinator, shipping supplies/costs, costs of testing
Patients will not understand risks/benefits of PGx testing	Patient-facing educational materials, patient-educator support to directly speak with patients

Contact

Comment

Comments and replies are disabled for retired innovations and non-VA users.

VA User (Case Manager) posted 2023-09-29T12:07:45Z

Jake Cohen requests info on Phaser prgm. Please contact at 843-926-7462

Email

Email phaser@va.gov with questions about this innovation.

About

Origin story

In 2018, VA and Sanford Health began discussions around a $50 million philanthropic donation to provide pharmacogenomic testing to 250,000 Veterans. The Pharmacogenomics testing for Veterans (PHASER) program was launched by Secretary Wilke in 2019 and has been piloted at 6 test sites. Based on experience/feedback from test sites, PHASER is ready to expand to ... In 2018, VA and Sanford Health began discussions around a $50 million philanthropic donation to provide pharmacogenomic testing to 250,000 Veterans. The Pharmacogenomics testing for Veterans (PHASER) program was launched by Secretary Wilke in 2019 and has been piloted at 6 test sites. Based on experience/feedback from test sites, PHASER is ready to expand to 40 new sites by 2021.

Original team

Deepak Voora, MD

Director, PHASER program

Jill Bates, Pharm.D., M.S., BCOP, FASHP

PHASER Pharmacy Program Manager

Jennifer Chapman

PHASER National Project Manager

Caroline Webb-Wyrosdick

PHASER National Deployment Coordinator

Hope McFarland

PHASER Project Coordinator

Susan Rozelle

Clinical Applications Coordinator

Russell Jacobitz