Genetic Information Sheets Now Available Online

Intermountain Healthcare’s Clinical Genetics Institute — which is highly regarded for sharing genetic information that can influence clinicians’ and patients’ care decisions and treatment regimens — has created a new tool to share specific genetic and genomic information with Intermountain’s clinicians.

The new tool is genetic information sheets, which are available online to help clinicians learn about genetic issues facing their patients and the genetic repercussions of their care decisions. Four categories of Info Sheets are available:

• Genetic Conditions, which contains information on the diagnosis, treatment, and preventive care of commonly encountered genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome.
• Genetic Testing, which is divided into Familial Cancer and Tumor Makers. These address genetic tests used or proposed for germ-line and somatic mutations, respectively.
• Pharmacogenomics, which contains information about tests that can impact drug dosage and avoidance of adverse events.
• Newborn Screening, which contains information about newborn screening tests performed in Utah.

Why the sheets were created. “A significant challenge facing personalized medicine is the ability to put genetic and genomic information in the hands of providers in a useable form at the point of care,” says Marc Williams, MD, the institute’s medical director. “In April of 2009 Intermountain’s strategic technology council heard a presentation about the genetic institute’s activities. In the ensuing discussion it was decided that a repository of genetic information and guidelines would be of high value to the system.

“This led to the creation of genetic information sheets, which we’re publishing on the Clinical Genetic Institute’s website as one way the Clinical Genetic Institute is meeting the challenge of delivering usable information,” he says. The sheets were created and will be maintained by Dr. Williams, genetic counselor Janet Williams, and senior clinical analyst, Jim Gudgeon.

Feedback on the effectiveness of the sheets is welcome. A brief survey will be used to collect feedback — and anyone who accesses a sheet is invited to share their response by e-mailing Zabrina Gray at zabrina.gray@imail.org. “We’re depending on clinicians to tell us what they like and don’t like so we can modify the sheets to serve their needs. We also take requests, so if there’s a topic you’d like to see, please let us know,” Dr. Williams says.

The new genetic information sheets are available on the Clinical Genetic Institute’s website. If you have questions, call the institute at 801-408-5014.