HIMSS Says Precision Medicine Adoption Uneven at Hospitals

Precision medicine is slowly taking hold at the nation's hospitals, but the need to build up information technology to make it an organic part of the delivery of medicine would likely prove burdensome.

That's the conclusion of HIMSS Analytics, which surveyed 137 health care organizations last month to gauge their approach toward the use of precision medicine—typically molecular-based tests for identifying specific disease variations in order to tailor care pathways. Respondents included standalone hospitals, academic medical centers, specialty hospitals and integrated delivery networks.

According to the survey, only 29 percent of those providers surveyed conducted precision medicine onsite. Slightly more than a third of large academic medical centers performed it. "The limited adoption of precision medicine programs across the U.S. hospital market is understandable as very few organizations have the funds, technology or expertise to conduct precision medicine on site," the survey said.

As an alternative, 26 percent of respondents said they performed precision medicine through the use of third party laboratories, while a third used a combination of in-house and third-party services.

The primary focus of the precision medicine efforts has been on cancer, with nearly 80 percent of respondents saying they used it for that purpose. HIMSS Analytics noted that the federal Precision Medicine Initiative and its associated funding is among the reasons that the focus has been on cancer. However, it is also being performed in neurology, cardiology and for prenatal screening, among other areas.

Large numbers of the survey respondents said they were challenged with integrating genomic data with a patient's overall clinical data. Nearly 36 percent said they had yet to complete such an integration.

Moreover, many organizations have uncertain plans regarding the future of their precision medicine initiatives. Nearly 43 percent said they had yet to develop a concrete strategy regarding their patients and the use of precision medicine. Another 21.4 percent were unsure about the strategy they would develop. Only 14.3 percent said they planned to develop a comprehensive marketing campaign to tout their precision medicine initiatives.

Takeaway: Precision medicine remains a considerable way from being a stronghold in American hospitals.