Informed Medical Decisions, Inc. (InformedDNA) has been selected as one of 30 finalists for the Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards. URAC, the nation's leading accreditation organization, will honor the finalists during their 11th Annual Quality Summit, October 5-7, 2010 in Chicago, IL.
“The Annual Quality Summit provides a unique opportunity for leaders in health care to learn what premier companies are doing to advance consumer protection and empowerment”
The InformedDNA initiative was selected by a distinguished panel of judges out of entries from across the nation. Finalists are invited to present their winning programs at the Annual Quality Summit which will showcase best practices in two categories: Consumer Decision-Making and Consumer Health Improvement.
The genetic counseling services at the core of InformedDNA's "High Tech, High Touch Genetics" initiative are already the standard of care prior to and following genetic testing. However, until InformedDNA launched its nationwide approach offering patients convenient access to genetics experts, most physicians had limited options for providing quality genetics services to their patients.
"Based on recent advances in scientific knowledge made through the Human Genome Project, healthcare is making a dramatic and pivotal change from its traditional focus on diagnosis and treatment of disease to preventive health and personalized care," said Rebecca Sutphen, MD, FACMG, InformedDNA President and Chief Medical Officer. "Convenient access to independent genetics experts is essential, and demand for these services is growing exponentially. Implementing a model delivery system to increase access is timely and revolutionary."
"InformedDNA's genetic counseling service delivery model is a cost-effective approach; enabling efficient utilization of the limited number of genetics experts available while minimizing time, missed work, travel and childcare costs for patients," stated Kelle Steenblock, MS, CGC, Senior Vice President, Clinical Services. "Our approach ensures the right genetic test for the right individual at the right time; eliminating essentially every barrier to delivery of genetic counseling services and bringing the benefits of individualized health planning within reach for all Americans."
Quality Summit entries were judged by a distinguished panel chaired by epidemiologist Thomas W. Wilson, Ph.D, DrPH, Trajectory HealthCare, LLC. The 30-member panel included the best and most widely recognized experts in program evaluation, care coordination, health information technology, employer and purchaser decision making and patient safety. Entries were reviewed and scored by the judges based on objective criteria.
"The Annual Quality Summit provides a unique opportunity for leaders in health care to learn what premier companies are doing to advance consumer protection and empowerment," said Alan P. Spielman, President and CEO of URAC. "It is a one-of-a-kind conference, designed to inspire the industry as a whole to rapidly adopt proven practices that advance patient safety and empower consumers with improved decision-making tools."
Genetics studies have a diversity problem that researchers struggle to fix