Health IT, Hospitals

Geisinger launches genomic data patient portal linked to NIH effort

Geisinger Health System recently launched an online portal that allows patients to contribute their own […]

Geisinger Health System recently launched an online portal that allows patients to contribute their own genomic data, which in turn will be analyzed by the NIH-funded Clinical Genome Resource.

The Pennsylvania-based health system and its researches developed the portal, GenomeConnect, that will connect with the NIH effort to gather and analyze data from “thousands of clinical genetics tests,” official said.

The portal is among several big data efforts by Geigsinger. Earlier this year, it announced a partnership with Indivumed that helps the health system strengthen data collection efforts from consenting cancer patients undergoing surgical tumor removal. And its among scores of other genomic data efforts by healthcare organizations that similarly seek to glean deeper insights into the role of genetics in chronic diseases and how they’re treated.

The portal will be coupled with patient-entered health information and clinical laboratory data to form a database that aims to help clinicians and researchers better understand the impact of genetic variations on patients’ health. It will also allow patients who have undergone genetic testing to interact with one another in an online community.

The data repository, known as ClinGen, will be a key element of developing new therapies and treatments, according to Andrew Faucett, director of policy and education for Geisinger Health System.

“By allowing patients to input additional medical information, GenomeConnect is designed to empower patients and allow them to contribute to our understanding of the human genome,” he said. Together with patients, we can learn more about the human genome and the ability to re-establish contact with patients and request additional information about their health information is critical to the clinical use of genetic testing.”

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