Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
1000
Proteomics and other
effector molecules
100
Functional Genetics:
Gene experssion
0
Structural Genetics:
e.g.SNPs, haplotypes
Human
Cognitive
Capacit
y
Decisions by
clinical phenotype
1990
2000
2010
2020
Year
Fig. 3.7
The human mind is only able to incorporate a limited number of data points in decision
making. High dimensional data in biomedicine increasingly exceeds that cognitive limitation.
Electronic clinical decision support is required to address this problem (Used with permission
from Masys D, personal communication 2014 )
3.5
Discussion
In the preceding sections, we have described what is meant by the term “personal-
ized medicine” (and its many variations), and have presented a number of hot topics
within the fi eld. As suggested above, these topics have both necessitated and guided
the development of a number of subfi elds within informatics. Below we discuss the
implications of these topics and their accompanying informatics advances on areas
outside of research and the delivery of health care
per se
.
3.5.1
Economic Issues
Ultimately, personalized medicine should help drive down the cost of health care.
By focusing on the right treatment for the right patient at the right time, fewer
resources are wasted on ineffective treatments, and fewer costly treatments are
required due to early intervention and prevention of disease in the fi rst place. But a
number of caveats must be considered in the context of reimbursement. First, in the
era of personalized medicine, reimbursement will be required not only for the treat-
ment, but also up front for various different diagnostic tests. Justifi cation for that
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