Genomics-Enabled Learning Health Systems (gLHS)

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Funding provided by:
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Incorporating genomics into learning health systems (LHS) is essential for advancing clinical care. LHS are designed to continuously improve the update of genomics into clinical care by analyzing patient data, implementing changes, and using the results to optimize medical care. LHS have gained traction due to advancements in electronic health records (EHRs) and health IT, which allow for improved data collection and rapid knowledge translation. Despite the increasing adoption of LHS in many aspects of clinical care, there has been a lack of adoption of genomics into LHS. By integrating genomics into this model, health systems can capture genomic information from every patient encounter, generating evidence that can enhance clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Background

The Genomics-Enabled Learning Health System (gLHS) Network investigators are at institutions with established LHS who are now working on integrating genomics into their LHS. The Network, consisting of one Coordinating Center (CC) and six Clinical Sites, is doing this by sharing their individual approaches and selecting those ready for implementation. The Network is working on up to four genomic medicine intervention projects for Network-wide implementation. The intervention projects are helping to improve interoperability and communication of genomic findings among clinicians, patients, and laboratories, and to demonstrate the value of these tools and resources in the adoption of genomics into clinical care.

To broaden the adoption of genomic medicine beyond the Network, Clinical Sites and the CC have partnered with champions from underserved healthcare settings. These partner champions are being incorporated early in the projects and are helping to provide the necessary input to ensure these approaches can be adopted in a wide range of health care settings. The intent of this approach is to understand and provide solutions that improve the feasibility of proposed implementation strategies beyond typically high-resourced LHS settings.

The CC will collect, organize, and promote the adoption of LHS tools and resources for the Network and broader research community, as well as coordinate Network logistics and dissemination, and contribute to data analysis and resource development. Dissemination of the tools and resources from the Clinical Sites will be publicized to the broader scientific community through a portal developed by the CC. Ultimately, the Network will develop successfully refined strategies and resources and will broadly disseminate them for adoption across diverse healthcare systems, including those in resource-limited clinical settings.