Epic EHR Integration Looks to Streamline Genetic Testing Access

A new Epic EHR integration aims to simplify provider access to genetic testing information within Aura, Epic's specialty diagnostics suite.

Epic partnered with medical genetics company Invitae on the integration.

"Genetic testing can inform some of the most important care decisions in patients' lives, and Invitae is making it more accessible to both patients and providers across the Epic community," Dave Fuhrmann, senior vice president of research and development at Epic, said in a press release.

The integration aims to further precision medicine by making genetic test result information available in providers' usual workflows for clinical decision support.

"Our use of Aura allows patients and providers to seamlessly access genetic testing that can help identify at-risk individuals, enhance early detection, and better personalize treatments with the goals of achieving better outcomes and reducing the burden on the broader healthcare system," Robert Nussbaum, MD, chief medical officer at Invitae, noted.

The partnership comes in addition to other Epic projects for molecular testing access.

In July 2022, molecular science company Caris Life Sciences announced a partnership with Epic to support an EHR integration to improve molecular testing access.

The integration allows oncologists to order an array of molecular tests from Caris Life Sciences within Epic for more than 250 million patients.

Caris' entire suite of molecular profile services, including whole exome and whole transcriptome sequencing for tissue and blood samples, exist within Epic's Orders and Results Anywhere (ORA) network for all Epic system users, representing 60 percent of oncologists.

Precision medicine company Myriad Genetics also announced that it would integrate its tests within Epic's EHR last year to expedite the test ordering process.

The EHR integration allows providers to place a single order for multiple Myriad tests and receive timely results through a unified online portal.