Andrea Park –  | 

One year after beginning to integrate genomic sequencing data gathered in the MyCode population health initiative into clinical care, Geisinger Health System offered a progress report on the sequencing program’s impact on patient health.

According to the “scorecard,” as of Oct. 1, more than 255,000 of the Danville, Pa.-based health system’s patients have consented to share their DNA with MyCode, which began as a research program before then-president and CEO David Feinberg, MD, announced in May 2018 that MyCode data would also be used in routine preventive care.

Of those MyCode participants, 174,500 have provided genetic samples for sequencing. So far, 1,181 have been found to have genetic variants that could lead to health conditions. According to Geisinger, by factoring into each of those results an estimate of five close relatives at risk of having the same genetic variant, more than 5,000 patients have therefore been empowered by the program to be proactive in preventing illness before symptoms arise.

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