The power of EHR integrations to streamline genetic testing, enhance patient care and scale precision medicine

As healthcare leaders, you constantly seek innovative solutions to enhance patient outcomes, improve population health and drive cost efficiencies within your organization. Whether it’s through AI chatbots, telehealth or other rapidly evolving forms of technology, when providers have the most accurate data as quickly as possible, their patients receive better medical care. 

Electronic health records (EHRs) have shown they can offer better, more complete information, helping providers give faster, more accurate diagnoses and improve patient outcomes. In fact, one survey of doctors showcases provider sentiment around EHRs and how integral they are in their work

 

As precision medicine advances, leveraging EHRs to streamline genetic testing ordering presents an opportunity to increase operational efficiency, enhance the provider experience and offer precision medicine at scale.

Enhancing operational efficiency and reducing administrative burden 

EHRs can reduce ordering time by 75% and results management time by 80% when compared to lab-specific portals.¹

One of the most significant advantages of EHR integration is operational efficiency. Integrations with genetic testing streamline clinical workflows, helping prevent provider burnout and enhancing their overall experience. 

By seamlessly integrating genetic testing into the EHR, providers can order tests, manage results and access critical patient data within a unified platform, eliminating the need for multiple logins and external portals.

A study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania found that ordering genetic tests through the EHR took only two minutes compared to eight minutes when using lab-specific portals—a staggering six-minute reduction per order. Similarly, results management time decreased from five minutes in lab portals to just one minute within the EHR, saving an additional four minutes per result.

Taking into account multiple patients per day, and multiple tests per patient, these time savings translate into significant operational efficiencies, reducing administrative burdens and freeing up valuable resources that can be redirected toward patient care. 

Moreover, standardized test content within the EHR means healthcare providers have access to up-to-date information on evolving genetic testing capabilities without requiring manual updates or maintenance across multiple systems. This also reduces manual time and effort to maintain real-time information. 

Consistent workflows across multiple locations can also support more standardized patient care, improve resource management and reduce costs by minimizing the number of external systems needing maintenance. These key benefits make it easier for health systems to keep pace with evolving genetic testing capabilities.

Improving the provider experience by reducing errors 
 

Beyond operational efficiencies, EHR integration enhances the provider experience by reducing test ordering errors and delays while streamlining clinical decision-making. Digital orders minimize the potential for errors associated with manual paperwork, supporting accuracy and timely test processing. 

Additionally, the seamless integration of genetic test results into patient medical records improves accessibility and usability of critical data, enabling providers to make more informed decisions at the point of care.

Enhancing the patient experience through better security and access to data

Discrete genetic test results integrate securely within the EHR, granting real-time access to actionable data. Documents can be securely uploaded within some EHRs, allowing providers to include essential information digitally, such as clinical notes, family history, letters of medical necessity and more. 

This offers more protection for patient data and reduces time spent communicating back-and-forth with other healthcare staff, expediting the process for patients.

Standardized genetic data within the EHR is also ready, accessible and actionable for your staff when they need it. By eliminating the need for external platforms and providing a unified view of patient data, the EHR integration becomes a single source of truth, streamlining access to information, improving clinical decision-making, enabling seamless integration of test results into patient medical records and ultimately contributing to a more efficient and effective process for all.

Scaling precision medicine programs across health systems

As precision medicine continues to gain traction, healthcare organizations are wise to prepare to scale their genetic testing programs efficiently and effectively. EHR integration plays a pivotal role in this endeavor by embedding genetic insights into routine clinical care across multiple locations.

Standardized workflows facilitated by EHR integration drive consistency in precision medicine programs and have the potential to increase adoption across specialties. Moreover, secure network-based integration minimizes reliance on virtual private network (VPN) connections and reduces downtime risks, enabling continuous access to genetic testing workflows.

Looking ahead, future EHR platform enhancements like improved application programming interfaces (APIs), interoperability and predictive analytics will further enhance access, usability and clinical impact. This supports the long-term success of precision medicine initiatives within your health system.

Aligning with the quadruple aim of healthcare

By streamlining workflows, reducing administrative burdens, enhancing the provider experience and enabling the scalability of precision medicine programs, EHR integration directly aligns with the quadruple aim of healthcare:

Streamline genetic test ordering and reporting with Invitae® 

In 2024, Labcorp acquired select assets of Invitae, a leading medical genetics company. Their genetic tests have enabled over 5 million patients and their healthcare providers to access results that can identify at-risk individuals. 

Invitae seamlessly incorporates actionable genetic data and insights into your existing clinical workflows to help accelerate patient care. With already over 400 customer EHR integrations completed and a dedicated Epic-certified EHR integration team, we deliver timely coordinated solutions aligned to your timelines, milestones and strategic goals. 

You also get comprehensive testing options through Invitae, with the largest catalog of hereditary genetic tests on the Epic Aura network spanning over 12 clinical areas. Epic Aura, or the Orders and Results Anywhere Network, is a software solution that allows for streamlined connectivity between Invitae and existing Epic EHR users, which exchange more than 20 million medical records every day. 

This provides reduced implementation time and resources compared to traditional point-to-point interface integration.