The Latest News, Data & Insight From The World Of Genetic Testing

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, the Genetic Health Information Network Summit convenes leading from voices across healthcare to share practical challenges and actionable solutions to enable precision medicine. An issue frequently discussed in past Summits (summarized here) is the difficulty of integrating genetics into the clinical workflow. A dizzying array of genetic tests […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 1, 2020) – Concert Genetics, a technology company dedicated to advancing precision medicine, today announced the publication of real-world data on utilization and coding variability in medical claims for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based diagnostic tests. The study was done in collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and […]

Latest update adds insurance coverage information and other enhancements to the market’s leading genetic test order management platform Earlier today, we announced the release of the latest version of our genetic test ordering management system – The Concert Platform (formerly GeneConnect®) – adding compelling new capabilities to a platform used by leading hospitals and health […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 13, 2016) — NextGxDx Inc. (*now Concert Genetics) today announced an agreement with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to deliver GeneConnect®, the genetic test utilization management solution that enables healthcare institutions to lower the costs and address the workflow inefficiencies associated with genetic test ordering. “Genetic testing is the key to […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 1, 2016) — NextGxDx Inc. (*now Concert Genetics) today announced an agreement with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to deliver GeneConnect®, the genetic test utilization management solution that enables healthcare institutions to lower the costs and address the workflow inefficiencies associated with genetic test ordering. “Genetic testing is the lynchpin of personalized medicine, but […]

This week, our colleagues at PreventionGenetics will be hosting a webinar about testing for deletions and duplications. Knowing this is a pertinent topic to many of our readers, we’re pleased to share details about their event. It’s a free session featuring Laboratory Director Dr. Diane Allingham-Hawkins. Register here. A webinar from: Deletions and Duplications: Why They’re Important and How […]

One of the most exciting things to behold at this year’s Personalized Medicine World Conference  is the increasingly innovative ways that companies and healthcare providers are combining disparate data sources and deploying analytic tools to generate insights that are useful and actionable for clinicians. This is no small feat. It won’t surprise anyone reading this […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 21, 2015) — NextGxDx Inc. (*now Concert Genetics) today announced an agreement with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to deliver GeneConnect®, the genetic test utilization management solution that enables healthcare institutions to create genetic testing formularies that can lower the costs and address the workflow inefficiencies associated with genetic test ordering. “Genetic […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications Another small but important piece has been fitted in to the endless puzzle of genetic predisposition to disease. This time, a gene responsible for a cardiac condition found in ~2% of individuals has been uncovered by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital. Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) has […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications We all know the feeling: A new project starts, so we set up a folder system and naming convention and get to work. It works pretty well for a while; most of the files fit into the folder hierarchy on our computer and the names generally […]

GeneConnect™ genetic testing utilization software supports management of rapidly rising genetic testing costs NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Novation, the nation’s largest healthcare services organization, has awarded a group purchasing contract to Franklin, Tennessee-based NextGxDx, Inc. (*now Concert Genetics) Under the agreement, Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) members who participate with Novation will have […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications These days, there is a significant push in parts of the genetics community to share testing results. One of the organizations spearheading this effort is Free the Data, which focuses on getting patients to contribute their BRCA1/2 sequences to an anonymized database for use in research. […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications The past few weeks have been filled with articles dealing with the distribution and use of genetic test results. As we have pointed out on this blog, the underlying theme is that gaining a full(er) understanding of the clinical implications of any given genetic variant will […]

PLUGS clinical and UM content to be distributed through GeneConnect™ platform SEATTLE, June 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Seattle Children’s Hospital today announced that it will collaborate with NextGxDx, Inc. (*now Concert Genetics) to develop a joint genetic test utilization management (UM) solution for children’s hospitals and pediatric practices. The collaboration will combine the hospital’s PLUGS […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications Last September, The National Comprehensive Cancer Network published an update to their guidelines for Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment for Breast and Ovarian cancers. This extensive document included a large section discussing the use of multi-gene panel testing. Again highlighting the uncertainty and concern, the first paragraph of […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Science Writer, Filament Life Science Communications Bundling. It’s done in practically every industry, from adding optional features on a new car, to internet and phone service, to academic journal subscriptions. Medicine is no exception. These days, bundling is common in the world of genetic testing. The use of panel tests has increased […]

By: David Shifrin, PhD Life Science Consultant and Freelance Writer The European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) and the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) have released new recommendations for prenatal testing. At the center of the discussion and recommendations is the use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as a complement or alternative to procedures […]