Company Announces Milestone on National Patient Recognition Day
Mason, Ohio – February 3, 2016 – Assurex Health, Inc. marked National Patient Recognition Day today by thanking the 250,000 patients who have taken an important step toward mental wellness through GeneSight® testing and the 15,000 healthcare providers who have used the test to help guide behavioral health medication decisions for those patients. Assurex Health passed the 250,000 patient mark in January.
“One in four people will experience a behavioral health disorder in their lifetime, yet many go untreated. For those that do receive care, the treatment path is often difficult, with many patients needing to try multiple medications before finding the medications that are right for them,” said Virginia C. Drosos, President and CEO of Assurex Health. “Even discussing mental health concerns with friends and family is difficult for many people.”
“It is appropriate that on National Patient Recognition Day we respectfully acknowledge the quarter million patients and their healthcare providers who are changing how mental health treatment decisions are made and proving there is new hope for patients and their families,” Drosos said.
Patient Finds New Hope with GeneSight
One patient who found new hope and a new life is Michayla Sullivan, a 27 year-old librarian from Indiana, who was ill for two years after first being treated for mild anxiety while in law school and being prescribed medications that were not effective based on her individual genetics.
“I don’t even know how many medications I was on over two years,” said Ms. Sullivan. “I just kept failing medication after medication because I would get all these severe side effects.”
Finally, her healthcare provider used the GeneSight test to help guide Michayla’s treatment.
“The GeneSight results showed that my body had a difficult time processing most medications because of genetic mutations I have,” Sullivan said. “So medications had built up to very high levels in my body and led to the severe side effects, that were both physical and mental.”
“My life right now is great. After I got better, I went back to graduate school and got two Master’s degrees. Now I’m using both of them in a library position and I love it so much. I have a social life. I see friends. That was just impossible when I was sick,” Sullivan concluded.
To hear more from Michayla, as well as from other patients and physicians, watch our video and learn key facts about GeneSight at genesight.com/250000.
Unique Combinatorial Technology
Unlike other neuropsychiatric pharmacogenomic tests, GeneSight is powered by CPGx™ Technology, a proprietary combinatorial pharmacogenomics technology, which measures multiple clinically important variations in each patient’s genes and weights them together – rather than one at a time – to provide comprehensive recommendations for each medication for each patient. This is important in evaluating medication response given that most psychiatric medications work through multiple genetic pathways, both metabolically and at their point of response.
“When I speak with patients about the potential benefit of having the GeneSight test done, they’re often times struck by the fact that we can actually do something like this, that we can get a better fit for them,” said Dr. Gus Alva, medical director for ATP Clinical Research, a private neuropsychiatric clinical research group, in Costa Mesa, California. “Why experiment with different medications that might not be a solid fit for someone, when we can find right away the right fit for someone?”
In multiple peer-reviewed and published clinical studies, GeneSight has been proven to result in better patient outcomes and at a lower cost to the healthcare system by helping to get patients on the right medication faster. GeneSight is the only neuropsychiatric pharmacogenomic test explicitly covered by Medicare and is also available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
National Patient Recognition Week is celebrated annually the first week in February and is recognized with events on National Patient Recognition Day on February 3. The day gives healthcare providers and those who serve patients the opportunity to reflect on patient care and patient satisfaction.
“We look forward to hearing from other patients whose quality of life has improved and healthcare providers who are changing how they practice medicine because of GeneSight,“ said Drosos. “It’s why we do what we do – to help people get on the road to mental wellness.”
About Assurex Health
Assurex Health is an informatics-based precision medicine company providing treatment decision support to healthcare providers for behavioral health and chronic pain conditions. We help people achieve mental wellness with advanced CPGx™, a proprietary combinatorial pharmacogenomics technology providing individualized treatment support for neuropsychiatric conditions.
Assurex Health is the leader in neuropsychiatric combinatorial pharmacogenomics. It was founded in 2006 with licensed, patented technology from Mayo Clinic and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who continue to be research collaborators. Assurex Health is the only company in the category with multiple peer-reviewed, published studies that demonstrate the clinical validity and clinical utility of its technology, including its substantial healthcare cost savings benefit. The company has grown every quarter, and also has expanded internationally through a partnership with Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
About GeneSight
GeneSight helps healthcare providers make more precise treatment decisions based on how a patient’s unique genetic makeup affects their individual response to 55 FDA-approved medications for depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental health conditions. GeneSight is the only neuropsychiatric combinatorial pharmacogenomic test validated in multiple, peer-reviewed, published clinical studies. Powered by CPGxTM Technology, a proprietary combinatorial pharmacogenomics technology, the GeneSight test measures multiple genomic variants for each patient and weights them together – rather than one at a time – to provide comprehensive genetically-driven information for each medication for each patient in an actionable, easy-to-interpret report. Many commercial and government insurance plans, including Medicare and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, reimburse all or part of the cost of GeneSight. Assurex Health also offers financial assistance programs for patients who qualify.