HomeProvider StoriesI believe using a data-driven approach is essential to providing excellent care for your patients I believe using a data-driven approach is essential to providing excellent care for your patients June 10, 2024 Karina Guffey, Child Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Read the transcript I believe using a data-driven approach is essential to providing excellent care for your patients. We have to have proof, and the science works. We have to have proof that this is going to improve outcomes across the board. We can’t just throw a test at patients that isn’t going to be applicable or effective in our clinical practice. I’m Karina Guffey. I’m a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and I practice at Arc of the Ozarks. I order the GeneSight test probably for ninety percent of my patients. You wanna give your kiddos the best shot, and parents are open to that. They don’t want their children to be guinea pigs. Using data to support your clinical decision making really does help parents understand why you’re choosing the medication. If they have a test in front of them where they can look at each piece and see, hey, these medications look like they would be effective for my kiddo, but these are ones that we have considerations for. It really helps take the guesswork out. The visualization of being able to see something like that and interpret it, makes a big difference to parents. As a clinician, I do a lot of testing. I can say that GeneSight is the easiest to interpret for me. It’s very clearly written. I think that the recommendations are easy to interpret and utilize in practice. I think the GeneSight test is invaluable. I think it’s probably the test that has helped the most in my practice. Ordering GeneSight on patients who have had medication failures in the past is essential. If there have been therapies that have been started and the patient either has an adverse reaction or no response, I always suspect that there’s something metabolic happening that we can’t see or understand. Patients who have gone into a remission after struggling with medications for such a long period of time. It’s one of the best things about what I do for a living. They cannot believe that they’re better. Their whole life improves. Patient Barriers at Every Turn: How Systemic and Social Factors Block Men from Mental Health Care Taking the important step of seeking care for mental health isn’t always an easy decision. Uncertainty about the need for care, social stigmas associated wi... Read more Healthcare Provider Overcoming Side Effect Concerns: Leveraging Pharmacogenomic Insights to Inform Depression and Anxiety Medication Selection Whitnee Brown, a lifelong resident now practicing in Birmingham, Alabama has nearly an entire alphabet following her name, abbreviations for degrees and certifi... Read more Patient Concerns about Mental Health Medication Side Effects Remain a Barrier to Getting Help for Those Diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety Lisa Roberts has raised a family, reached an impressively high level in her career, and was an anchor for her mother and other family members. When, within ... Read more Patient Common Antidepressant Side Effects Taking an antidepressant can be an effective way to help treat a mental health condition like depression or anxiety. However, these medications can also cre... Read more Patient MTHFR Mutations: Clinical Implications and Management Strategies MTHFR mutations—changes in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene—have gained increased attention in the medical community due to their potent... Read more Patient Can an App Help Me Manage My Anxiety? Health and wellness smartphone apps have become so common that if you can name a health goal, desire or condition, you can probably find an app for it. N... Read more Patient Black Trailblazers of Psychiatry and Mental Health: A Legacy of Healing and Advocacy As we celebrate Black History Month, we want to recognize a few individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the field of psychiatry and mental heal... Read more Patient Mindful Moments: Tips for Anxiety If a well-meaning friend or family member has ever told you to “just breathe” when you’re feeling worked up or stressed out, you’d be forgiven if you felt l... Read more Patient Hints To Help You Have A Better New Year The holidays have ended, and a new year has begun—a time when many embrace a fresh start by setting New Year’s resolutions. This year, why not consider s... Read more Patient Movement as Medicine: Solutions for Anxiety Moving forward. It sounds like a nice idea, especially when you’re feeling stuck deep in the throes of an anxiety spiral. But it turns out that physically m... Read more Learn more Learn more about GeneSight How to talk to your provider View our clinical studies
Patient Barriers at Every Turn: How Systemic and Social Factors Block Men from Mental Health Care Taking the important step of seeking care for mental health isn’t always an easy decision. Uncertainty about the need for care, social stigmas associated wi... Read more
Healthcare Provider Overcoming Side Effect Concerns: Leveraging Pharmacogenomic Insights to Inform Depression and Anxiety Medication Selection Whitnee Brown, a lifelong resident now practicing in Birmingham, Alabama has nearly an entire alphabet following her name, abbreviations for degrees and certifi... Read more
Patient Concerns about Mental Health Medication Side Effects Remain a Barrier to Getting Help for Those Diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety Lisa Roberts has raised a family, reached an impressively high level in her career, and was an anchor for her mother and other family members. When, within ... Read more
Patient Common Antidepressant Side Effects Taking an antidepressant can be an effective way to help treat a mental health condition like depression or anxiety. However, these medications can also cre... Read more
Patient MTHFR Mutations: Clinical Implications and Management Strategies MTHFR mutations—changes in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene—have gained increased attention in the medical community due to their potent... Read more
Patient Can an App Help Me Manage My Anxiety? Health and wellness smartphone apps have become so common that if you can name a health goal, desire or condition, you can probably find an app for it. N... Read more
Patient Black Trailblazers of Psychiatry and Mental Health: A Legacy of Healing and Advocacy As we celebrate Black History Month, we want to recognize a few individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the field of psychiatry and mental heal... Read more
Patient Mindful Moments: Tips for Anxiety If a well-meaning friend or family member has ever told you to “just breathe” when you’re feeling worked up or stressed out, you’d be forgiven if you felt l... Read more
Patient Hints To Help You Have A Better New Year The holidays have ended, and a new year has begun—a time when many embrace a fresh start by setting New Year’s resolutions. This year, why not consider s... Read more
Patient Movement as Medicine: Solutions for Anxiety Moving forward. It sounds like a nice idea, especially when you’re feeling stuck deep in the throes of an anxiety spiral. But it turns out that physically m... Read more