The Importance of Precision Medicine
Precision medicine is a tailored approach to health care that accounts for the individual variability in the genes, environment and lifestyle of each person.
The use of these techniques was largely aspirational until the past decade. Genetic and genomic testing and digital health tools like remote patient monitoring applications and mobile health wearables have led to significant strides in promoting disease prevention and offering highly effective targeted treatments.
The President’s Precision Medicine Initiative
Many efforts are underway to help make precision medicine the norm rather than the exception. During the 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama unveiled the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI)—a bold new enterprise to revolutionize medicine and generate the scientific evidence needed to move the concept of precision medicine into everyday clinical practice.
The Precision Medicine Initiative includes funding for the following 4 broad areas:
- NIH and Million Genomes: $130 million for development of voluntary national research cohort of a million or more volunteers.
- National Cancer Institute Research: $70 million to scale up efforts to identify genomic drivers in cancer.
- FDA Curated Database & Expertise: $10 million to acquire additional expertise and advance the development of high-quality, curated databases.
- Office of National Coordinator and Interoperability: $5 million to support the development of interoperability standards and requirements that address privacy and enable secure exchange of data across systems.
Find additional details on the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative.
Personalized Medicine at the AMA
Discoveries facilitated by the mapping of the human genome and rapid technological advances in genomic sequencing and interpretation are leading to medical innovations that will have a significant impact on the practice of medicine and delivery of health care services.
- Explore the AMA’s advocacy work in the personalized medicine arena.
- Access physician resources that support the adoption of personalized medicine.
Digital Health at the AMA
Health care is evolving rapidly. The AMA, using the expertise of physicians and input from partners on the leading edge of health technology, has developed resources, toolkits and training to assist physicians in navigating this new, exciting and changing environment.
Together, we are helping physicians use advanced technologies that can reduce inefficiencies in health care delivery, improve patient access, lower costs and increase quality of care.
Get training on how to use digital health tools in your practice and career.
