benefits
Pharmacogenomics
AN EMERGING RESOURCE FOR EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PLANS
By Joseph Ricciuti
The community of human resource professionals is in
general agreement that it makes good business sense
to develop and implement programs that promote and
support a healthy workplace. However, in spite of such
strategies, there is a continued struggle to reduce healthcare costs
and improve productivity in the workplace.
As the modern workplace evolves, employees are faced with
unprecedented change. They must find ways to function against
a backdrop of intensifying work demands, new job skill require-ments
and a changing economy that may impart additional stress
and work strain. These consequences negatively impact the mental
and physical health of employees and, in turn, the business perfor-mance
of the organization.
The efforts of employers are often focused on employee assis-tance
programs, community resource navigation tools and medical
support programs. Unfortunately, they do not address the phar-macological
side of a clinical treatment plan.
Now, with advancements in scientific discovery and new tech-nology,
Pharmacogenomics (PGx) has emerged as an exciting new
resource with the potential to play an important role in improving
employee health, supporting disability management and maintain-ing
productivity at work. Simply defined, PGx is the study of how
genes affect a person’s response to drugs. It combines pharmacology
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