He said he believes genomic medicine is at a critical inflection point. “We have a lot of information. We need to exploit it to intervene, not at the most costly advanced stages of symptoms, but at early presymptomatic stages where we can truly prevent diseases from manifesting.”
Dr. Reed Tuckson, senior vice president for consumer health and medical care advancement at UnitedHealth Group, said there's a lot of public and physician education work that needs to be done before anyone will be able to make good on Dr. Zerhouni's vision.
“Physicians do not have time for abstract theoretical discourses on the genomics revolution. They want practical answers on how it applies to patient care and how it pertains to their daily practices. The learning systems need to meet these needs,” Dr. Tuckson said. He added that by and large, physicians and the health care system are not prepared to deal with the challenges of genomics.