Literature Review Concerning the Challenges of Implementing Pharmacogenetics in Primary Care Practice

Since President Obama signed the Precision Medicine Initiative in 2015, endeavors to integrate pharmacogenetics in clinical practice and psychiatric care have been evolving rapidly. The nature of general practice and psychiatric medicine, including psychopharmacotherapy and the long-term care necessary for chronic diseases, renders these fields in desperate need of the implementation of pharmacogenetics. This article presents some of the challenges facing pharmacogenetics implementation in family medicine and psychiatric care. Reputable research websites were used to extract papers, data, and lectures concerning this topic. The results reveal that three main challenges are facing this integration: the evaluation of pharmacogenetic testing in general and psychiatric practice, cost-effectiveness, and regulatory burdens. Although considerable advances are being made to address these issues, it is time to gather these efforts under one umbrella to create guidelines based on previous and upcoming research.