Approaches and hurdles of implementing pharmacogenetic testing in the psychiatric clinic

Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing has emerged as a tool for predicting a person's ability to process and react to drugs. Despite the growing evidence-base, enthusiasm, and successful efforts to implement PGx testing in psychiatry, a consensus on how best to implement PGx testing into practice has not been established and numerous hurdles to widespread adoption remain to be overcome. In this article, we summarize the most used approaches and commonly encountered hurdles when implementing PGx testing into routine psychiatric care. We also highlight effective strategies that have been used to overcome hurdles. These strategies include the development of user-friendly clinical workflows for test ordering, use, and communication of results, establishment of test standardization and reimbursement policies, and development of tailored curriculums for educating health-care providers and the public. Although knowledge and awareness of these approaches and strategies to overcome hurdles alone may not be sufficient for successful implementation, they are necessary to ensure the effective spread, scale, and sustainability of PGx testing in psychiatry and other areas of medicine.