The Application of Computer‐Based Tools in Obtaining the Genetic Family History

Abstract

Family health history is both an adjunct to and a focus of current genetic research, having long been known to be a powerful predictor of individual disease risk. As such, it has been primarily used as a proxy for genetic information. Over the past decade, new roles for family history have emerged, perhaps most importantly as a primary tool for guiding decision-making on the use of expensive genetic testing. The collection of family history information is an important but time-consuming process. Efforts to engage the patient or research subject in preliminary data collection have the potential to improve data accuracy and allow clinicians and researchers more time for analytic tasks. The U.S. Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others have developed tools for electronic family history collection. This unit describes the utility of the Web-based My Family Health Portrait (https://familyhistory.hhs.gov) as the prototype for patient-entered family history.

Acceptability and feasibility of a virtual counselor (VICKY) to collect family health histories

“…4,5 As such, family history assessment remains the current gold standard for clinical risk assessment, 2,6,7 and is considered a genomic tool and proxy to genetic predisposition that can serve as a means to better guide and personalize medical care and disease prevention. 1,5,8,9 …”

“…11 The most commonly documented barriers include lack of time, lack of physician compensation for the efforts, physician lack of knowledge and skills, and other logical barriers such as lack of standardization in family history collection methods. 9,10,12,13 Even when family history is collected in primary care, it is often lacking in quality or detail that would yield useful information about disease risk. 10,12 …”

Impact of family history assessment on communication with family members and health care providers: A report from the Family Healthware™ Impact Trial (FHITr)

“…Family health history is considered a genomic tool and proxy to genetic predisposition that can serve as a means to better guide and personalize medical care and disease prevention [1-4]. Family Healthware ™ , developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a self-administered web-based family history tool that assesses familial risk for six common chronic conditions and provides personalized prevention messages based on risk [5].…”

Securing and Documenting Cancer Family History in the Age of the Electronic Medical Record

“…Given the importance of FHHx for effective screening and prevention, several federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have emphasized the importance of research and development of FHHx tools. 11 At present, many teams are exploring methods of incorporating FHHx into EHRs using structured data and interoperable formats.…”