Metis Genetics, Addison, Texas, USA.
Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
J Genet Couns. 2022 Aug;31(4):832-835. doi: 10.1002/jgc4.1571. Epub 2022 Mar 18.
Emerging diseases such as the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) have exposed severe weaknesses in the United States and global health. Healthcare systems have struggled and are still severely challenged and strained by this pandemic. It is clear that additional resources are needed to support healthcare providers in managing this and future pandemics. Genetic counselors can play an important supporting role in this fragile ecosystem because their comprehensive and broad training makes them uniquely qualified to meet many of the challenges that arise when healthcare workers and patients are faced with novel diseases. This paper describes the recent involvement of a telegenetic counseling company (Metis Genetics) in communicating and explaining COVID-19 serum antibody results to patients and physicians. This experience demonstrates how genetic counselors may be called upon to play a vital supporting role in the management of infectious disease pandemics. From May 2020 to July 2020, our genetic counseling telegenetics team was asked to provide support to more than 1,580 patients who underwent serum COVID-19 antibody testing and to educate their healthcare providers on the performance properties of this new test. The genetic counselors were able to utilize their expertise to convey test results, information on Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, COVID-19 fact-based evidence, to provide psychological support and reassurance to patients, and to respond to providers questions about the test. This experience suggests that the genetic counselors' skillset that has allowed the profession to continuously evolve can also be used in the management of pandemics by communicating directly with the public, supporting other healthcare workers, and assisting individual patients and families navigate the many medical and psychological issues caused by such events.
新兴疾病，如冠状病毒病（COVID-19），暴露了美国和全球卫生系统的严重弱点。医疗保健系统在这场大流行中挣扎着，仍然面临着严峻的挑战和压力。显然，需要额外的资源来支持医疗保健提供者管理这场大流行和未来的大流行。遗传咨询师可以在这个脆弱的生态系统中发挥重要的支持作用，因为他们全面而广泛的培训使他们有资格满足医疗工作者和患者面对新疾病时出现的许多挑战。本文描述了一家远程遗传咨询公司（Metis Genetics）最近在向患者和医生传达和解释 COVID-19 血清抗体结果方面的参与。这一经验表明，遗传咨询师可能会被要求在传染病大流行的管理中发挥至关重要的支持作用。从 2020 年 5 月到 2020 年 7 月，我们的遗传咨询远程遗传学团队被要求为 1580 多名接受 COVID-19 血清抗体检测的患者提供支持，并向他们的医疗保健提供者介绍这项新测试的性能特点。遗传咨询师能够利用他们的专业知识来传达测试结果、疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）建议的信息、基于 COVID-19 的事实证据，为患者提供心理支持和安慰，并回答提供者关于该测试的问题。这一经验表明，遗传咨询师的技能使该专业能够不断发展，也可以通过直接与公众沟通、支持其他医疗保健工作者以及帮助个人患者和家庭应对此类事件引起的许多医疗和心理问题，在大流行管理中得到应用。
