After gaining a general understanding of what can be learned through incidental results, the user has the chance to Explore how learning certain results might impact themselves, their family, potential treatments in the future, and so on. An algorithm was developed for users to answer a series of questions, to help understand where they stand in wanting to receive genetic information about their health, based on their individual values.
Once the user has a clearer understanding of what they might be learning through genetic testing, they are invited to Choose the results category(ies), if any, they would like to learn from their testing.
The user’s decision, which they can change at any time, is sent to their genetic counselor. The tool follows up with the user two months before their testing results are ready, to Check In. Feelings around genetic testing can change at any time, so we understood the importance of following up with the patient to see how they’re feeling while they wait for their results, giving them the opportunity to change their mind if needed.
Once the results from their genetic test are ready, they are uploaded into the tool by a genetic counselor, and sent through for the patient’s reference.
Tools in this space simply did not exist before the Genetics Adviser, so a major goal was to make the tool flexible enough that it could be used as a decision support tool for a variety of specialties to “plug and play”. For example, if a cardiologist were to send the tool to a patient, they could “turn off” any content within the tool that does not coincide with their speciality.