ST. LOUIS, Sept. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As advancements in targeted therapies accelerate, Mercy is at the forefront, leading the charge in transforming patient care. To build on its foundation, Mercy recently held its first Precision Medicine Summit, a pioneering event that brought together medical professionals and experts to discuss the future of personalized health care.
The summit was spearheaded by Mercy's Director of Precision Medicine Dr. Gautum Agarwal, whose leadership and vision were instrumental in making the event a success. After the significant participation at this year's Summit, plans are already in place to expand the summit into a larger annual conference for medical professionals across the county, aiming to foster further collaboration and innovation in this rapidly evolving field.
"The future of medicine lies in our ability to tailor treatments to the unique genetic makeup of each patient," Dr. Agarwal said. "At Mercy, we're committed to leading the way in precision medicine, providing cutting-edge care that improves outcomes while also transforming lives."
One keynote speaker, Dr. Aadel Chaudhuri, co-director of Mayo Clinic's Cancer Individualized Medicine Office, said Mercy is leading the way when it comes to using technology in medicine.
"Mercy has already adopted many of these technologies that are just now being developed and validated," Chaudhuri said. "For example, Mercy is already using large language model AI to generate summaries of notes to facilitate care from the ER to admission onto the floor, and that's pretty ahead of the game."
Mercy is also building a dynamic, multidisciplinary precision medicine team of physicians and advanced practice providers, all dedicated to delivering exceptional care with a commitment to improving patient care and outcomes.
"The work Mercy is doing is pretty amazing, working with several large organizations to charter the frontier of health care and computation," said keynote speaker Dr. Gaurav Singal, physician, computer scientist and member of the faculty and board of advisors for Harvard Medical School.
By utilizing personalized medical testing and services, physicians are better equipped to provide targeted, effective treatments tailored to the unique needs of each patient. As a leader in precision medicine, Mercy remains dedicated to expanding its services and continuing to offer patients the most advanced and personalized care available.
To learn more about the variety of proactive services Mercy offers for patients, visit mercy.net/PrecisionMed.
Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation's largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 900 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 4,500 physicians and advanced practitioners and 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.
SOURCE Mercy