The difference between traditional healthcare and precision medicine<\/strong>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OCT25_StEJaime-Grund.jpg\")
Jaime Grund, Director of the Center for Precision Medicine & Genomic Health<\/p>\nPhotograph courtesy St. Elizabeth<\/p>\n
Traditional healthcare uses guidelines based on what works for most people with a certain condition. It often relies on broad categories like age, symptoms, or diagnosis to guide treatment. \u201cPrecision medicine looks deeper,\u201d says Grund. \u201cThe goal is to better understand why someone may develop a disease, how to potentially prevent it or diagnose at its earliest stages, and what treatments will work best for them individually.\u201d For example, someone with cancer might get genetic testing to help choose the treatment most likely to work for their specific type of tumor. Or someone with a genetic risk for a disease could take steps to lower that risk before they even get sick. The medical provider evaluates lifestyle, diet, and genetic makeup to determine the best course of action.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest misconceptions about genetic testing is that it gives you a definitive \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d about whether you will get a disease. More often, a genetic test shows probabilities or risks, not certainties. A positive result doesn\u2019t always mean you will develop the condition, but it means your risk is higher than average. \u201cContext matters,\u201d says Grund. \u201cGenetic testing is a powerful tool when combined with expert interpretation, but it\u2019s not a crystal ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
What to expect at your first appointment<\/strong><\/p>\nDepending on the patient\u2019s situation, the type of appointment varies. According to Grund, the most common consultation is a hereditary cancer appointment, which is when a patient has a family history of cancer. In this case, the patient meets with a genetic counselor who can answer any questions about the testing. This consultation typically takes 45 minutes and includes a detailed review of personal and family history. If the patient chooses to undergo testing, the phlebotomist draws the sample the same day. Once results are available, the genetic counselor can guide the patient through any recommended next steps based on their genetic results. \u201cIt is a journey we take together,\u201d Grund says.<\/p>\n
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St. Elizabeth is making precision medicine affordable, accessible and actionable<\/strong><\/p>\nAt St. Elizabeth, genetic counseling visits are a flat fee of under $100, and genetic testing typically costs less than $100 out of pocket. It\u2019s also accessible. Patients don\u2019t have to navigate a complicated healthcare maze to get tested or use their results. From first conversation to follow-up plan, precision medicine is integrated into everyday practice so the right people receive the right information at the right time, without barriers or delays. \u201cBy making genetic testing accessible and actionable across our entire healthcare system,\u201d says Grund, \u201cwe\u2019re empowering patients and providers alike to make smarter, safer health decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learn more about Precision Medicine and Genetics at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photograph courtesy St. Elizabeth Today, healthcare is shifting away from a one-size-fits-all approach toward personalized medicine designed around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-465471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115298351770282034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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