Leveraging the learning health care model to improve equity in the age of genomic medicine

Abstract

To fully achieve the goals of a genomics-enabled learning health care system, purposeful efforts to understand and reduce health disparities and improve equity of care are essential. This paper highlights 3 major challenges facing genomics-enabled learning health care systems, as they pertain to ancestrally diverse populations: inequality in the utility of genomic medicine; lack of access to pharmacogenomics in clinical care; and inadequate incorporation of social and environmental data into the electronic health care record. We advance a framework that cannot only be used to directly improve care for all within the learning health system but can also be used to focus on the needs to address racial and ethnic health disparities and improve health equity.