PharMe

Name: PharMe
Author: Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System

VALIDATED

Shows promise in preliminary research

For:Researchers & AcademicsClinicians & Healthcare ProfessionalsPatients & Caregivers

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App Summary

PharMe is a mobile app for patients to receive and understand their personal pharmacogenomic results, providing evidence-based information on how their genetics may affect responses to specific medications. The app's design is based on established CPIC and FDA guidelines, and a preliminary remote pilot evaluation indicated it was understandable and easy to use (System Usability Scale score of 82.86). The authors conclude the system is a user-friendly tool designed to help scale the clinical adoption of pharmacogenomics by delivering transparent, standardized results to patients while supporting trained clinical experts.

App Screenshots

Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism

Developed by the Mount Sinai Health System, the PharMe application provides patients with direct access to personal pharmacogenomic test results. The system securely loads laboratory data and presents personalized, annotated therapeutic guidance derived from CPIC and FDA guidelines, covering 159 medications across 17 genes. The interface facilitates exploration of gene-based drug responses, incorporates phenoconversion data for refined interpretations, and allows for the generation of exportable reports to support clinical consultations.

Evidence & Research Context

An initial evaluation study assessed the application's design and usability in a remote pilot with a small cohort of digitally literate participants.
The system demonstrated high usability, achieving a mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 82.86, which indicates an excellent user experience.
Participants in the pilot successfully completed the majority of assigned tasks, yielding an average user satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars.
A larger clinical validation study is underway to assess the system in a more diverse patient population.

Intended Use & Scope

PharMe is designed for patient participants within approved research studies to review and understand their personal pharmacogenomic results. Its primary utility is as an informational and educational tool to support clinician-patient dialogue. The application does not provide medical advice or replace professional clinical judgment; all therapeutic decisions require consultation with a qualified healthcare provider.

Studies & Publications

1 publication

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

Pilot/Feasibility Study

Design and Implementation of PharMe: A Mobile Application to Return Pharmacogenomic Test Results to Patients

Slosarek et al. (2025) · medRxiv

Feasibility confirmed with 4.1-star rating and strong usability scores; users successfully completed most tasks.

ObjectivePharmacogenomics can optimize therapeutic outcomes while minimizing adverse events. However, barriers like the lack of trained healthcare professionals impede its widespread adoption. To address this challenge, we developed the PharMe app to return pharmacogenomic results to patients, facilitated by Anni, a custom annotation interface.Materials and MethodsAll components were developed user-centered; patient content was created by experts with Anni, based on CPIC and FDA guidelines. PharMe's usability was tested in a remote pilot, asking users to perform tasks and give SUS and star ratings. A power user delivered in-depth, qualitative insights.ResultsPharMe is available for iOS and Android in English and includes information for 17 genes and 159 medications. Anni allows the consistent, multi-lingual annotation of guidelines with patient-friendly formulations. PharMe securely loads laboratory results, displays personalized annotated guidelines, and includes phenoconversion. Pilot testers finished most tasks successfully; on average, PharMe received 4.1 stars and a SUS score of 82.86. Feedback collected in all test sessions was incorporated into the current PharMe version.DiscussionWhile the remote pilot testing has limitations like a small sample size and (digitally) literate participants, it showed that PharMe is a valuable, understandable, and easy-to-use system. PharMe is assessed in a clinical validation study in a more diverse population. In the future, PharMe and Anni could support further guidelines and data formats.ConclusionWe developed a novel and user-friendly system to return pharmacogenomic results to patients and scale the clinical adoption of pharmacogenomics, supporting trained clinical experts. PharMe and Anni are designed to use transparent and standardized content based on published guidelines, be agnostic to pharmacogenomic data sources, and be flexibly deployed globally in different settings and institutions.