The mutation frequency in patients meeting CS diagnostic criteria (34%) was significantly lower than previously reported, suggesting a need for reevaluation of these criteria. A mutation prediction model has been developed which can help identify patients appropriate for PTEN testing in clinical practice.
In 2010, the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) membership was surveyed about their use of genetic counseling service delivery models (SDMs) including in-person, telephone, telegenetics, and group genetic counseling. Since that time, the demand for genetic counseling services has increased in the United States (US). We hypothesized that the use of various SDMs has increased to help address the growing demand. To assess for changes in SDM use and interest in implementing innovative SDMs, the NSGC SDM subcommittee sent an electronic survey to the NSGC membership (N = 3,616), which was open from August 2017 to December 2017. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were used to compare and identify differences in SDM utilization between 2010 and 2017. There were 590 total responses (16.3% response rate) with 517 usable responses, representing multiple genetic counseling specialties. Compared to 2010, significantly fewer respondents indicated they 'always' provide services in-person in 2017 (p < .04, df = 4), with 92.6% of respondents reporting 'always' or 'often' utilizing in-person SDM in 2017. Telephone genetic counseling was reported by 12.5% as a model used always or often, compared to 8% in 2010; however, the shift toward or away from telephone genetic counseling since 2010 was not statistically significant (p = .27, df = 4). The number of respondents using telegenetics always or often increased from 2.3% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2017, and more respondents report using telegenetics at an increased frequency (p < .01, df = 4). In contrast, those reporting use of a group genetic counseling SDM always or often decreased from 3.0% to 1.4%, though there was not a significant shift toward or away the frequency of respondents using group genetic counseling (p = .21, df = 4). Almost all respondents (93%) were interested in implementing an additional and/or different SDM; however, many (74%) identified barriers to implementation. There was an increase in those reporting use of 3 or 4 SDMs in practice since 2010 (p < .02). Genetic counselors may be attempting to compensate for longer wait times by implementing additional SDMs to improve access for patients. There is strong interest in learning about and implementing innovative SDMs to improve access and efficiency. However, resources need to be developed to help genetic counselors identify and overcome implementation barriers to achieve these goals. | 1127 GREENBERG Et al.
Genetic counseling assistants (GCAs) have the potential to address the high demand for genetic counselors by promoting task-sharing, increasing genetic counselor efficiency, and allowing for higher level duties to be optimized by genetic counselors.However, little research has been published on the role of GCAs. This study explored current tasks of GCAs in the United States, the appropriateness of those tasks, the perceived impact on the profession, and how these findings compared between genetic counselors with and without GCAs. Full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) with and without experience working with GCAs were recruited via the NSGC Student Research listserv to complete an online survey and 271 surveys were analyzed. Participants working in both clinical and laboratory settings and in all primary specialties reported working with GCAs (n = 131); GCAs were reported to frequently perform clerical tasks but were involved less often in clinical tasks such as calling patients with genetic test results. There was no difference between participants with GCAs and those without GCAs in tasks they reported GCAs are or may be performing, yet participants without GCAs believed GCAs performed more tasks on average than those with GCAs reported (p < 0.001). Participants did not differ on the appropriateness of tasks, reporting clerical tasks as more appropriate for GCAs than clinically involved tasks, with the exception of calling patients with variant of uncertain significance (VUS) results in which more participants working with GCAs reported it as an appropriate task (13%) than those without GCAs (4%;. Review of open-ended responses revealed themes pertaining to primary limitations, benefits, and concerns of the GCA role. The most commonly reported concern about GCAs was their poorly defined scope of practice (n = 182). Other reported limitations included a heavy workload, lack of training, and lack of experience for GCAs while the benefits of working with GCAs included increased time available for higher level duties, patient volumes, and efficiency. These data provide genetic counselors, their institutions, and the NSGC with a more generalizable understanding of current GCA roles on a national level, across specialties. Additionally, these data may help establish a scope of practice for GCAs by creating a baseline job description for genetic counselors and their institutions interested in implementing a GCA into 2 | ME THODS | ParticipantsGenetic counselors who were full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) were recruited via email through the NSGC Student Research Survey Program listserv. There were approximately 3,000 full members of NSGC at the time of the study. | RecruitmentAn email was sent to all full NSCG members asking for their participation in an online survey about GCAs. The invitation to participate included: (a) purpose of the study; (b) time needed to complete the survey (~10-15 min); (c) the option to confidentially provide an email address to be e...
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