2023 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on Precision Emergency Medicine: Development of a policy‐relevant, patient‐centered research agenda

Abstract

ObjectivesPrecision medicine is data‐driven health care tailored to individual patients based on their unique attributes, including biologic profiles, disease expressions, local environments, and socioeconomic conditions. Emergency medicine (EM) has been peripheral to the precision medicine discourse, lacking both a unified definition of precision medicine and a clear research agenda. We convened a national consensus conference to build a shared mental model and develop a research agenda for precision EM.MethodsWe held a conference to (1) define precision EM, (2) develop an evidence‐based research agenda, and (3) identify educational gaps for current and future EM clinicians. Nine preconference workgroups (biomedical ethics, data science, health professions education, health care delivery and access, informatics, omics, population health, sex and gender, and technology and digital tools), comprising 84 individuals, garnered expert opinion, reviewed relevant literature, engaged with patients, and developed key research questions. During the conference, each workgroup shared how they defined precision EM within their domain, presented relevant conceptual frameworks, and engaged a broad set of stakeholders to refine precision EM research questions using a multistage consensus‐building process.ResultsA total of 217 individuals participated in this initiative, of whom 115 were conference‐day attendees. Consensus‐building activities yielded a definition of precision EM and key research questions that comprised a new 10‐year precision EM research agenda. The consensus process revealed three themes: (1) preeminence of data, (2) interconnectedness of research questions across domains, and (3) promises and pitfalls of advances in health technology and data science/artificial intelligence. The Health Professions Education Workgroup identified educational gaps in precision EM and discussed a training roadmap for the specialty.ConclusionsA research agenda for precision EM, developed with extensive stakeholder input, recognizes the potential and challenges of precision EM. Comprehensive clinician training in this field is essential to advance EM in this domain.

Precision medicine within health professions education: Defining a research agenda for emergency medicine using a foresight and strategy technique (FaST) review

“…The top nine items were then voted upon by the entirety of the consensus conference attendees. The top three items were reported within the 2023 SAEM precision medicine consensus conference summary paper by Strehlow and colleagues 2 as representing the main education themes. The final top three items that were endorsed by the education implications of precision medicine consensus conference group are depicted in the infographic (Box 2 ).…”

“…1 Precision emergency medicine is the purposeful use of big data and technology to safely, efficiently, and authentically deliver acute care for individual patients and their communities. 2 By tailoring medical treatments and interventions to the individual, informed by their unique genetics, environment, and lifestyle, precision medicine represents an evolution from evidence‐based medicine, which places a greater emphasis on the efficacy of treatment determined by population‐level research. 3 This new approach to care represents a once‐in‐a‐generation paradigm shift facilitated by advancements in technology that could revolutionize our specialty.…”

“… 3 This new approach to care represents a once‐in‐a‐generation paradigm shift facilitated by advancements in technology that could revolutionize our specialty. 2 However, we must prepare our emergency medicine workforce to fully realize its potential applications.…”

“…Its incorporation into emergency medicine practice will be challenging due to a lack of consensus on the future of precision emergency medicine, a historic deficit of technical training for physicians, a shortage of physicians with expertise in this area working within medical education, and physician skepticism of the necessary analytic tools. 2 These challenges are compounded by a paucity of empirical studies exploring education and precision emergency medicine. These issues make it difficult to know where to begin when it comes to teaching the fundamentals of precision emergency medicine to all emergency physicians and health care workers in our field.…”