Key result
Pediatric cardiologists cite testing logistics, decision-making, and collaboration as top barriers to cardiovascular genetic services.
Why the study?
Clinical genetic testing is increasingly integrated into cardiac care, but ongoing challenges and barriers to its integration in pediatric cardiac care needed to be better understood.
Observational (n=12)
No
Qualitative interviews with pediatric cardiology clinicians highlight significant logistical and collaborative barriers to integrating genetic testing, suggesting a need for more systematic processes and EMR integration.
Persistent logistical barriers may hinder genetic testing uptake in pediatric cardiology; leaves open optimal EMR integration strategies.
Purpose: Clinical genetic testing is increasingly integrated in managing and diagnosing cardiac conditions and disease. It is important to identify ongoing challenges. This study aimed to better understand how genetic testing is integrated into pediatric cardiac care and identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with pediatric cardiology clinicians (N = 12). Following a journey mapping approach to data analysis, we described genetic testing workflow phases, participants' thoughts and behaviors within each phase, and barriers and opportunities for improvement. Results: Participants described several challenges across the genetic testing workflow, from identifying patients for testing to disclosing results to the patients. Testing logistics, decision-making, and collaboration emerged as the most prominent challenges. Variation remains in the utilization of genetic testing, partially driven by case complexity and type of testing and attributable to other factors, like the level of interaction with genetics experts and inconsistent processes within the electronic medical record. Conclusion: Clinical genetic pediatric cardiology requires more systematic integration of genetic testing and transparent processes. Major opportunities include the interplay between clinicians, genetic experts, and the EMR. Incorporating process mapping results into clinical logistics may eradicate some barriers experienced by pediatric cardiologists and increase clinical efficiency.
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Hundal et al. (2025) conducted an observational in Pediatric cardiovascular genetic services (n=12). Cardiovascular genetic testing services was evaluated on Challenges and opportunities in the genetic testing workflow. Pediatric cardiology clinicians reported that testing logistics, decision-making, and collaboration are the most prominent challenges in utilizing cardiovascular genetic services.
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