494 Expert group decision making for pharmacogenomic testing in Ontario

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: There is a need to better understand how governments develop strategies to adopt, evaluate, and implement novel health technologies in a public healthcare system. The goal of this project is to understand this strategy development process for the translation of pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing in Ontario, Canada. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This observational case study of the Ontario Health PGx Working Group focused on developing recommendations for a PGx testing implementation strategy in the province. The group included 9 individuals affiliated with Ontario Health and 13 healthcare experts from multiple clinical fields. Ontario Health is the government agency that oversees provincial healthcare planning and service delivery. Guided by the Translational Thinking Framework and qualitative research methods, we observed the working group’s activities for eight months. We collected meeting recordings, slideshow decks, emails, and group characteristics. We used descriptive statistics and a nine-step inductive approach to analyze the data to create process maps, a case report, and key decision summaries. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: There were 19 meetings conducted remotely with videoconferencing technology. Throughout the working group’s activities, we identified 15 key decisions related to either administrative processes or PGx scientific content. We further stratified these two categories into four main themes relating to decisions about 1) membership involvement, 2) logistical management, 3) discussion and recommendation scope, and 4) information dissemination. These four decision themes represent tools by which Ontario Health guided the expert group activities and achieved their goal of generating a strategic roadmap for PGx testing implementation in Ontario. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The Ontario government makes decisions about how expert groups function by monitoring and controlling the group’s activities to ensure efficiency, standardization, and practicality. Describing expert group decision-making increases transparency and highlights the critical role they play in the translational pathway of health technologies.