Your health.
Your medicines.
You deserve to know.
Mechanics Bank has partnered with RxGenomix to offer their team members access to ExactMeds® – a new program that could make a significant difference in keeping you as healthy as can be. With a simple ExactMeds® test, we can tell your healthcare team if a particular medication is likely to work well, or if it might be harmful to you, before you take the first dose. That’s a huge step toward personalized prescribing.
How it helps
The ExactMeds® program may help:
- get you healthier faster
- reduce medication costs
- inform the best choices for prescribing
- reduce the chance of side effects
- reduce the chance for a serious drug reaction
- reduce overall healthcare costs
Steps to the Process
RxGenomix will directly contact some of those we think may be good candidates for the program. All members and their dependents can call RxGenomix, however, to see if they qualify for full coverage.
After a phone call to gather information about you, we’ll send you a kit with everything you need to take a quick and easy cheek swab.
When you send the sample back, our laboratory will help us test the sample and produce a thorough and actionable report.
Our specially-trained pharmacists will review the report, talk through it with you and work with your prescriber if they have any recommendations for changes to your prescriptions.
A Closer Look at How the ExactMeds® Program Works
Testimonials
“I just wanted to thank you for the help with my patient as she is already doing so much better. She had tried 9 different mental health medications and experienced side effects with most. Now she has confidence in her medication finally and is getting her energy back! I am thankful to be able to offer this service.”
Rebecca, Healthcare provider
“Without this test, I would still be struggling to get my high blood pressure under control while furthering the damage being done by a heart condition I have. I want to watch each of my seven grandchildren grow and this is a great thing.”
Dorothy, 63
“Before this test was available, I had a bad reaction to a common, prescribed pain medication. It was basically an overdose. It was really enlightening to see all the answers I needed for why that happened spelled out in my report, and now I know exactly what will work safely for me in the future.”
Jake, 52
FAQs
Nearly every test returns information that could be beneficial to you, your physician and your pharmacist at some point. For those taking five or more medications, about half of all tests return information relevant to a medication the patient is currently taking. This allows for a much more accurate medication plan for each individual.
The ExactMeds® process produces a laboratory report (and a clear action plan) that tells us if the genes in your body will metabolize medications effectively, and what your best alternatives may be. While the right medication could dramatically improve your health, one that is wrong for you could be ineffective or even dangerous for you. ExactMeds® testing is really the only way to know this before you begin taking a drug.
Each human being has an estimated 30,000 genes in their bodies. Our current program looks at just 45 of those. That’s it. We’re only testing for variations in these genes that affect how your body processes medications, or doesn’t. The testing simply can’t tell us anything beyond that.
There are two ways to find out if you qualify for full coverage. Either RxGenomix will contact you with details, or you can go ahead and call them, ready to discuss what medications you might be taking.
RxGenomix focuses on those currently taking medications for which an ExactMeds® test could have the most benefit and impact. The process doesn’t work for all medications..
The ExactMeds® program covers hundreds of medications, including many of the most common, but it doesn’t cover them all. Also, healthy people taking no medications aren’t likely to be good candidates for the program. Sure, it would be valuable information to have filed away for the future, but the focus is on those we can help the most today.
For all who qualify, this is a fully-covered benefit provided to you by Mechanics Bank. For questions about whether or not you qualify, contact RxGenomix.
Yes. Mechanics Bank has provided the opportunity for you to receive a discount on the program. Originally $429, the program will be offered at $299 to all members of a Mechanics Bank sponsored health plan (including the employee and everyone covered under their plan).
No. Only your healthcare team will see any of your results, and only with your permission.
Mechanics Bank and its partner, RxGenomix, respect your privacy, and that includes your genetic information. Even though this testing will only look at a very small set of genes limited to drug metabolism, only your medical team will have access to this information and it will be used solely to create a more personalized medication plan for you.
The test itself is painless and non-invasive, taking only a minute or two. You just rub a swab inside each cheek for about 30 seconds and send it off to the lab. That’s all there is to it.