December 30, 2013 | Pharmacogenomics – the idea that patients' genes affect their response to medications – has been hailed as a way to put genetic knowledge to use in the health care system quickly, and without running into regulatory issues. Although the field is still young, a large Midwestern hospital network, Avera Health, is now joining the vanguard of its practitioners with a pilot program in two South Dakota hospitals. Starting this month, these centers have been using a gene panel to choose pain medications after orthopedic surgery for patients considered at higher risk of receiving an ineffective pain care regimen. Sioux City Journal