We’re seeing a continuation of our last set of viral surveillance trends from the Helix dashboard. Below are our top 3 takeaways, as well as, our commentary on what this means for the trajectory of the pandemic:  The Omicron Subvariant Fight is Turning: BA.4 and BA.5 continue their upward growth, now at ~20% of cases  … Read more

With the rising popularity of wearable devices, more patients than ever are reporting self-diagnoses of atrial fibrillation to their doctors. Because early treatment of heart conditions can be critical in slowing their progression, identifying individuals in the early stages of heart failure may significantly improve their chances of delaying or preventing negative – or sometimes even  … Read more

With Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 showing up in the news more frequently, here are the latest viral surveillance takeaways from our nationwide data:  While BA.4 and BA.5 were at low levels (~1%) two weeks ago, the two variants have picked up speed and now, collectively, represent 7% of positive cases nationwide. Seeing their dominance in countries  … Read more

Scientists at Helix continue to track COVID-19 and flu through our nationwide viral surveillance efforts and have been providing this information directly to our health system executives. We’ll be posting our latest insights more regularly here, in case the information may be helpful for other healthcare leaders in formulating response efforts.  Our Top 5 Insights  … Read more

Genomic testing has been used for years as a point solution in isolated clinical care but is now increasingly viewed as a potential solution to health screening on a much larger scale. In March, James Lu, MD, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Helix, and Leslie Dockan, RN, Vice President of Primary Care and Operations at  … Read more

The formation of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) is a significant step toward ensuring that our nation has the  critical infrastructure needed to best prepare for and prevent future pandemics.   As the leading population genomics and viral surveillance company, Helix understands the powerful role that forecasting plays in guarding us against the  … Read more

In order to understand the underlying genetic health risks of their patient populations, more and more health systems are undertaking and utilizing population genomic screening approaches. These programs embark on the large-scale genetic screening of all-comer populations within a community that enables the use of actionable genomics insights at point of care. Evidence from these  … Read more

Clinician burnout has been a topic of increasing concern for health systems for many years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has both exacerbated and brought much needed attention to the problem. Although multiple factors can contribute to burnout in healthcare settings, one of the most widely agreed upon challenges is documentation burden, an issue known to  … Read more

Critical to the idea of precision health is the notion that a patient’s DNA can guide their clinical care. In recent years, researchers have brought us closer to this ideal by identifying genetic variants that influence how patients respond to medications. With this information, pharmacogenomic assays have been developed to help physicians screen their patients’  … Read more

In September 2020, researchers in the UK first detected a SARS-CoV-2 variant that was more transmissible and deadly than the original strain. Later designated as the Alpha variant by the World Health Organization (WHO), the surge in cases caused by this variant led to England declaring a third national lockdown just a few months later.  … Read more