About GARDE

This site has been created to provide cancer researchers and genetic counselors with instruction about GARDE, a population health management application that identifies individuals who meet criteria for genetic testing.

GARDE’s architecture is described to facilitate communication and requirements for installation and deployment, and user-level instructions are provided to facilitate GARDE configuration and operation.

Important Information about GARDE

  1. The deployment hosting strategy is determined by the HCS to meet their unique needs and resources. GARDE staff are available to consult on this decision as desired.

  2. GARDE does NOT require that patient data leave the HCS. Regardless of deployment strategy, the entire approach, including all aspects of the GARDE architecture, is HIPAA compliant for handling PHI.

  3. GARDE has successfully undergone security review and approval at 6 academic medical centers across the US.

Previous GARDE implementation

GARDE supported the Broadening the Reach, Impact, and Delivery of Genetic Services (BRIDGE) randomized controlled trial, which compared the effectiveness of chatbot-based delivery of cancer genetic services compared to standard care (SOC) among 3073 unaffected primary care patients in two large healthcare systems.1 The study found that chatbots are equivalent to SOC in terms of uptake of pretest cancer genetic services and genetic testing. BRIDGE results suggest that chatbots offer a scalable and secure way to deliver genetic services, allowing genetic counselors to focus on more specialized care.

  1. Kaphingst KA, Kohlmann WK, Lorenz Chambers R, et al. Uptake of Cancer Genetic Services for Chatbot vs Standard-of-Care Delivery Models: The BRIDGE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 3;7(9):e2432143. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.32143. PMID: 39250153; PMCID: PMC11385050.↩︎

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