Horizon Scans
Key Messages
- CADTH’s 2023 Watch List presents the top 10 precision medicine technologies and issues that have the potential to make a significant and meaningful impact in transforming health systems in Canada over the next 5 years. These technologies and issues are likely to shape the future of health care.
- The Human Genome Project was completed 20 years ago and offers new opportunities to use an individual's genetic information to manage their health care. Today, as health systems see an emergence of new precision medicine technologies that can use a person’s unique characteristics to inform and tailor their care, the 2023 Watch List unpacks the hype from hope, and indicates where there is likely real opportunity to improve patient care and health systems delivery.
- As part of the 2023 Watch List, we identify and describe the 5 top precision medicine technologies; among them, examples such as liquid biopsies for informing cancer treatments and pharmacogenomics testing for mental health conditions that may shape the future of health care. To prepare health systems for their wider adoption and implementation, the 2023 Watch List explores some considerations for health care decision-makers about the impact and implications the technologies may have on care pathways, health human resources, health care infrastructure, and health equity.
- The 2023 Watch List also identifies the top 5 issues that crosscut the broader scope of precision medicine technologies and could limit health systems from realizing the full potential of the technologies. Among them, issues such as increasing complexity related to interpreting test results and challenges in regulating precision medicine technologies are key issues that likely warrant more attention and will influence the wider adoption, diffusion, and implementation of precision medicine technologies.
- Collectively, monitoring ongoing developments and evidence related to the top technologies and issues highlighted in the 2023 Watch List can help support health care stakeholders to future-proof health systems and guide health system planning in Canada.