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Quest Diagnostics

Getting back to care

We can support you as patients return to preventive care

While every health system has its own approach to handling the return to preventive and elective patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic, rest assured we are prepared to continue to support your organization, physicians, and patients in whatever capacity you may need.

Helping you manage the transition to postpandemic care diagnostics

Continuum-of-care testing

Quest offers full continuum-of-care testing, from routine to specialized, from biological to complex molecular, and from anatomic pathology to gene-based testing. All address the breadth of patient need with consistent quality and efficiency.

Improve patient access

Quest Patient Services Centers are open and ready to help your patients get testing for routine, acute, and chronic conditions they may have delayed due to COVID-19. 

Deliver value-based care

Quest's solutions support your efforts to bridge gaps in care, facilitate healthy living, reduce the progression of chronic disease, and make progress toward the delivery of value-based care across the population your system serves.

Be ready for new healthcare needs created by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a 46% decline in identifying new cancer diagnoses in the US, causing delayed delivery of treatment. Urgent action is needed to avoid a potential increase in cancer deaths due to delayed diagnoses.1

According to provisional data, in 2020, there were notable changes in the number and ranking of deaths compared with 2019. Heart disease-related deaths increased by 4.8%, the largest increase in heart disease deaths since 2012. Increases in heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes also reflect disruptions in healthcare that hampered early detection and disease management.2

Clinical drug testing decreased up to 70% during the pandemic, while positivity for nonprescribed drugs and dangerous drugs in combination nearly doubled. These trends indicate an unmet need for healthcare and public health resources that address the convergence of the drug epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic.3

There is a growing body of evidence of a high prevalence of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, and organ failure among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).4

The number of positive Hepatitis C (HCV) RNA diagnostic test results and medication prescriptions were 40% lower than the previous year, according to an early pandemic study. This was attributed to patients not accessing healthcare services for potentially life-saving treatment and care during the early months of the pandemic.5

At least 1 in 7 patients with COVID-19 were found to be additionally infected with a secondary bacterial infection. Of the fatalities during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, 50% were caused by untreated or untreatable secondary bacterial infections, in most cases in the lung.6

1 in 3 patients with COVID-19 were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric disorder within 6 months of infection. A study of over 230,000 patients shows the potential detriment to brain health following a COVID-19 diagnosis.7

Now is the time to ensure your labs are as efficient as possible

Quest can provide insights that help lab managers, pathologists, and clinicians collaborate to drive targeted enhancements in test selection and interpretation, and improvements in lab operations and patient outcomes.

Our experts can review your lab operations and help implement changes to increase lab efficiency and productivity, helping you manage post-COVID test volumes. Opportunities for efficiency include increasing process standardization, moving high-cost testing off-site, balancing staffing with volume and workflow, and more.

 Lab operations
 Lab stewardship

Delayed HCV detection and treatment may lead to increased morbidity and mortality

New research shows that the number of positive HCV RNA diagnostic test results and medication prescriptions in July 2020 declined 40%, compared to same month of 2018/2019, attributed to patients not accessing healthcare services for potentially life-saving treatment and care during the early months of the pandemic.

View summary

COVID-19 testing

A molecular test is available to test symptomatic patients for COVID-19. Through qualitative multi-target molecular diagnostics, this testing option helps to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

Cotesting options can help differentially detect or evaluate the pathogen(s) responsible for a patient’s respiratory infection. These cotesting options include many clinical advantages including, but not limited to, collecting a single specimen, potentially minimizing patient discomfort and expediting time to diagnosis.

The following testing options can help identify recent or prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 (which may be resolved or is still resolving):

1 Kaufman HW, Chen Z, Niles J, et al. Changes in the number of US patients with newly identified cancer before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(8):e2017267. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.172677

2 Ahmad FB, Anderson RN. The leading causes of death in the US for 2020. JAMA. 2021;325(18):1829-1830. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.5469

3 Niles JK, Gudin J, Radcliff J, Kaufman HW. The opioid epidemic within the COVID-19 pandemic: drug testing in 2020. Popul Health Manag. 2021;24(S1):S43-S51.

4 Varga Z, Flammer AJ, Steiger P, et al. Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19. Lancet. 2020;395(10234):1417-1418. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30937-5

5 Kaufman HW, Bull-Otterson L, Meyer III WA, et al. Decreases in hepatitis C testing and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Am J Prev Med. Epub May 10, 2021. Accessed August 6, 2021. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.03.011

6 Manohar P, Loh B, Athira S, et al. Secondary bacterial infections during pulmonary viral disease: phage therapeutics as alternatives to antibiotics? Front Microbiol. 2020;11:1434. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01434

7 Taquet M, Geddes JR, Husain M, et al. 6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236,379 survivors of COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021;8(5):416-427. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00084-5

 

• The Cepheid SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B and RSV test, the cobas® SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Test and the Quest SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test and other molecular tests (“Tests”) have not been FDA cleared or approved.

• The Roche® test has been authorized only for the detection of RNA from SARS-CoV-2 virus, Influenza A virus, and Influenza B virus and not any other viruses or pathogens.

• The Cepheid SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B and RSV test has been authorized only for the simultaneous qualitative detection and differentiation of nucleic acids from SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and not for any other viruses or pathogens;

• The Cepheid SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B and RSV test is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked sooner.

• The Roche test is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorized of the emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 virus, Influenza A, and Influenza B under section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb- 3(b)(1), unless the authorized is terminated or revoked sooner.

• The Tests have been authorized by the FDA under an EUA for use by laboratories certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), 42 U.S.C. § 263a, to perform moderate and high complexity tests.

• The Quest test and other molecular tests have been authorized only for the detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens.

• The Quest test and other molecular tests are only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked sooner.

Support for your system

As you work to keep up with ongoing COVID-19 care, catching up on deferred care creates further pressure on clinical staff.

See how we can help

Lab management

Our company

Quest® is the brand name used for services offered by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and its affiliated companies. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and certain affiliates are CLIA certified laboratories that provide HIPAA covered services.  Other affiliates operated under the Quest® brand, such as Quest Consumer Inc., do not provide HIPAA covered services. 

 

Quest®, Quest Diagnostics®, any associated logos, and all associated Quest Diagnostics registered or unregistered trademarks are the property of Quest Diagnostics. All third-party marks—® and ™—are the property of their respective owners. © 2024 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. All rights reserved. Image content features models and is intended for illustrative purposes only.