MADISON, N.J. and HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced it has completed its previously announced acquisition of the outreach laboratory service business of Clinical Laboratory Partners (CLP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare (HHC). HHC is an integrated health care system with five hospitals in Connecticut. Financial terms were not disclosed.

With the acquisition, people and providers in Connecticut will have broader access to quality, affordable and convenient laboratory services, with a broader network of patient service centers and three rapid-response clinical laboratories in the state. Physicians in Connecticut will also be able to order testing and consult with Quest Diagnostics' medical experts at Quest's full-service clinical laboratory in Marlborough, Mass. This lab provides state-of-the-art testing services, such as next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics, to aid the detection of cancer, dementia and other diseases.

HHC's hospital-based laboratories and the inpatient and outpatient services they provide are not included in the transaction and will remain part of the HHC system. Professional consultative pathology services performed by Hartford Pathology Associates are also not part of the acquisition.

This is the fifth acquisition of a laboratory outreach service business from a hospital system by Quest Diagnostics since 2012, when the company introduced its five-point strategy, which includes restoring growth and driving disciplined capital deployment through strategically-aligned, accretive acquisitions. The company has also formed several agreements with hospitals to provide professional laboratory services, such as lab management outsourcing. Quest's scale and expertise enable it to produce highly innovative test services cost-effectively, with fees that are often far lower than those of other providers for comparable services, according to independent research.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes.  Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care management.  Quest annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our 45,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives. www.QuestDiagnostics.com. 

Quest Diagnostics Contacts: 
Wendy Bost, Quest Diagnostics (Media): 973-520-2800 
Dan Haemmerle, Quest Diagnostics (Investors): 973-520-2900

Hartford HealthCare Contact:
Rebecca Stewart, Hartford HealthCare (Media): 860-972-4285

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SOURCE Quest Diagnostics