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Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition where the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or doesn’t use it effectively, causing high blood sugar levels. Insulin is crucial for helping the body convert glucose into energy. When insulin doesn’t work properly, glucose accumulates in the bloodstream, leading to increased blood sugar. Over time, this can result in serious complications such as organ damage and a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. “Diabetes can affect every organ system,” says Sanjay Dixit, MD, medical director of cardiometabolic endocrine and wellness clinical solutions at Quest Diagnostics. “Early detection and management of type 2 diabetes is crucial.”

Quest Diagnostics on Monday completed its acquisition of select lab assets of Allina Health in a deal that builds on the industry trend of independent companies taking over the outpatient lab operations of health systems.

Quest Diagnostics and Sentara Health Plans said Wednesday that they have entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration. Under the agreement, Quest will, at the beginning of 2025, become the exclusive independent national laboratory provider of clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology services for Sentara members in Florida and Virginia.

Adherence to guideline-based laboratory testing and treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea in pregnant women has been found to be suboptimal in the United States, indicating the potential for negative effects on newborn and maternal health, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. Researchers from Quest Diagnostics and the University of Alabama sought to evaluate adherence to national recommendations for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing during pregnancy. This evaluation also included tests for persistence/potential reinfection at time of delivery and cure/clearance.

A critical technique in clinical laboratory testing, mass spectrometry (MS) involves, at its core, examining a mass of molecules. Darren Weber, Associate Scientific Director in the R&D Mass Spectrometry department at Quest Diagnostics-Nichols Institute in San Juan Capistrano, explains mass spectrometry’s place in the clinical lab.

Two blood tests you probably haven’t heard of might predict your risk of heart disease better than standard tests do. The first measures a protein called apolipoprotein B, or apoB for short, that contributes to artery-blocking plaque. The other test, for lipoprotein(a), measures a type of bad cholesterol. A growing number of specialists and primary care doctors say these tests can help give you a more precise and earlier indication of possible heart problems than more common tests for things like LDL, the best-known bad cholesterol marker. Up to 20% of patients with normal LDL cholesterol levels will have high levels of apoB, says Dr. Marc Penn, a cardiologist and a medical director at laboratory testing company Quest Diagnostics.

Coming years could see a shift in clinical laboratory operations as developments in robotics and AI further streamline workflows and bring automation to new parts of the lab. In particular, labs and vendors are working to deploy "trackless" robotics and automation systems to supplement or replace traditional track-based total lab automation (TLA) systems, further reducing the human involvement required for lab workflows and in some laboratories eliminating it entirely. Quest is also moving toward a trackless automation strategy, said Aldana, noting that the company began seriously pursuing this approach this year using both equipment from outside vendors as well as systems developed internally. He said that while the effort is still in the early stages, the company aims to quickly roll out trackless automation tools across its labs.

Quest Diagnostics raised its 2024 profit and revenue forecasts on Tuesday, banking on robust demand for its health tests. Demand for diagnostic tests has grown in recent quarters as more people, especially older adults, caught up on surgeries deferred during the pandemic. "This performance is due to growth of new physician and hospital customers, more favorable test mix that includes greater adoption of advanced diagnostics," Quest CEO Jim Davis said.

Here’s what experts say your AMH level can and can’t tell you about your fertility. “An AMH test could be the first step. Anything that initiates discussions between you and your spouse or your significant other and your health care professional I think is incredibly valuable,” says Damian Alagia, MD, Senior Medical Director for Advanced Diagnostics and Women’s Health at Quest Diagnostics on behalf of questhealth.com.

OhioHealth, based in Columbus, signed an agreement to sell certain assets of its outreach laboratory services business to Quest Diagnostics. The parties expect the transaction to close in the third quarter of the year, pending regulatory approval. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.