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“There is room for error, particularly with at-home testing,” Dr. Jeffrey Dlott, senior medical director of diagnostics services at Quest Diagnostics, told Healthline. “Drawing one’s own blood can be daunting and anxiety-ridden for many. And if it’s not done right, results can be inconclusive and require the collection process to be repeated. For many, a blood draw by a trained phlebotomist may be preferred over pricking one’s own finger at home.”

Quest Diagnostics is broadening access to its multiplex test to detect flu and COVID-19, letting patients self-collect samples for the test at its 1,600 testing centers across the U.S. Previously, patients had to make an appointment at a testing site, where they were swabbed by a clinician.

Jim Davis, who helped lead the Quest Diagnostics response to the COVID-19 pandemic, officially assumed the role of CEO and president Tuesday morning, succeeding the retiring Steve Rusckowski. Davis also was elected to the company’s board of directors. Davis, who came to Quest in 2013 as senior vice president of diagnostics solutions, has served as executive vice president for general diagnostics since 2017.

Employers are in the business of supporting employee health. According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2022 Employer Benefits Survey, nearly half of employers consider wellness benefits a significantly important offering. But striking the balance between helping employees without overreaching into employee privacy can be tricky. HR Dive spoke with Steven Goldberg, MD, MBA, vice president and chief health officer, employee and population health, at Quest Diagnostics about how the company has managed efforts directed at employee health — while also respecting worker privacy.

Leading brands are well-oiled marketing machines. You can’t become a household name without it. But a select subset of brands are taking that expertise and the size of their platforms, and using them to bring awareness to important issues or raise money for critical causes.

QUEST FOR HEALTH EQUITY: As a brand most Americans only think about when they’re getting their blood drawn or urine tested, Quest Diagnostics moved to play a larger role in addressing health disparities in underserved communities when it established Quest for Health Equity at the end of 2020. Since then, the organization has partnered with religious leaders, health experts, and community organizations nationwide to push COVID-19 education, testing, and vaccination through Black religious organizations. Quest for Health Equity also worked to help Puerto Ricans with Long COVID, establishing the island’s first clinic focused specifically on Long COVID, helping more than 2,400 patients since opening in 2021.

Though countless diagnostic developers struck it rich at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those that were relatively new to the testmaking game are now struggling to make up for lost sales as the spread of the virus slows down. Not so for established testing giants like Quest Diagnostics, which has seen its base business rebound in direct relation to dropping COVID-related earnings.

Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Tesla Inc., down $14.76 to $207.28. The electric vehicle maker warned it could miss its target of 50% annual growth in deliveries this year. Quest Diagnostics Inc., up $8 to $134.66. The medical laboratory chain’s third-quarter earnings and revenue beat analysts’ forecasts.

Decode Health has announced a new phase of its collaboration with Quest Diagnostics. In earlier phases of the collaboration, the two parties developed RNA (transcriptome) sequencing capabilities.

Recent research shows more messaging about cancer screening is needed. This is because diagnoses of prostate and breast cancer remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels. While this may sound like good news, it's not. The lower figures are due to a reverberating trend stemming from the pandemic. Based on data from 1.1 million patients, a Quest Diagnostics' analysis found cancer diagnoses plummeted nearly 30% in the first months of the pandemic in 2020, when much of society and healthcare were shuttered.

Quest Diagnostics said it recently joined forces with a free H.O.P.E. Clinic in Plainfield operated by Rutgers University to help reduce health disparities in a community with a high percentage of uninsured adults by providing free lab services. Not only is this helping people with chronic conditions receive the treatments they need, but it also is helping to keep health care costs down by giving people an alternative to emergency departments.