Media Coverage

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Prevention of heart disease has centered on smoking cessation, controlling blood pressure, achieving an appropriate weight, regular exercise, control of blood sugar, and control of your cholesterol. Despite addressing and controlling these items, individuals still have heart attacks and strokes and vascular events. Researchers are now directing their attention to a dietary metabolite of red meat called trimethlamine N-oxide or TMAO.[CR-LF][CR-LF]There is even a blood test to measure TMAO levels developed by the Cleveland Clinic and available through Quest Labs. Do not get too excited about asking your physician to order it on your blood because it requires eliminating meat, poultry, and fish plus other food items for several days in advance of the test.

With the recent launch of an automated microbiology system in its Marlborough, Massachusetts laboratory, Quest Diagnostics is looking to streamline a department that has seen less impact from automation than many other parts of the lab.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Sourced from lab automation firm Copan Diagnostics, the system is anticipated to cut costs and turnaround time and help address challenges facing clinical microbiology labs, including staffing shortages and reimbursement cuts.

Laboratory services that identify genetic markers of cancer help predict future cancer, identify existing disease, and guide treatment decisions in oncology care. Despite this foundational role in cancer care, laboratory test services often face coverage and reimbursement pressures from health plans that struggle to evaluate the tests’ clinical and economic value. Both oncologists and payers face an avalanche of information on diagnostic tests, which confuses treatment, coverage, and reimbursement decisions. Despite this, physicians and genetic counselors are willing to evaluate the data à la carte in the context of each patient. Genetic testing has quickly become an accepted aspect of mainstream medicine.1

In the last year, a record number of states have amended or enacted laws which regulate marijuana testing, accommodations, and use. Among these states, at least two states have specifically banned pre-employment testing of marijuana. Some states have also enacted provisions which protect employees from being discriminated against for obtaining a medical marijuana license, require reasonable accommodations and provide privacy rights outside of the workplace. In total, 15 states currently have medical cannabis laws that provide some form of explicit employment protection for medical cannabis users. Needless to say, the rapid progression in marijuana legalization has left employers “Dazed and Confused.”[CR-LF][CR-LF]According to the annual Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index, positive marijuana results have increased nearly 24 percent since 2014 for safety-sensitive employees in the federal workplace, who are subject to federally mandated drug testing.

Achievers, an industry-leading employee engagement platform provider, today announced the moderator and panelists of its Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) and Executive Leadership session, "The New Digital Workforce and the Future of Employee Engagement," taking place at its 2019 annual user conference, Achievers Customer Experience (ACE). The 2019 CHRO and Executive Leadership session will be moderated by former executive editor of Fast Company and editor and managing director of The Flux Group, Robert Safian. On stage, the esteemed panelists joining Safian will be:[CR-LF][CR-LF]Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Senior Vice President, People, Culture and Communications, Air Canada[CR-LF]Cecilia McKenney, Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Quest Diagnostics[CR-LF]Michael Agrir, CEO and President, Medxcel[CR-LF]Vanessa Thurston, Interim Vice President & Head of Talent Management, Samsung Electronics America

As Americans marijuana usages continue to climb, workplaces are taking a more lenient approach to drug testing. The Rockefeller Institute of Government recently released a new study looking into marijuana usage, finding more and more Americans are toking up big-time in all 50 states, whether it’s illegal or legal. In states where weed legalization hasn’t been passed, marijuana usage has grown 33% since 2002.Workforce drug positivity reached a fourteen-year high in 2018, according to an analysis by Quest Diagnostics, which discovered nearly a 5% increase (4.4%) in urine drug tests since 2017. The study based its analysis of nearly 9 million workforce urine drug tests performed between January and December 2018.

Some employees are stressed to death at work — literally. But the right benefits can help save lives.[CR-LF][CR-LF]A report gathered by the American Heart Association, and a coalition of over 40 CEOs from large companies — called the AHA CEO Roundtable — illustrated how mental health impacts employees’ physical health, and their employer’s bottom line. The report, “Mental Health: A Workforce in Crisis,” found around 8,000 employees around the world die every year from medical conditions — like strokes and heart attacks — caused by high job demands.[CR-LF][CR-LF]“In order to have a healthy workforce, employers must look at health and wellness holistically – and that includes mental health,” says Steve Rusckowski, CEO of Quest Diagnostics.

Large employers may be excited about recent research which looked at National Health Interview Survey data and found a near-term decline in new cases of diabetes as well as a plateau in existing U.S. cases. While the news that new cases of diabetes may be declining does sound promising, benefit managers should resist the urge to break out the champagne.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Although, it’s understandable why they would want to celebrate. More than half of Americans under age 65 — roughly 158 million people — have health insurance through an employer, and chronic conditions like diabetes are major drivers in the year-over-year increases in employee health benefit costs.