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Prescription data alone underestimated how many patients combined opioids and benzodiazepines, an analysis of Quest Diagnostics drug test data indicated. Among a selected sample of patients whose drug test indicated concurrent benzodiazepine and opioid use, 64% had at least one benzodiazepine or opioid that was not prescribed, according to Quest researcher Leland McClure, PhD, and colleagues in a poster presentation at the 2018 PAINWeek conference.

Genomic Vision, a company specializing in the development of diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancers and hereditary diseases, and applications for life sciences research, today announces the second payment from its collaboration with Quest Diagnostics on biomarker identification of currently undetected “2+0” SMA carriers following the Milestone program signed in 2018. A first Milestone (1a) was reached at the end of 2017, resulting in the design and validation of a new GMC covering with higher precision the complex SMA region. The goal of the second Milestone (1b) consisted in performing complementary experiments and analysis on existing samples in order to identify smaller biomarkers for SMN1 cis-duplication potentially leading to SMA diagnostic test.

Quest Diagnostics announced Tuesday it will acquire the US laboratory testing business of Oxford Immunotec Global for $170 million in cash. As part of the definitive agreement reached by the companies, the acquisition will include the T-Spot.TB tuberculosis testing service and the Accutix tick-borne disease testing service provided by Oxford Immunotec laboratories in Norwood, Massachusetts and in Memphis, Tennessee. Oxford Immunotec is headquartered in Abingdon, UK.

More than half of Americans tested by Quest Diagnostics in 2017 misused prescription drugs, a statistic that has remained relatively flat and suggests that medication adherence is more difficult as the opioid epidemic swells. The misuse rate — meaning tests reveal additional drugs (non-prescribed or illicit), different medications than prescribed, or no prescription or illicit drugs — was 52% in 2017 and 2016, and has remained relatively stagnant since 2013, according to Quest Diagnostics' analysis of 3.9 million clinical drug monitoring tests administered between 2011 and 2017.

Hooper Holmes, Inc. d/b/a Provant Health , the largest publicly traded, pure-play health and well-being provider in the U.S., today announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Summit Health, Inc., a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics (“Quest”), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information, and services. Under the asset purchase agreement, Quest will acquire substantially all of Provant Health’s assets and will continue the Company’s service offerings as it has in the past. Throughout the transaction process, Provant Health will continue to serve its customers, remaining focused on meeting customer and partner obligations in the busy fourth quarter season.

Blockchain technology is currently known for keeping cryptocurrency transactions secure. With adaptations, it may soon be used to keep personal health information more safe and secure, as its name suggests, than ever before. The current model for storing data is by keeping said data stored in one place. For example, a Microsoft Word document is saved to a desktop. While access to that document may be made through the server, even remotely, it is still saved in a single, centralized location. Blockchain is, arguably, the exact opposite.Over the summer, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Optum, Quest Diagnostics and MultiPlan launched a pilot program using blockchain technology to assist payers in tackling mandated provider directories. The program utilizes the technology to reduce costs associated with insurers updating demographic data from providers.

It’s been years since the tobacco industry promised to stop luring young people to smoke cigarettes. Philip Morris International says it is “designing a smoke-free future.” British American Tobacco, likewise, claims to be “transforming tobacco” into a safer product. But while the Food and Drug Administration weighs plans to cut nicotine in cigarettes, making them less addictive, Big Tobacco has been making the most of the time it still has using social networks to promote its brands around the world.

Tom Romeo, general manager of healthcare IT and Quanum Solutions at Quest Diagnostics, said hospitals and health systems must identify the cause of insurance claim denials to ensure proper and timely payment. "Identify the source of denials through reports and discussions with staff, and then prioritize fixing the problem," he told Becker's Hospital Review. "Train staff about these issues and review top denials regularly in meetings with physicians. It's critical to recognize the contribution of every employee in the denial-management process."

As more women put off starting families and U.S. fertility rates drop, helping women assess how much time, and how many eggs, they have left to conceive is a growing business. The market for ovulation tests, fertility monitors and other mail-in home tests to help women up their odds of bearing fruit is exploding. Several startups are selling kits that allow women to test their fertility at home with a simple finger prick. Modern Fertility allows women to send a blood sample drawn by pricking a finger or having blood drawn at a lab and tested at Quest Diagnostics. The at-home test is mailed back and then screened.

A group of newborn infants with genetic disorders that went undetected in standard testing will receive genomic sequencing in a clinical study of its safety and feasibility. The study is led by a team at Tufts University Medical Center in Boston, and conducted at another 5 sites in the U.S., supported by a 5-year, $8 million grant from National Center for Advancing Translational Science, or NCATS, part of National Institutes of Health. The trial is recruiting 400 newborns with potential genetic disorders that were not detected in standard screenings. The infants will receive whole genomic sequencing, as well as targeted genomic tests for 1,722 inherited disorders known to affect newborns, developed with Quest Diagnostics, a nationwide network of medical labs.