Quest Diagnostics Incorporated , the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced it will begin to offer a suite of new services for its eMaxx Internet-based portal to help physicians participate in government-sponsored and private health plans' pay-for- performance programs and move their practices toward clinical integration.

At the same time, Quest Diagnostics and The IPA Association of America (TIPAAA), the leading trade association serving Independent/Integrated Physician Associations (IPAs), announced that they have entered into an agreement regarding the promotion of eMaxx to IPA members. TIPAAA's 900 independent physician associations, consisting of 300,000 physicians nationwide, will be able to purchase eMaxx services on a monthly subscription basis. Quest Diagnostics and TIPAAA will promote the benefits of eMaxx to TIPAAA-affiliated IPAs through educational seminars and literature. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The new eMaxx services will include analytical tools, which will enable IPAs and health plans to comb through the clinical information contained in the eMaxx data repository in order to identify individual patients who are at risk for diseases and who can benefit from specific regimens of care. eMaxx will have the ability to update patients' risk profiles periodically, enabling physicians to quickly identify patients who may have shifted to higher-risk categories. In addition, eMaxx will be able to capture clinical guidelines and evaluate physician compliance against those guidelines on a periodic basis. Analytical tools will be available for prevalent disease states including diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, coronary artery disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Physicians participating in IPAs will be able to use the new services to qualify for pay-for-performance programs, an emerging practice among health plans to reward physicians who deliver quality healthcare to patients. Through detailed informatics reports that capture available clinical and administrative information including lab results, medication histories, patient demographic and payer claims data from acute care and ambulatory settings, physicians can demonstrate adherence to payers' pay-for-performance criteria.

Currently, eMaxx enables IPAs to work toward clinical integration, which refers to a linked network of primary care and specialty physicians working as a single team to coordinate care for patients. In a clinically integrated healthcare environment, physicians share clinical information; coordinate treatment; develop practice protocols; and monitor the compliance of individuals in the group(1). Benefits of clinical integration are to improve the quality of care to patients, control healthcare costs, and improve an IPA's competitive advantage. eMaxx's information-sharing features and ability to capture data from multiple sources are aligned with the goals of the national health information technology plan, which was recently unveiled at the Health and Human Services-sponsored Secretarial Summit on Health Information Technology. With eMaxx, IPAs can share confidential patient information with medical colleagues in their associations in a manner that is consistent with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) privacy and security requirements. eMaxx also enables physicians to order diagnostic tests and review laboratory results online, prescribe medication electronically, file documents received electronically or in hard copy into a patient-centric health record and verify patients' demographic information.

"There is no question that eMaxx's pay-for-performance capabilities will have the potential to improve the practices of physicians and IPAs as they begin to demonstrate compliance with health plans' performance criteria and deliver better patient care," said Albert Holloway, President and CEO of TIPAAA. "In addition, IPAs and other physician organizations will find eMaxx to be a valuable technology solution that can help them work toward clinical integration across their organizations."

"Our relationship with TIPAAA will make the eMaxx solution available to a significant number of physician organizations," said Richard A. Mahoney, Vice President, Healthcare Information Solutions at Quest Diagnostics. "We look forward to offering physicians analytical services that will help them to assess patient risks, develop treatment programs and ultimately deliver better patient care."

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, providing insights that enable healthcare professionals to make decisions that improve health. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its national network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based medical testing, and provides advanced information technology solutions to improve patient care. Quest Diagnostics' healthcare information technology subsidiary, MedPlus, is a leading developer and integrator of clinical connectivity and data management solutions for healthcare organizations and clinicians. Additional company information is available at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com/

The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, competitive environment, changes in government regulations, changing relationships with customers, payers, suppliers and strategic partners and other factors described in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 2003 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

About TIPAAA:

The IPA Association of America is the leading trade association serving Independent/Integrated Physician Associations (IPAs). Founded in 1994 by Albert Holloway, the current President and CEO, TIPAAA provides a wide range of products, services, and educational programs designed to help IPAs operate effectively and successfully in managed care. The association has nearly 900 organization members, chapters in 39 states (with more in development), and represents more than 300,000 U.S. physicians affiliated with IPAs.

   (1) Source:  Thomas B. Leary, "The Anti-Trust Implications of 'Clinical
       Integration': An Analysis of FTC Staff's Advisory Opinion to
       MedSouth," http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/leary/eicreview.pdf, p.5.,
       April 12, 2002.

SOURCE: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

CONTACT: Investors: Laure Park, +1-201-393-5030, Media: Jennifer Somers,
+1-201-393-5700, both of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated; or Albert Holloway,
President and CEO of The IPA Association of America (TIPAAA), +1-510-569-6561

Web site: http://www.questdiagnostics.com/