WASHINGTON, and MADISON, N.J., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) has awarded its 2011 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Platinum Award to Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. The 2011 award, in recognition of the company's HealthyQuest employee wellness initiative, marks the third consecutive year Quest Diagnostics has earned the prestigious Platinum distinction, the NBGH's highest honor, and seventh consecutive recognition since the award was created.

Of the more than 325 NBGH member companies, Quest Diagnostics is one of only five to have received Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles recognition in each of the seven years since its inception. The awards annually acknowledge those employers that have responded to the urgent need to improve their workers' health, productivity and quality of life. Helen Darling, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health, commented, "We are pleased to recognize Quest Diagnostics with Platinum-level distinction for its ongoing commitment to providing employee lifestyle improvement programs that not only encourage healthier lifestyles, but also demonstrate meaningful results."

Quest Diagnostics launched HealthyQuest in 2005, and since that time, the program has helped employees lower their personal health risks by enabling them to measure them, map insight-driven courses for improvement, and modify behaviors in pursuit of that improvement. The company's Blueprint for Wellness® health risk assessment service, with its panel of up to 30 laboratory tests, is offered at no charge to its 42,000 employees in the US as well as to their spouses or domestic partners.  Each Blueprint for Wellness participant receives a patient-friendly report that includes laboratory test results, a health assessment and a health quotient score. An optional PSA test for the early detection of prostate cancer is offered as part of the Blueprint for Wellness service, and employees, spouses, and domestic partners age 50 and older are offered the InSure® FIT™ fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening. Employees are supported in their quest for better health by hundreds of employee health promotion volunteers leading programs that foster a culture of health locally.  

In 2010, participation in Blueprint for Wellness reached 35,000 lives, which reflects seventy percent of Quest Diagnostics employees and an additional 7,000 spouses and domestic partners. Key milestones of the 2010 program were a 13 percent decrease since 2009 in the percent of continuous participants at risk for diabetes, and a 25 percent decrease in the number of tobacco users, punctuated by the 5,000th employee enrolled in Quest Diagnostics tobacco cessation program since the advent of its initiative in 2005. Also in 2010, Quest Diagnostics earned Cancer Gold Standard accreditation from the CEO Roundtable on Cancer in recognition of its commitment to its employees through the cancer continuum, from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, treatment and care. Continuing this commitment, earlier this month, the company announced its national sponsorship of the American Cancer Society's Choose You™ movement, which inspires women to stay well by putting their health first and making healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent cancer, and is encouraging employees to join the movement and take action.

"Quest Diagnostics is honored to receive this prestigious Platinum distinction for the third consecutive year from the National Business Group on Health," said David W. Norgard, Quest Diagnostics vice president, Human Resources. "Our company, our HealthyQuest employee volunteers, and our employees continue to demonstrate a growing commitment to building a culture of health in which we each seek to understand our personal health data, and with that knowledge, live healthier lives. We are proud of the healthy lifestyle accomplishments of our employees."

About the National Business Group on Health

The National Business Group on Health is the nation's only non-profit, membership organization of large employers devoted exclusively to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to their most important health care and related benefits issues and to being the voice for large employers on national health care issues. The Business Group, whose 325 members include 66 of the Fortune 100, identifies, develops and shares best practices in health benefits, disability, health and productivity, related paid time off and work/life balance issues. Business Group members provide health coverage for more than 55 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.

About Blueprint for Wellness

The Quest Diagnostics Blueprint for Wellness health-risk assessment service uses laboratory data to help individuals identify potential health risks and monitor wellness. The service is provided to health-conscious companies that wish to implement employee wellness initiatives to help reduce employees' greatest health risks, as measured by laboratory test results, for healthier employees and lower healthcare costs. Employers can elect as many as 30 laboratory tests to help employees, through confidential risk assessments identify, understand and monitor their risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other conditions against their long-term health goals. Quest Diagnostics also provides an online Blueprint for Wellness service through which health conscious individuals may select affordable, quality laboratory testing panels through a secure Google Health record. For more information, visit www.blueprintforwellness.com.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics is the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing innovative diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at www.QuestDiagnostics.com. Follow us at Facebook.com/QuestDiagnostics and Twitter.com/QuestDX.

Contacts:  Barb Short, Media, 973-520-2800; Kathleen Valentine, Investors, 973-520-2900

SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated