An Advocate and App For Patients’ Direct Access to Lab Test Results

Creating Value with Our Partners
Feb 5, 2016 10:05 AM ET

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We believe patient empowerment is key to better health, and our new app for mobile devices, MyQuestTM by Care360, makes it easier than ever for Americans nationwide to electronically access and manage their personal laboratory data.

So far, well over a million patients have used the app—and the potential is far greater, given that Quest Diagnostics provides diagnostic information services to about 30 percent of American adults each year. With MyQuestTM, individuals can view copies of their lab results and receive access to other health data in real time, without waiting for a doctor. Quest Diagnostics is believed to be the first national commercial laboratory to facilitate such direct patient access through a range of free channels, which include the new patient portal and mobile health app as well as traditional modes.

To give patients direct access to their health data, we advocated for patient access to lab data and we created new technology. We advocated a change in Federal L.C., which went into effect in 2014, that entitles patients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to view test results from diagnostic information service providers without first being authorized by a physician.

MyQuestTM has enhanced collaboration with doctors. The portal enables patients to view provider contact lists and medication reminders, and facilitates online appointment scheduling at any of Quest's 2,200 patient service centers in the United States, all making it easier to partner with our doctors and take care of ourselves. It also allows users to share information with physicians, emergency responders and other healthcare providers. MyQuestTM is designed to help physicians using the Care360 Electronic Health Record to qualify for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) EHR Incentive Program, which focuses on increasing doctors’ electronic engagement with patients.