Quest Diagnostics 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

development. We are also working on a blood test based
on฀the฀Septin฀9฀methylation฀marker฀to฀detect฀and฀ monitor฀
progression of colorectal cancer.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity to improve health out-
comes฀ involves฀ testing฀ that฀ personalizes฀ medicine.฀ Rapid฀
development of “companion diagnostics” that can identify
patients who are candidates for specific drugs will improve
outcomes and reduce costs. We are currently developing
diagnostic tests that identify patients who will respond to a
specific therapy. For example, our test for the gene polymor-
phism฀ UGT1A1฀ can฀ help฀ identify฀ patients฀ with฀ metastatic฀
colon cancer who are likely to have adverse reactions from a
first-line form of chemotherapy.
The Power of Prevention
Understanding฀one’s฀health฀profile฀and฀making฀behavioral฀
changes based on that data can have a positive impact on
personal฀ health฀ and฀ reduce฀ healthcare฀ costs.฀ Employers,฀
governments and health plans are providing incentives for
people to adopt healthier lifestyles and also undergo regu-
lar screening and health risk assessment. Quest Diagnostics
is playing a major role in this movement.
One important way that we help employers create healthier
workplaces is through our Blueprint for Wellness™ risk
assessment program. This provides individuals with a
comprehensive health risk report, including laboratory
test฀results.฀The฀employees฀of฀Domino’s฀Pizza,฀the฀Houston฀
Independent฀School฀District,฀Turner฀Construction฀Company฀
and other large employers benefit from this wellness service.
Another way that we can empower patients to take control
of฀ their฀ health฀ is฀ through฀ our฀ collaboration฀ with฀ Google™
Health.฀As฀the฀only฀laboratory฀partner฀of฀Google฀Health,฀we฀
make it easy and convenient for people to manage their lab
results and other health information in their personal
health record. We also enable consumers to buy a limited
menu of tests, directly for themselves, to monitor their
health and wellness.
A Revolution in Healthcare IT
As our nation looks to reform our healthcare system by
improving outcomes and reducing costs, expanding the use
of healthcare information technology will be critical.
Many physicians keep patient records, including lab test
results, in manila file folders. Slowly but surely, much of that
information is going digital. However, it is often being stored
in discrete, “closed” computer systems and is
not easily shared with other doctors or hospi-
tals.฀Additionally,฀over฀80%฀of฀physicians฀are฀in฀
practices฀ with฀ fewer฀ than฀ 10฀ physicians,฀ and฀
they tend to adopt electronic solutions more
slowly.฀ They฀ need฀ solutions฀ like฀ our฀ Care360™
patient-centric physician portal that are lower
cost, fit within their workflow, require minimal effort to
get฀ up฀ and฀ running฀ and฀ won’t฀ disrupt฀ their฀ practice฀
environments.
Today,฀more฀than฀140,000฀physicians฀use฀our฀Care360฀suite฀
of connectivity solutions to order lab tests, prescribe drugs
and share clinical information with other healthcare provid-
ers quickly and securely. By the end of 2008, the number of
drug฀ prescriptions฀ ordered฀ through฀ Care360฀ more฀ than฀
doubled฀to฀an฀annual฀rate฀of฀4.5฀million.
Because฀Care360฀is฀interoperable฀and฀is฀used฀by฀physicians฀
thousands of times each day, it represents a vital part of the
national healthcare information infrastructure. We believe
the best approach to spur rapid adoption of electronic medi-
cal฀records฀must฀include฀solutions฀like฀Care360.
2008 ANNUAL REPORT
03
Our collaboration with Google™ Health empowers patients to learn about the benefits
of prevention and wellness and take control of their health.