Quest Diagnostics 2010 Annual Report Download - page 4

Item 1. Business
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and
services. We provide insights that enable patients, physicians and others to make better healthcare decisions.
Quest Diagnostics was incorporated in Delaware in 1990; its predecessor companies date back to 1967. We
conduct business through our headquarters in Madison, New Jersey, and our laboratories, patient service centers,
offices and other facilities around the United States and in selected locations outside the United States. Unless the
context otherwise requires, the terms “Quest Diagnostics,” the “Company,” “we” and “our” mean Quest
Diagnostics Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries.
During 2010, we generated net revenues of $7.4 billion and processed approximately 146 million test
requisitions. Additional financial information concerning Quest Diagnostics, including our consolidated
subsidiaries and business segments, for each of the years ended December 31, 2010, December 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008 is included in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in “Financial Statements
and Supplementary Data” in Part II, Item 8.
OUR STRATEGY AND STRENGTHS
Our mission is to be the undisputed world leader in diagnostic testing, information and services. We are
dedicated to improving the health of patients through unsurpassed diagnostic insights and innovation and we
focus on patients, growth and people to help achieve our goals.
We offer high value diagnostic testing services and products attractive to patients, physicians, payers, and
others and have become the provider of choice in key areas of the diagnostic testing market. We believe that
successful execution of our strategy will drive continued growth of our business. Additionally, we believe that,
over the long term, we will be able to grow at a rate above the U.S. clinical laboratory industry growth rate, to
expand margins and to increase international revenues to 10% of consolidated revenues. The elements of our
growth strategy are described below.
•Leverage our unparalleled assets and capabilities. We are the world leader in the clinical testing business
and the leading cancer diagnostic testing provider. We offer the broadest test menu, with more than 3,000
tests, and are the leading provider in the United States of gene-based and esoteric testing. We have the
most extensive clinical testing network in the United States, offering national access to testing services.
We operate a nationwide network of over 2,000 of our own patient service centers where we collect
patient specimens, and laboratories in most major metropolitan areas. We provide anatomic pathology
services, including inpatient anatomic pathology and medical director services at hospitals, throughout the
United States. We have a medical and scientific staff of approximately 900 M.D.s and Ph.D.s, primarily
located in the United States, many of whom are recognized leaders in their field. We serve approximately
half of the physicians and half of the hospitals in the United States. We also operate approximately 75
locations in the United States and Canada where we coordinate the provision of paramedical examinations
related to life insurance applications. We have strong logistics capabilities, including approximately 3,200
courier vehicles and over 25 aircraft that collectively make approximately 80,000 stops daily. We have
approximately 8,900 phlebotomists and a network of approximately 5,275 contracted paramedical
examiners. We plan to continue to enhance our test menu and service capabilities. We believe that
customers and payers prefer providers that offer a comprehensive and innovative range of tests and
services and the most convenient access to those services and that, by offering such services, we will be
able to profitably enhance our market position.
•Continue to lead in medical innovation and information technology solutions. We are a leading innovator
in the clinical testing market with unmatched medical and technical expertise. We have the most
comprehensive test menu and leading medical and scientific experts available for consultation. We
collaborate with leading academic centers and maintain relationships with advisors and consultants that are
leaders in key fields, such as cardiology, oncology and infectious disease. In connection with our research
and development efforts, our medical and scientific experts publish in peer-reviewed journals research that
demonstrates the clinical value and importance of diagnostic testing. In 2010, we published over thirty
articles that support advancements and the latest thinking in laboratory testing and disease diagnosis. Over
the past several years, we have expanded our business in more complex and faster-growing testing areas,
including gene-based and esoteric testing, anatomic pathology services and point-of-care testing.
We see significant opportunity to use diagnostics for personalized medicine. For example, our clinical
trials business has biomarker capabilities that advance our efforts to develop companion diagnostics for
new therapies that will foster personalized patient treatment.
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