Quest Diagnostics News

National Business Group on Health Recognizes HealthyQuest Program for Sixth Straight Year

XSense® is the first laboratory test that may be suitable for population-based screening for Fragile X Syndrome, the leading inherited cause of mental retardation

- Diluted earnings per share of $1.07, 7% above 2009

Vitamin D Levels May Help Cognitive Function in Elderly

BOSTON, June 29 (UPI) -- Sufficient vitamin D levels may help maintain cognitive function -- being able to manage and use available information -- in the elderly, U.S. researchers say.

Epidemiologist Katherine Tucker of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston and colleagues say the study involved more than 1,000 participants ages 65-99 receiving home care.

People receiving home care have a higher risk than others of not getting enough vitamin D because they seldom go outside for exposure to sunlight.

The study, published in the Journals of Gerontology, Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, found only 35 percent had sufficient vitamin D blood levels, but this group had better cognitive performance on the tests than those with deficient and insufficient vitamin D levels.

Identify Potential Risks With National Criminal Records

 Would you like to have faster, more cost-effective criminal records that are more comprehensive than your current reports? Introducing ExamOne's National Criminal Records Check.  With ExamOne's new solution, you can expect to receive criminal records results in less than an hour.  New and dynamic databases permit access to criminal records data from counties, municipalities and states for 50 states and Puerto Rico.   The data is then enriched with entry and exit roles from state department of corrections, homeland security watch lists, sexual predator lists, Interpol wanted lists, federal contractor disbarment lists and many other sources.     

Traditional methods of underwriting requirements have proven to be costly and time consuming. With ExamOne's National Criminal Records Check; clients can now get valuable applicant   risk  information for underwriting.  For more information on how to order National Criminal Records Check please contact your ExamOne sales representative.  

PolicyBox Integration With Blue Frog Streamlines Policy Delivery

Blue Frog Solutions and ExamOne announce integration to provide a solution that will assist in streamlining policy delivery. Blue Frog's PolicyBox product, is a solution that addresses the electronic policy and post issue document delivery process. The product is specifically designed for the insurance and finance industries. PolicyBox will post the application policy images to the ExamOne imaging repository for ExamOne imaging client partners.  This will allow our agency and direct marketer client partners the ability to receive policies via an electronic model and will alleviate manual tasks needed to retain these documents in the image repository and the need for accessing each carriers unique system to retrieve application policies.

Electronic Data Collection Improves Cycle Time With New Enhancements

Want to lower your costs and improve cycle time? If so, it is important to capitalize on the data collected during the first few days post application.  If you are currently utilizing ExamOne's electronic data collection services,  the following process enhancements are now available!  

• Reflex to Additional Lab Requirements - Allows for additional lab requirements to be ordered at the front of the process when certain conditions are present. This offers fewer touches - one exam visit that includes age/amt requirements, in addition to reflexed exam requirements, i.e., diabetes – reflex to A1C and/or microalbumin.
• Reflex to a Prescription Check - Offers clarity of a condition when a clear picture may not have been presented by the applicant during the interview process. By reflexing to the prescription database, conditions that may traditionally warrant an APS may be eliminated by reflexing to the prescription database, i.e., depression, anxiety or mental health conditions.
• Reflex to APS Retrieval - Allows for APS retrieval to be immediately requested upon completion of the interview by utilizing electronic signature (obtaining an e-signature by reading the HIPAA authorization form to the applicant), or by receiving a copy of the HIPAA authorization from the insurance carrier in a pre-determined workflow using age and face amounts.

Contact your Sales RVP for further details on these exciting opportunities to reflex from the interview and accelerate policy issue.  

Agent Email Now Available with Electronic Data Collection

We are very excited to announce that we are now able to email agents, agencies, and/or home office personnel, status updates on interviews. The system is highly configurable to ensure that you receive just the statuses that you desire, such as order pending, complete, or incomplete.  Additionally, certain content within the body of the email is configurable by client so that you see just the information that you want included.  The email may be sent to one or multiple recipients.  For example, the email may be sent directly to the agent and his or her assistant. 

Please remember to make sure that the agent/agency/assistant email addresses are provided with the interview order.  Please contact your Sales RVP for further details on adding this service to your interviews today.

Upcoming Webinar

Wellness Programs are Seeing through the "Smoke" — Nicotine Testing with Cotinine

July 28, 2010, 2pm ET / 11am PT
Register at: http://ebn.benefitnews.com/webinars/-2683843-1.html?st=Cust&s=sponsor

Cotinine testing in wellness programs is gaining in popularity as the trend of requiring smoking employees to pay different health plan premiums increases. Cotinine is usually the test of choice to evaluate tobacco use or exposure to tobacco smoke because it is stable and is only produced when nicotine is metabolized.

Quest Diagnostics tests for cotinine in wellness programs and has years of experience utilizing the testing methodology for our insurance testing clients. Find out more about the science behind this test and how clients are utilizing it in their wellness programs.

Keynote speaker:
• Betsy Sears, Sr. Vice President Laboratory Operations and Client Services, ExamOne, A Quest Diagnostics Company

Simplexa™ molecular RT-PCR test runs on the 3M Integrated Cycler

Federal Funds and MedPlus Centergy Solution Accelerate New Mexico Health Information Collaborative's (NMHIC) Plan to Serve Two Million Patients Statewide

The Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™ Report analyzes 195,000 H1N1 test results performed nationally since May 2009