May 2024

Discoveries, trends, and discussions in medical diagnostics

Healthcare requires a collaborative approach—and our Quest Diagnostics team is here to support you and your staff as you work to deliver the very best care for your patients. 
Diagnostics Dialogue captures the most important discoveries, trends, and discussions in medical diagnostics, providing a roadmap to guide your pursuit of the Quadruple Aim—better outcomes, better experiences for you and your patients, and lower out-of-pocket costs for patients via our extensive in-network insurer access.
The inaugural May publication includes:

National Women’s Health Month: making women’s health a priority

National Women’s Health Month: making women’s health a priority

National Women’s Health Month: making women’s health a priority

National Women’s Health Month: making women’s health a priority

As advocates of all healthcare providers who help women live their healthiest lives, we celebrate and support your success as you empower women to make their health a priority.

Learn how we can help you support each woman’s unique wellness, sexual health, and family planning journey.

Read more

As advocates of all healthcare providers who help women live their healthiest lives, we celebrate and support your success as you empower women to make their health a priority.

Learn how we can help you support each woman’s unique wellness, sexual health, and family planning journey.

Read more

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Better outcomes

Better outcomes

Improving the diagnosis rate for endocrine conditions in primary care

The shortage of endocrinologists is projected to increase to ~2,700 by next year,1 leaving patients in need of specialty care with extensive waits. You can play an important role in closing gaps in primary care and identifying those at risk for cardiometabolic comorbidities.
To help you make informed decisions about patient care and diagnostic tests to consider based on your patient's presentation, our medical teams reference our guideline-based testing algorithms for thyroid dysfunction and reproductive endocrine conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and hypogonadism. 

Insights from the lab: guideline-recommended hepatitis testing

Millions of Americans are living with hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV).2 Left untreated, the infections can cause serious health problems, including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and even death. The CDC recommends all adults be screened for HBV and HCV at least once in their lifetime3,4 so that if positive, they can take steps to prevent transmission and get connected to the right care. 

For HBV, the CDC recommends screening using a triple panel test3 like the one offered by Quest

For HCV, the CDC recommends a 2-step testing sequence.4 We offer the full complement of guideline-based HCV testing as well as reflex options to perform all testing from just one sample

Better experiences

Better experiences

A growing concern: Novel Psychoactive Substances

Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as designer or synthetic drugs, are designed to mimic the effect of controlled substances and/or illicit drugs while circumventing national and international drug scheduling laws.5,6
To help protect your patients, Quest Diagnostics offers definitive drug testing for major NPS classes, including illicit additives (xylazine) and fentanyl analogs (acetyl fentanyl), with the Drug Monitoring, NPS panel to help providers identify misuse.

Panel periodically updated based on current surveillance data

No test code or EHR updates required
For a deeper understanding of the decade-long increase in NPS prevalence, download the latest research from our Health Trends® report.

Blood-based biomarker testing can revolutionize your approach to the Alzheimer’s disease care pathway 

Identifying the source of memory challenges at the earliest stages is imperative to support care pathways. Differentiating between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia in aging patients is crucial. Blood-based biomarker testing provides an accessible complement to traditional assessments like questionnaires or mental-state exams and can help identify patients who may require further evaluation or interventions.

Plasma testing of beta-amyloid 42/40 (Aβ42/40) ratio and phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181) biomarkers can help identify the risk of accelerated cognitive decline.7,8 These tests provide actionable insights to aid in identifying patients in the earliest stages of the disease, when interventions are most likely to be effective.7,9


Understanding pet allergies

Almost 40% of households report owning dogs, over 20% own cats, and approximately 1% own horses10—a significant exposure to dander. ImmunoCAP™ Specific IgE whole allergen (dander) tests with reflex to component panels can provide information that helps assess the risk, potential severity, and type of allergic response to dog, cat, and horse dander. 

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Removing traditional barriers to testing 

Stay informed:
New CMS changes for HbA1c

As of January 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now recognize hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing (CPT® 83036) as a covered diabetes screening test using ICD code Z13.1 for Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients.

The following tests are covered:

  • Blood glucose testing
  • HbA1c testing

The following patients are covered:

  • Medicare beneficiaries with certain diabetes risk factors or who have been diagnosed with prediabetes

Screenings are also covered if your patient:

  • Is 65 years of age or older
  • Is overweight
  • Has parents or siblings with a history of diabetes
  • Has a history of gestational diabetes or delivered a baby weighing more than 9 lb

Achieving Quadruple Aim:
Quest supports you and your patients

The pressures you are facing making it challenging to deliver care without compromise. 
Our purpose is to support you and your patients with leading services, patient experiences, and innovative testing that can help provide clarity regarding the constant changes and challenges we're seeing in healthcare today. 
References
  1. Romeo GR, Hirsch IB, Lash RW, Gabbay RA. Trends in the endocrinology fellowship recruitment: reasons for concern and possible interventions. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020;105(6): 1701-1706. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa134
  2. CDC. Global viral hepatitis: millions of people are affected. Updated July 19, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/global/index.htm
  3. CDC. Screening and testing recommendations for chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV). Updated March 28, 2022. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/testingchronic.htm
  4. US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for hepatitis C virus infection in adolescents and adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2020;323(10):970-975. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1123
  5. Peacock A, Bruno R, Gisev N, et al. New psychoactive substances: challenges for drug surveillance, control, and public health responses. Lancet. 2019;394(10209):1668-1684. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32231-7
  6. Mohr ALA, Logan BK, Fogarty MF, et al. Reports of adverse events associated with use of novel psychoactive substances, 2017–2020: a review. J Anal Toxicol. 2022;46(6):e116-e185. doi:10.1093/jat/bkac023
  7. Janelidze S, Palmqvist S, Leuzy A, et al. Detecting amyloid positivity in early Alzheimer’s disease using combinations of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau. Alzheimers Dement. 2022;18(2):283-293. doi:10.1002/alz.12395
  8. Meyer PF, Ashton NJ, Karikari TK, et al. Plasma p-tau231, p-tau181, PET biomarkers, and cognitive change in older adults. Ann Neurol. 2022;91(4):548-560. doi:10.1002/ana.26308
  9. Hampel H, Hu Y, Cummings J, et al. Blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease: Current state and future use in a transformed global healthcare landscape. Neuron. 2023;111(18):2781-2799. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2023.05.017
  10. Association AVM. U.S. pet ownership statistics. Accessed April 8, 2024. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics
The CPT® codes provided are based on American Medical Association guidelines and are for informational purposes only. CPT coding is the sole responsibility of the billing party. Please direct any questions regarding coding to the payer being billed.
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