NEW YORK – Quest Diagnostics and bioinformatics firm Hc1 yesterday announced a collaboration that has resulted in a service for optimizing lab test utilization across health systems.
Called Quest Lab Stewardship, the service uses hc1's machine learning technology to collect and analyze lab data, allowing systems to better manage test usage and identify areas where usage is inappropriate or inefficient.
The launch of the service is part of Quest's larger move into providing lab management services for hospitals and health systems.
"While lab testing is fundamental to delivering cost-effective healthcare, opportunities remain to drive out clinical variation when looking across patient touch points in a health system. Working with Hc1, we’ve created a solution that overcomes several of the traditional barriers to delivering real-time enterprise insights needed to drive and support at-scale optimization of lab testing," David Freeman, general manager, Information Ventures, Quest Diagnostics, said in a statement. "We’re taking a holistic approach to collaboration with hospitals and health systems, providing a scalable solution and a suite of associated services that will empower them to drive actionable insights that lead to measurable improvements in care, quality and costs."
"This strategic collaboration between Hc1 and Quest brings an innovative solution to progressive health systems that are committed to improving patient care and bringing down costs," said Brad Bostic, chairman and CEO of Hc1.