Methodist Hospital Adopts New Technology Solutions to Improve Care for California Patients and Reduce Operating Costs

Methodist Hospital Adopts New Technology Solutions to Improve Care for
California Patients and Reduce Operating Costs
MedPlus Centergy(R) Clinical Portal and ChartMaxx(R) Enable Streamlined Chart
Completion Online

MADISON, N.J., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Methodist Hospital of Arcadia,
California, has launched an integrated deployment of innovative health care
information technology (HIT) solutions designed to help improve the quality of
patient care and deliver operational efficiencies. MedPlus®, the health care
information technology subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:
DGX), provided the integrated solution to help Methodist reduce the length of
stay associated with patients and help realize gains in efficiency and
revenue. The deployment is also supporting Methodist's vision of providing
"The Next Generation of Care" for its patients, physicians and staff.

The MedPlus solutions enable health care organizations to enhance performance
by helping them to improve patient care and maximize business results with
features that support the efficient collection, access and use of clinical,
financial and administrative information. Methodist physicians can now spend
more time with patients without the need to visit the Medical Records
department to sign deficiencies or request historical records. Additionally,
physicians have access to a patient's complete legal medical record online and
can access information such as lab orders, radiology images, transfer
documents and demographics data through a single front end.

"The Centergy Clinical Portal was the perfect entry point for bringing our
physicians on-line with technology," explains Methodist CIO Kara Marx. "As
Methodist moves ahead with replacing legacy technology, MedPlus' Centergy
portal is putting our staff at ease by serving as a unified front end to all
of our disparate systems. We were able to enjoy results quickly as our
physician acceptance of Centergy has been truly remarkable."

Physicians are sharing best practices order sets to treat particular
conditions through the Clinical Portal, enhancing the quality of patient care.
Additionally, Methodist's performance improvement and utilization management
departments are using the Centergy/ChartMaxx combination to access historical
records online. This is particularly important for Methodist's Emergency
Department (ED), which can now quickly access older patient records when
treating ED patients. The new system provides ED physicians and staff with
instantaneous access to older records, which had previously been stored
offsite and took time to locate and deliver.

"Centergy, combined with the power of ChartMaxx, can help to bring Methodist
immediate benefits while also positioning the hospital to meet its long-term
electronic health record (EHR) implementation goals," says Richard Mahoney,
MedPlus president and vice president of Healthcare Information Solutions for
Quest Diagnostics. "As Methodist moves ahead on its multi-year back-end
conversion timeline, the Centergy Clinical Portal remains a constant interface
for staff and physicians. It will continue serving, by design, as a singular
point of entry for other systems currently in use, as well as those being
implemented down the road."

The Clinical Portal is the primary hospital-facing component of MedPlus'
Centergy suite of interconnected modular health care solutions. The suite also
includes full-scale Data Exchange Services to facilitate the secure exchange
and sharing of health information across systems and sites, as well as a
practice-focused portal and consumer-facing patient portal. Centergy features
seamless integration with ChartMaxx and Quest Diagnostics' proven, scalable
network of more than 150,000 physicians to achieve connectivity to a large
group of "off-the-grid" providers. Centergy offers immediate connectivity to
100 industry-leading electronic medical records (EMRs) and can therefore serve
as a user-friendly migration path to interconnectivity for more than 67,000
physician offices nationwide.

About Methodist Hospital

Methodist Hospital, founded in 1903, is a 460 bed, not-for-profit hospital
serving the community. Services provided include comprehensive acute care such
as medical, surgical, perinatal, pediatrics, oncology, intensive care
(neonatal and adult) and complete cardiovascular services, including open
heart surgery. Methodist Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission. For
more information please call (626) 898 - 8000 or visit
www.methodisthospital.org.

About MedPlus

MedPlus, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the health care information technology
subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. MedPlus is a leading developer
and integrator of clinical connectivity and healthcare information exchange
solutions that foster better patient care and improve business performance for
healthcare institutions, physicians and patients. The company's Centergy
Clinical Portal & Data Exchange Engine and ChartMaxx(R) solutions efficiently
and securely collect, store, manage and integrate clinical information within
an organization, enterprise, practice or community. Centergy enables
clinicians to access patient data in a centralized view aggregated from
multiple care sites. ChartMaxx, the award-winning electronic patient record
system, has been implemented in more than 120 hospitals and integrated
healthcare delivery networks and has more than 300,000 users. For more
information, visit www.medplus.com.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is the world's leading provider of
diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to
make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to
diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient
service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive
medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing
innovative new diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology
solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is
available at: www.QuestDiagnostics.com.

Quest Diagnostics Contacts:
Barb Short (Media): 973-520-2800
Kathleen Valentine (Investors): 973-520-2900

Methodist Hospital Contacts:
Ann Azer (Media): 626-898-8076, ann.azer@methodisthospital.org

SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Barb Short (Media), +1-973-520-2800, or Kathleen Valentine (Investors),
+1-973-520-2900, both for Quest Diagnostics; Ann Azer (Media), Methodist
Hospital, +1-626-898-8076, ann.azer@methodisthospital.org