Quest Diagnostics, a worldwide provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced it has begun an effort to assign a unique Patient Identifier - a secure 16 digit identification number - to every Quest Diagnostics patient. In what is believed to be the largest effort of its kind in the area of assigning health IDs, the company has assigned unique identifiers to approximately 80 million Quest Diagnostics patients to date.

Surya N. Mohapatra, PhD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Quest Diagnostics, called on the healthcare industry to support the adoption of unique Patient IDs to speed and streamline access to critical patient records, which, for an individual patient, can often reside at several different physician offices, specialists, hospitals and insurance providers. With Patient IDs, providers would gain a comprehensive and current view of a patient's health history.

"Patients can use their unique Health ID to gain timely access to their personal laboratory test results, to help develop a picture of the most appropriate treatment options," said Dr. Mohapatra.

Quest Diagnostics patients who visit the company's website (www.QuestDiagnostics.com) to schedule an appointment or pay a bill, or who register for the Quest Diagnostics Gazelle® Secure Mobile Health App, are automatically assigned a Quest Diagnostics Health ID.  Quest Diagnostics introduced the Gazelle Secure Mobile Health platform in October of 2010. In just over a year, more than 200,000 patients have downloaded the Gazelle App, which allows patients to securely manage their personal health information and receive their Quest Diagnostics test results directly on their Apple® or Android®-based smartphones.

 www.QuestDiagnostics.com.