Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Quest Diagnostics is Public Health



Quest Diagnostics was chosen because it can diagnose different infections, along with many other conditions. It helps the public by allowing them to get tested for various reasons. Its location is very convenient because it is less than a mile away from the University of South Florida. This means students can go there for any screening tests they might need.

It represents a public health issue because at the local level of governance, it serves as a primary and more importantly secondary role in heath prevention and intervention. The facility screens, provides therapies and monitor's their patients results so that the population's health overall is better. For example, pregnant women are directed to quest diagnostics by their doctors for all kinds of screening tests. This is a huge part of prenatal care, which ensures that the baby is safe. Without these tests, mothers would not know the status of their pregnancy which could lead to complications.

Quest Diagnostics clinics provide testing for STIs (sexually transmitted infections). The rate of certain STIs such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea have increased within the last several decades. By providing testing for such infections, the population can be made more aware of their health conditions. 

 The facility also educates its patients on how to perceive results and what it means to them in their personal lives. The facility also serves as a load bearer for hospital and other medical facilities. It can help to lower the overall cost of expenditures for them, so that they can divert their time and funds to primary care. Quest Diagnostics have a unique capacity to collect data from a wide range of specimens and socioeconomic backgrounds to get a real world view of the current health status for the population that they serve.

By:
Francia Luke, Sheena Patel, Natesha Francis, and Lawrence McKinney