Walmart, Quest website serves up health care lab tests

Walmart has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to enable consumers to buy on-location and at-home health care laboratory tests through Walmart.com.

Secaucus, N.J.-based clinical lab Quest Diagnostics said Monday that the new Walmart-Quest website offers more than 50 tests for purchase, including general health, digestive health, allergy, heart health, women’s health, and COVID-19 and other infectious disease. Depending on the test, people will be prompted to schedule an appointment at one of Quest’s 2,220 patient service centers nationwide — including locations at selected Walmart stores — or they will be sent an at-home test kit with detailed sample-collection instructions.

Leveraging the QuestDirect direct-to-consumer online offering, the new service provides the same lab tests ordered by health care professionals but through a customer-friendly website, Quest and Walmart noted.

The Walmart-Quest website offers more than 50 tests for purchase, ranging from basic health diagnostics to specialty tests and COVID-19 tests.

“Walmart is committed to providing its customers broad access to health care services,” Julie Barber, senior vice president of health and wellness merchandising at Walmart, said in a statement. “This new testing solution, which is powered by QuestDirect, from Quest Diagnostics, allows us to build upon this commitment by empowering customers with a new way to take control of their own health and obtain high quality lab services with the click of the mouse.”

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To buy a test, consumers go online to Walmart.com, navigate to the WalmartQuestDirect.questdiagnostics.com page and then select their own lab tests. Each purchase is reviewed and, if necessary, ordered by a licensed physician. Tests that must be scheduled in-person at a Quest or Walmart site are often available on the same day ordered, depending on location, according to Quest.

Results are typically available within days and can be accessed online through MyQuest, a free patient portal where consumers also can share their results with their doctor, family or friends. The MyQuest service, too, includes access to health providers for an explanation of test results and prescription treatments, if needed.

“Now more than ever, people seek health care that is convenient, individualized and meets them where they are,” according to Steve Rusckowski, chairman, president and CEO of Quest Diagnosticis. “While many are too busy or face barriers to engage in in-person doctors’ appointments, others choose to proactively arm themselves with diagnostic insights before engaging with one.”

The MyQuest patient portal is included free and gives consumers online access to lab test results.

Currently, the Walmart-Quest site lists COVID-19 Active Infection ($119), COVID-19 Antibody Test ($69) and Comprehensive Health Profile ($299 ) as its most popular tests. Some of the other tests available include Basic Health Profile ($149), Cholesterol Test Panel ($59), COVID-19 and Flu Test Panel ($199), Diabetes Risk Test ($99 ), FIT Colorectal Cancer Screening Test ($89), Food Allergy Test Panel ($209), Hemoglobin A1c Test ($39), Men’s/Women’s Health Profile ($199), Pregnancy Test ($39), Lyme Disease Test ($89), MMR Test ($129), HIV Test ($89), Hepatitis B/C Tests ($99/$59) and PSA Prostate Screening Test ($69). Costs for tests ordered via the Walmart-Quest service (not available in Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii) can be applied to flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health savings accounts (HSA), Quest said.

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A recent Quest Diagnostics Health Trends report showed that 60% of U.S. adults have skipped or delayed in-person medical treatments or appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quest said the new 24/7 online service with Walmart builds on its long-standing relationship with the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant, which is one of the nation’s largest retail health care providers.

“Our close relationship with Walmart has allowed us to create a solution that is high-quality and accessible,” Rusckowski added. “Powered by QuestDirect from Quest Diagnostics, this new solution can broaden access to laboratory testing and health insights and support for a range of conditions for potentially better outcomes.”