NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – In an effort to improve cardiac care among populations who may not be able to afford it, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation and Quest Diagnostics announced today a partnership under which Quest will donate gene-based and routine testing services.
Quest will provide the tests and services to patients identified and served by LKCF in the hope of improving the diagnosis and management of heart disease.
Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the US, with about 600,000 deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical care for heart disease can also be expensive, and about 20 percent of heart attack patients cite cost concerns for not seeking care, LKCF and Quest said, citing a 2007 study from Yale University.
LKCF was founded in 1988 to provide financial help to those who need life-saving treatment but can't afford it. Quest will provide the foundation with a "broad" menu of routine, advanced, and gene-based cardiovascular tests as part of the partnership. It also will work with the foundation's participating hospitals to facilitate access to testing.
Among the facilities affiliated with LKCF are Children's National Medical Center and George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles, Weill Cornell University Medical Center in New York, and the Cleveland Clinic, among others.
"Innovations in clinical diagnostics offer physicians advanced tools for the detection, identification, and management of cardiac patients, helping to prevent serious complications or disability from heart diseases," Robert Superko, chief medical officer of Quest Diagnostics' subsidiary Celera and its Berkeley HeartLab, said in a statement. "We provide these important tools to help clinicians make more informed decisions to improve care and to demonstrate our commitment to empowering better health through scientific innovation and diagnostic insights."