Title
Authorize the Chief Executive Officer for Natividad Medical Center or his designee to execute renewal & amendment No. 4 to the agreement (A-13599) with Quest Diagnostics, Inc. for lab reference testing services, extending the agreement an additional two (2) year period (from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025) for a revised full agreement term of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2025, and adding $1,800,000 for a revised total agreement amount not to exceed $7,060,000.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Board of Supervisors:
Authorize the Chief Executive Officer for Natividad Medical Center or his designee to execute renewal & amendment No. 4 to the agreement (A-13599) with Quest Diagnostics, Inc. for lab reference testing services, extending the agreement an additional two (2) year period (from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025) for a revised full agreement term of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2025, and adding $1,800,000 for a revised total agreement amount not to exceed $7,060,000.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of diagnostic testing in the nation and serves approximately 140 million patients each year. Quest Diagnostics is Natividad Medical Center Laboratory’s primary reference laboratory, although Natividad Medical Center uses Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital as a reference laboratory on occasion as well. Physicians at Natividad Medical Center and local clinics, which send laboratory work to Natividad Medical Center, may order highly specific types of tests, which the Natividad Medical Center Laboratory cannot perform on-site. As laboratory technology advances, more and more test requests that are not available at the Natividad Medical Center laboratory become available for Physicians and clinics to order; these tests are used for the diagnosis of disease or monitoring of disease processes and are critical for patient care. The Natividad Medical Center laboratory cannot justify bringing in instruments or additional staff for the low volume of every type individual test available. Natividad Medical Center’s laboratory staff currently does monitor and shall continue to monitor test utilization to look for opportunities to in-source any test that has sufficient volume and methodology which could be incorporated into the Natividad Medical Center Laboratory.
Natividad Medical Center’s laboratory has an established software interface with Quest diagnostics, which allows results to be transferred securely and directly from the reference laboratory to the patient medical record at Natividad Medical Center. A Natividad Medical Center clinical laboratory scientist verifies the validity of the results before they are finalized in the medical record. These services are very important for Natividad Medical Center and its patients.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Office of County Counsel has reviewed and approved this renewal & amendment No. 4 as to form, and the Auditor-Controller has reviewed and approved as to payment provisions. The renewal & amendment No. 4 has also been reviewed and approved by Natividad’s Finance Committee and by its Board of Trustees on June 9, 2023.
FINANCING:
The cost for this renewal & amendment No. 4 is $1,800,000 of which $900,000.00 will be included in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Adopted Budget.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Use of a Quest Diagnostics Reference Lab Services allows the clinicians of Natividad Medical Center to order laboratory tests that are essential in effective diagnosis and monitoring of patient care. Laboratory tests are correlated with patient history and presentation to arrive at the most confident and data-driven decisions regarding care. In addition, Natividad Medical Center laboratory makes use of the reference lab to confirm internal findings prior to issuing significant diagnosis to the patient, when reagents are unavailable, or lab instrumentation is in repair. The use of an immediate and reliable reference lab is vital part of the laboratory’s plan to support the hospital.
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Prepared by: Arthur T. Tiongson, Clinical Laboratory Manager, 831-772-7660
Approved by: Charles Harris, MD, Chief Executive Officer, 783-2553
Attachments:
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Renewal & Amendment 4
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Amendment 3
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Amendment 2
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Amendment 1
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Agreement
Attachments on file with the Clerk of the Board