Quest Diagnostics Rolls Out AI Patient Assistant
Quest Diagnostics has launched a new AI companion to help patients understand their lab results. The tool, built on Google's Gemini, analyzes up to five years of a person's lab data to explain results and highlight potential health risks, marking a major move of generative AI into personal health management.
This patient-facing tool is part of a broader collaboration between Quest Diagnostics and Google Cloud, announced in March 2025. The partnership aims to streamline Quest's data management and personalize services for both patients and providers. The collaboration leverages Google Cloud's generative AI platform, Google Agentspace, to analyze the vast amount of data Quest handles. In 2024 alone, the diagnostics company processed over 200 million test orders, managing more than 80 billion data points. The new feature, officially named Quest AI Companion™, is integrated into the company's MyQuest® patient portal. Its primary function is to translate complex medical findings into simple explanations, helping patients formulate questions for their healthcare providers. This move places Quest in direct competition with other major labs adopting AI; its primary rival, LabCorp, recently expanded its own AI-powered "Test Finder" tool to integrate directly into electronic health record systems for clinicians. The launch occurs as the generative AI in healthcare market is rapidly expanding. Valued at approximately $2.17 billion in 2024, the market is projected to exceed $23 billion by 2033, with North America currently holding the largest share. Mark S. Clare, Quest's Chief Data Officer, stated the goal is to create new capabilities for serving customers, while Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian highlighted the aim to make healthcare more personalized and proactive. All patient data is handled within Google Cloud's HIPAA-compliant infrastructure to ensure privacy.
