Forty-three-year-old Michael walked into the George Washington University Hospital Emergency Room complaining of chest pain. The Washington D.C. handyman had no health insurance but was not eligible for any financial assistance programs.
Quest Diagnostics becomes a LKCF Spotlight Partner
The Larry King Cardiac Foundation (LKCF) is pleased to announce the involvement of Quest Diagnostics as a LKCF Spotlight Partner. Quest Diagnostics offers specialized cardiovascular disease management services through their subsidiary Celera, a gene discovery company, and Berkeley HeartLab, a clinical laboratory service of Quest Diagnostics that specializes in personalized advanced cardiovascular disease risk markers. This new partnership will add to the existing services of the LKCF by providing advanced blood and genetic tests used in the diagnosis and management of patients with atherosclerosis at no charge to the patient.
“We partner with premier cardiac care centers and hospitals around the country as part of our effort to ‘save a life a day.’ Now, with Quest Diagnostics participation, we can provide the testing that helps establish patient eligibility and course of treatment,” said Larry King, Founder of the LKCF. “It’s been a hallmark of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation to provide patients not only with access to life-saving cardiac care, but also with access to the highest quality and latest strides in medical care. I’m gratified that we’re able to bring the best and latest in diagnostic innovation from Quest Diagnostics to our participating doctors and patients around the country.”
The physician managing the patient helped by the LKCF can select from three panels of tests, or order individual tests. Tests will be processed through Berkeley HeartLab, which can now be accessed through Quest Diagnostics patient service centers. The results will be returned to the physician of record. The Chief Medical Officer of Celera will be available to discuss the test results if desired. The three suggested panels are intended for 1) CHD patients requiring coronary catheterization, PCI, CABS, or heart failure; 2) patients with valve or anatomic disorders; and 3) patients with electrophysiological disorders that may or may not be associated with atherosclerosis.
These tests can be useful in heart disease patients to assist in identification of patients who may have severe and progressive atherosclerosis, who may respond to a greater or lesser extent to some medications, who may have recurrent atrial fibrillation following ablation, and who may have inherited issues contributing to their coronary artery disease.
We are pleased to be able to add this component of medical care to the existing LKCF services provided through the LKCF affiliated hospitals, physicians, and nurses. For more information about these services, please provide your contact information and/or your charge nurse’s information for e-mail or phone follow-up. Please send requests for patient participation to Jean Mulvihill at the Larry King Cardiac Foundation ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
