An Arizona-based lab company is opening medical testing stations in grocery stores. This follows a new state law allowing residents to get lab tests without a doctor’s order.
Sonora Quest Laboratories has one testing center open in a north Scottsdale Safeway and has plans to open at least one more in Phoenix. The company didn’t reveal how many centers it intends to open in Safeway stores across the Valley or how long this collaboration has been in the works.
Sonora Quest Laboratories Vice President of Business Development Christina Noble wouldn’t divulge how much of its annual 57 million diagnostic tests are now made up of direct testing.
“It is definitely a smaller percentage as compared to our commercial business," Noble said. "Since the legislation went into effect in July, the volume has grown gradually over time.”
This expansion follows one of the company’s rivals, Theranos, opening direct testing centers at more than 40 Walgreens stores throughout the Valley. The California-based company has recently come under scrutinyfor its finger-stick blood tests.