Quest Diagnostics and Boyce Bynum discuss transition plan

Representatives of Quest Diagnostics and Boyce and Bynum met Wednesday to discuss a transition plan for Quest’s pending purchase of the local laboratory company.

The two companies discussed how the acquisition will impact Boyce and Bynum’s current employees, said director of compliance Cathy Thornton.

Quest is looking to buy Boyce and Bynum’s clinical lab business and assets.

University of Texas Law Professor Charles Silver said consolidations are common in the healthcare world.

“The tendency in the entire sector has been for these entities to shrink in number and grow in size,” Silver said.

He said it’s difficult to determine the acquisition’s impact on healthcare consumers.

“As hospitals have consolidated, prices for medical treatments at hospital have gone up because they have greater bargaining power,” he said.

Over the past year Quest Diagnostics has acquired labs and medical centers in cities across the country.

On Nov. 6, Quest completed its acquisition of the U.S. laboratory services business of Oxford Immunotec offering tuberculosis and tick-borne disease testing services in Massachusetts and Tennessee.

In September Quest acquired a national provider of specialized anatomic pathology, PhenoPath, based in Seattle.