CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 295,586	$ 164,886
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $235,747 and $237,339 at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively	867,010	906,455
Inventories	93,050	89,132
Deferred income taxes	174,209	153,328
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	90,950	87,459
Current assets held for sale	40,192	0
Total current assets	1,560,997	1,401,260
Property, plant and equipment, net	755,831	799,771
Goodwill	5,535,848	5,795,765
Intangible assets, net	872,172	1,035,612
Other assets	204,631	280,971
Non-current assets held for sale	354,384	0
Total assets	9,283,863	9,313,379
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	1,016,191	906,764
Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt	9,404	654,395
Current liabilities held for sale	22,008	0
Total current liabilities	1,047,603	1,561,159
Long-term debt	3,354,173	3,370,522
Other liabilities	635,558	666,699
Non-current liabilities held for sale	60,800	0
Quest Diagnostics stockholders’ equity:
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 600,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2012 and 2011; 215,075 shares and 214,607 shares issued at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively	2,151	2,146
Additional paid-in capital	2,370,677	2,347,518
Retained earnings	4,690,378	4,263,599
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	14,320	(8,067)
Treasury stock, at cost; 56,744 shares and 57,187 shares at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively	(2,914,479)	(2,912,324)
Total Quest Diagnostics stockholders' equity	4,163,047	3,692,872
Noncontrolling interests	22,682	22,127
Total stockholders' equity	4,185,729	3,714,999
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 9,283,863	$ 9,313,379