Time matters when you’re awaiting COVID-19 lab results. Slow test specimen delivery can leave patients wondering if they’re positive for several extra days, if not weeks.
This is especially true as continued lockdowns and strict rules have bogged down the UPS and FedEx delivery routes. Over the winter season, weather delays caused the loss of some specimens by these delivery services, which led to some patients having to retake their tests.
No medical courier service in California was willing to build a solution quickly and efficiently as a replacement for UPS/FedEx. Until we stepped in.
First, we opened our COVID-19 specimen transport program for a specific hospital group in Northern California. They have been thrilled with the safe and timely delivery of the specimens over the past year. We haven’t lost a single specimen, and we’ve perfected the program, allowing us to expand our offering to several other labs and hospital groups.
2021 Update: COVID-19 Specimen Transport in California
One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to support medical facilities around California to safely and effectively transport COVID-19 test specimens. We want to help people get back to work, get back to visiting their families, and ease the anxiety that we all face these days.
Our delivery network spans the entire state of California. We facilitate safe and timely transport of testing specimens from Northern, Central, and Southern California to the best labs in San Diego, Los Angeles, Valencia/Chino Hills, and Burlingame (with more to come!).
We are opening our COVID-19 sample delivery to every hospital and lab in the State of California.
Our delivery network, expedited courier service, and proprietary reporting software
- Allows labs to watch the pickups in real-time and communicate with our 24/7 dispatch and compliance teams to ensure sample delivery times.
- Comes with the peace of mind knowing that specimens will arrive at the lab as quickly as 14 hours.
- Enables the labs to send results back to the patient within 24-48 hours.
How Our COVID-19 Specimen Transport Response Plan Started
Starting in March of 2020, hospitals and labs alike faced the challenge to accommodate the influx of COVID-19 test specimens. This required them to massively increase their testing capabilities and turnaround times, overnight.
For one large hospital group in California, safely transporting 20,000 COVID-19 specimens over a 350-mile radius in a single day seemed impossible.
This large hospital group was turned away by major transport carriers when approached for help. No carrier was up to a challenge this complex on such a tight timeline.
This is where we shine. We jumped at the opportunity to help the hospital group overcome this hurdle in safe COVID-19 test specimen delivery in California.
How Medical Couriers Rose to the Challenge
We are a medical-only logistics company with over 50 years of experience providing patient-centric medical specimen, equipment, and pharmaceutical transport to labs, pharmacies, hospitals, and medical clinics that need reliable service.
Creating a safe and efficient delivery network is what we do.
We worked with the hospital group to build a customized and dedicated pickup solution that allows medical facilities to safely aggregate all their specimens for an entire day and have them delivered to a centralized laboratory within 14 hours.
Taking on a project this size would normally take the average carrier six months to roll out. Medical Couriers executed a cold-chain delivery solution within three weeks. This includes training the HIPAA-certified, employee driver fleet in biohazard cold-chain delivery.
Medical Couriers Chairman, Issac Roth, shares how they were able to make it happen.
“Many couriers don’t have the flexibility to accommodate the nuances required for these programs. Our dense footprint in California plus our years of expertise delivering highly sensitive medical specimens, makes it possible to execute solutions quickly and efficiently.”
With their help, the hospital group conducted more tests and reduced turnaround times for thousands of patients.
Flattening the Curve
What many carriers saw as a challenge, Medical Couriers saw as an opportunity to do their part in flattening the curve.
“The more we test, the more we know, the more we flatten the curve. Our part is helping to accelerate testing so it’s faster and more efficient. We’re proud to play a role in creating a healthier future.” Roth said.
About Us
Medical Couriers is a third-generation company with over 50 years of experience in medical specimen transport nationwide. Their highly-trained team of professionals stops at nothing to ensure customers’ specimens are delivered on time and without error.
Learn More and Join our Fast, Efficient COVID-19 Specimen Transport Network Here
