What’s Involved in Medical Courier Best Practices (And Why it Matters)

When handling and transporting potentially life-saving medications, devices, and supplies, safety should be a top concern. Safe transportation of critical medical items directly affects the level of optimal care that patients expect on a regular basis.

The medical field often depends on medical couriers to transport sensitive and confidential health care-items, including paperwork, prescription medications, infusion medicine, lab work, medical specimens, equipment, and supplies. And in order to ensure a strict chain of custody, all drivers must adhere to the strict regulations that such deliveries require. This means all medical couriers should be highly knowledgeable of best practices in medical transport in order to eliminate risks. If any issues were to arise, a qualified and experienced professional can be able to take care of the situation.

Find out how to use best practices to ensure medical deliveries are in the best hands.

Secure Transportation Practices

A seasoned dispatch team should closely monitor each driver at every leg of their journey, and know exactly where the driver is at all times. This is only possible when the courier offers real-time tracking technology and up-to-the-minute ETAs which enable both the dispatch team, medical provider, and patient to be kept fully in the loop on the status of the delivery.

A dedicated medical courier should also recognize the importance of a secure chain of custody, which involves alerting the provider with email confirmations and signature verifications once orders have been completed. This verification process acts as proof that a delivery made it to the right person, on-time, and in perfect condition.

Medical Couriers Should be HIPAA Certified

One of the greatest benefits of your medical couriers being HIPAA certified is that you can be confident that your patients sensitive information is being protected. HIPAA certifications are used for implementing multiple safeguards in health care organizations to protect sensitive, personal health information. Without HIPAA, there would be no requirement in place for medical couriers to safeguard data.

HIPPA’s established regulations require:

• Health care organizations to control who can access sensitive health data
• Information disclosed to healthcare providers and health plans, or information that is created, transmitted, or stored by them be subject to strict security controls
• Patients to have control over their information and who it can be released to and shared with

Unfortunately, HIPAA breaches happen and often result in costly penalties based on the level of negligence. 

Below is a graph from Federal Register – The Daily Journal of the United States Government of how costly each penalty can be.

According to HIPAA Journal, violations happen most often when a medical employee or vendor is not familiar with HIPAA regulations and therefore not compliant. This leads to mishandling of records and medical supplies containing confidential patient information. Here’s a list of violations to look out for:

• Employees disclosing confidential information
• Medical record mishandling
• Lost or stolen devices containing confidential patient information
• Texting patient information
• Posting patient photos on social media
• Unauthorized access to patient files
• A breach of patient information in a social setting
• Releasing personal health information without the patient’s written consent
• Leaving a computer screen left on with a patient’s information allowing an unauthorized person to access it
• Employees or vendors who are not HIPAA compliant

These breaches can be avoided by training medical employees thoroughly and by selecting vendors, including medical couriers, who are HIPAA compliant.

Does Your Medical Courier Put Patients First?

There is a patient behind every single medical delivery. Therefore, it’s imperative for medical couriers to exude professionalism by delivering with compassion and understanding for each patient’s unique situation.

They should also have a background in customer service, maintaining a positive and professional attitude. This ensures patients feel comfortable and a top priority.

What’s the Solution?

Dropoff is uniquely positioned to be your medical courier, continuously using best practices to deliver every item from point A to point B safely and in perfect condition. Our drivers are background checked, HIPAA-compliant, and in uniform for utmost patient security. They drive climate controlled vehicles to ensure the optimal condition of your health care deliveries upon arrival.

 Below is a checklist of what Dropoff offers compared to traditional couriers.

Ready to try Dropoff? Our 5 star track record will ensure that your medical deliveries are in the best hands.