How a leading laboratory grew 20% annually with the right last-mile logistics partner

November 9, 2026

By Wes Crampton, MedSpeed President

For more than a decade, MedSpeed has had the privilege of supporting one of the country’s largest integrated laboratory networks with reliable, last-mile healthcare logistics services. Their network touches more than 8 million patients each year and has grown 20 percent annually since our partnership began — a remarkable achievement in a highly competitive and complex industry.

We are proud that MedSpeed has helped enable that growth. So how did we do it? It came down to three things: strategic outsourcing, a people-first transition, and a shared commitment to innovation. Here’s how it all came together.

Strategic outsourcing liberated time and capital for innovation

In 2012, the lab made the strategic decision to outsource its internal transportation operations and selected MedSpeed as its logistics partner. For a network operating across two states, supporting more than 30 hospitals and over 40 patient service centers, reliable laboratory logistics and specimen transportation were essential to keeping operations moving.

From the beginning, the partnership was about more than outsourcing. The lab needed a partner so it could focus on laboratory medicine, not vehicles and routes.

As the former CEO explained, “If we were going to position our company to grow…we had to identify and acknowledge that we couldn’t do everything ourselves. Through our partnership with MedSpeed, we were able to shift focus [from the day-to-day demands of transportation] to innovation and patient care.”

The shift came with real operational change. The lab had 70 internal logistics employees at the time. Rather than simply eliminating those roles, we worked together on a thoughtful transition plan. Nearly every affected team member was offered a role at MedSpeed, and ten years later, 61 percent of the drivers who were offered roles have either retired from MedSpeed or are still with us.

For me, this is what our culture of growth and recognition looks like in practice. Our focus on people, process, and partnership helped the transition succeed and laid the groundwork for future innovation.

Innovation doesn’t stop at the lab

One standout example of innovation and agility is the process the customer and MedSpeed developed to improve specimen transportation that require incubation in transit. When the standard turnaround wasn’t fast enough for the network’s growth, our teams didn’t accept the constraint. Instead, we redesigned the workflow around it. MedSpeed vehicles began using specially designed incubators that start the incubation process during transport, significantly reducing turnaround time and enabling faster results for patients.

That same spirit ran through the lab’s broader innovation push to find new ways to serve their growing customer base, including:

• Microbiology automation implemented in 2013
• Digital pathology launched in 2019
• Blood conservation protocols introduced in 2020

While the lab focused on growth, MedSpeed focused on making sure their logistics network grew right along with them.

We built our operations to scale with complexity, expanded routes, capacity, and workflows without compromising reliability or patient care, so our partners can keep growing with confidence.

What strong logistics make possible

More than a decade into the partnership, this collaboration demonstrates what healthcare logistics can make possible when two organizations are aligned around a common goal. By combining operational flexibility with a shared commitment to innovation and patient care, the lab has been able to expand its reach and advance its capabilities while MedSpeed handles the critical logistics moving behind the scenes. It’s rewarding to look back and see how strong logistics have helped enable this lab’s year-over-year growth and innovation.