How a major health system restored critical lab specimen transport in less than 24 hours

Partnering with MedSpeed after an unexpected courier shutdown

October 14, 2026 

By Morgan Carver, MedSpeed Director of Field Services

When a healthcare organization’s courier provider unexpectedly exited the market, the health system faced a critical challenge: maintaining the movement of lab specimens, pathology materials, biopsies, and STAT deliveries across its network without disrupting patient care. Every delayed specimen had the potential to affect diagnosis, treatment, and care.

Based on MedSpeed’s successful work with another organization within the same health system, a trusted healthcare leader referred the team to MedSpeed to see if we could help.

I’ve been part of enough healthcare implementations to know that moments like this leave little room for hesitation. Our team quickly mobilized and worked together with the health system to build a response that would keep patient care moving.

From initial phone call to live operations in under 24 hours

Within a matter of hours, members of MedSpeed’s implementation and operations teams traveled to the region to partner with the health system onsite. But the effort was already underway. Local MedSpeed operations teams were actively coordinating the response, aligning resources, and helping stabilize the operation in real time.

Once we arrived, we jumped straight into live operations. There was no phased rollout. The health system quickly defined the scope of the challenge, giving both organizations the visibility needed to prioritize resources, make informed decisions, and regain operational stability quickly.

The scope: A complex healthcare logistics network

The response supported approximately 30 STAT orders per day, urgent specimen transport, and scheduled pathology services across more than 30 medical office locations.

We activated a dedicated intake line through the MedSpeed Command Center and coordinated logistics service representatives and operations leaders across the network to keep critical specimens moving without interruption.

The health system also identified a critical need for scheduled pathology support, particularly for slides and biopsies requiring strict chain of custody. In less than 48 hours, our combined teams established dedicated routes with multiple daily pickups to provide consistent transport for pathology slides and biopsy specimens while preserving flexibility for urgent requests.

Building the response behind the scenes

Behind the scenes, there was a tremendous amount happening all at once. While the health system coordinated its broader recovery efforts, our team focused on building the operational support needed to keep the network moving.

As the work continued, a 19-person team came together to sustain the response. Our implementation, operations, and regional teams coordinated onsite support, maintained momentum, and adapted quickly as needs evolved.

Watching so many people come together reinforced something I’ve always believed about MedSpeed: when healthcare partners need us most, our people show up.

Together with newly hired local logistics service representatives, regional MedSpeed leadership, and implementation teams, we built an operating model capable of supporting a complex healthcare network in a matter of days, not months.

The outcome: Stabilization under pressure

As operations came online, some variability was expected. We were stepping into an environment shaped by several challenges at once:

• Clearing backlogged work from the previous provider
• Limited historical utilization data
• Rapidly changing demand patterns
• Regional traffic conditions affecting routing efficiency

Even with those challenges, the health system regained operational stability quickly. Scheduled service reached more than 95 percent on-time performance within the first week, and on-demand performance steadily improved as visibility into routing, utilization, and operational needs increased.

The health system and MedSpeed stayed closely connected, sharing information, reviewing performance, and making adjustments as conditions evolved.

Visibility that builds confidence

As the operation stabilized, visibility became just as important as execution. Together, we focused on providing:

• Real-time tracking of medical courier movements
• Complete chain-of-custody visibility for lab specimens
• Enterprise-level operational reporting
• Data-driven insights into turnaround times and overall service performance

That shared visibility gave the health system confidence in where specimens were and how the network was performing, while giving both teams the information needed to make better decisions as the operation matured.

Looking ahead: The power of partnership

The health system brought a clear understanding of its clinical priorities and the workflows that could not be interrupted. MedSpeed’s role was to bring the operational expertise, infrastructure, and field leadership needed to turn those priorities into action.

That’s what made this response successful. We understood the importance of helping clinicians continue delivering care without worrying whether critical specimens would arrive where they needed to be.

This experience shows what’s possible when a healthcare provider and its logistics partner operate as one team with a shared commitment to patients.

Disruptions will happen. What matters is how you respond. When people trust one another, communicate openly, and stay focused on the patient, they can overcome even the most unexpected challenges together.