A Guide on How to Become a Medical Courier in 2024

by Onfleet, Inc.

Being a medical courier provides you with a flexible, diverse job where you are your own boss. In this guide, we walk through how and why you should become a medical courier. We show you how to open your own medical courier business and answer all frequently asked questions.

What is a Medical Courier?

A medical courier specializes in moving medicines, medical supplies, equipment, lab specimens, and documents from one healthcare location to another facility. Hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and research facilities all use medical couriers to move their supplies efficiently and safely while complying with HIPAA regulations.

Why Pursue a Career as a Medical Courier?

As a medical courier, you get to work independently. You are your own boss and you can choose the clients that you work with, giving you freedom to pursue other dreams and hobbies.

You also have flexible working hours, without the 9-5 grind, adding to your freedom. Finally, according to Glassdoor, medical couriers make between $41,000 and $59,000 per year in the US. So you can grow as a medical courier to become a business owner with good earnings.

5 Steps to Become a Medical Delivery Courier

1 - Market Analysis

Before jumping in head first, it’s important to look at your local area and see if there’s demand for medical couriers. The more laboratories, hospitals, private practices, nursing homes, and pharmacies there are, the more prospects and deliveries you have. 

Your next step is to evaluate your possible competitors. Are there any medical delivery services in your area? If there are, then what could you do that they can’t? For instance, is there a way for you to charge less? Do deliveries over different time periods? Provide more visibility into your deliveries than other couriers do? Make sure to find a differentiator that helps you stand out from the pack.

2 - Obtain Necessary Certifications

To be a medical courier you need a driver’s license and a clean driving record. They are two prerequisites to be a medical courier. 

You may also be asked for a high school certificate or proof of physical fitness to ensure that you can carry heavy boxes and climb stairs. It’s possible that you may need special immunizations, depending on your State.

You will also need a medical courier certification. The exam to get the certificate covers HIPAA regulations, medical terminology, safety protocols, and customer service. There are also courses on bloodborne pathogens training and hazardous waste. To ensure your qualification is up to date, you’ll have to commit to doing regular courses.

3 - Get the Right Equipment

To succeed as a medical courier, you need some equipment, the first is your vehicle. You need a well-maintained, reliable, safe vehicle that has space to transport medical equipment and temperature control for temperature-sensitive items. 

You also need some other tools and equipment, including:

  • GPS (or a smartphone with a GPS)
  • Insulated containers
  • Packaging materials
  • Gloves, masks, protective gowns to avoid cross-contamination
  • Tamper-evident seals to protect the quality of supplies
  • Labeling equipment to quickly identify packages

4 - Invest in Delivery Management Software

If you’re planning to work alone, you should also investigate getting courier delivery management software. This software can help you to plan and optimize routes, communicate with customers with ease, gather proof of delivery, and provide you with a driver app to make deliveries smoother.

If you’re planning to work for a company, they should have delivery management software that will direct you on the best routes and make communicating with customers easier.

5 - Find Employment or Start Your Own Service

Your final step is to either find employment with a company that provides medical delivery services or start your own business.

  • Employment: If you’re starting out and want some support, you can look for medical courier companies and reach out to them. You could also search for medical facilities and get in touch with them directly. Otherwise, you could look on job boards to see if someone has posted about needing couriers. You can look on ZipRecruiter or Linkedin. You can also search on companies websites, such as MCI, American Expediting, Dropoff, or Diligent USA.
  • Starting Your Own Business: If you’d prefer to go ahead and start your own business you need an initial investment to get started. You also need to check any legal requirements to be recognized as a medical courier company. Finally, you need a business plan, including how to market your new business, and possibly hire drivers.

Is a Medical Courier a Good Business to Start?

Zion Market Research shows that by 2026 healthcare transportation will be worth $31.51 billion. So it is a lucrative industry, but that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy business to crack into. You need to analyze your market in-depth and decide what will make your medical courier business stand out.

How to Start a Medical Courier Service?

We have five steps to help you start a successful medical courier business.

  1. Business plan

Having a clear, well-researched business plan will make a huge difference to your success. You need to do full market research and create financial projections. You also need to think about your marketing plan and think through your operations (where you’ll store equipment, and how and when to hire drivers).

  1. Legal Requirements

There are two different types of requirements to start a medical courier business that you need to be aware of, medical laws and business regulations. You need to be certified to transport medical supplies safely, including HIPAA, OSHA, and the FMSCA. You also need to set up a business, meaning you need a certificate of incorporation, operating agreement, employer identification number, and other business documents. You’ll also need insurance and a valid driving license. 

  1. Hire Staff

When you reach the point where you can no longer cope with demand on your own, you should search for couriers to help you on job boards, social media, and websites such as Freelancer.com. You’d need to check their driver's license, evaluate their physical condition, and possibly run a background check. You should also provide them with an app to help with routes and delivery management, as mentioned above.

  1. Marketing Strategies

To begin marketing your courier services, you have two options: online and offline. You can set up social media and advertise online, you could also create a website, email, and Google Business Profile so that people can find you easily. You could also email medical facilities in your area to let them know that you exist and that you’d love to work with them.

If you’d like to also promote your business offline, then you should make flyers and business cards and distribute them. You could go to medical facilities, laboratories, doctor's offices, nursing homes, and pharmacies to talk to them. You could introduce yourself, explain your services and give them your business card. You could also put up flyers on community notice boards, for instance at supermarkets to attract more attention.

  1. Customer Success

An important aspect of your success is how well you communicate with your customers. Having open communication, and being transparent and clear with your customers improves customer satisfaction. You need to provide accurate ETAs for pick-ups and drop-offs to ensure that customers don’t get frustrated waiting for you.

To help you improve efficiency and customer satisfaction you should use courier delivery management software. It can help you to find the best, fastest, and most effective routes to deliver your medical supplies.

How to Choose the Best Medical Courier Delivery Software for Your Needs?

There are many different medical courier apps that you can use to schedule deliveries, optimize routes, track drivers, and communicate with customers. Finding delivery management software that has those features will help you to stand out from the crowd.

To find the best medical courier delivery software, consider:

  • What your budget is,
  • How many deliveries do you do each day,
  • What your short-, mid-, and long-term goals are,
  • What is most important for you: customer communication, package tracking, route planning, or analytics,
  • What other platforms do you use - do you want to integrate your systems? Such as your payment app,
  • You should look for an intuitive, reliable, and powerful driver app to improve driver productivity and not spend time stuck in traffic,
  • Look for a branded client portal, so that when customers track drivers’ progress they see your logo and branding.

Then test out 3 different solutions, do demos and free trials, check their reviews online, and make your choose your provider.

Set Yourself Up For Success With Onfleet

Onfleet is HIPAA compliant, and we also have SOC2 certification, showing how we take data seriously. With Onfleet, you can route, plan, track, and analyze your deliveries in real-time. Our medical customers save up to 45% on fuel costs, improve efficiency by up to 40%, and on-time deliveries go over 98%.

FAQs

Why are medical couriers important?

The medical industry needs specimens, equipment, documents, and supplies moved from one facility to another. They need to be transported carefully, safely, and in a timely manner so that healthcare providers can care for their patients in the best way.

Can I start a medical courier service with a single vehicle?

Yes, you can start a medical courier service with one vehicle so long as it’s reliable, temperature-controlled, and has insurance. Reach out to local medical facilities to introduce your new business and build up contacts.

How to become a medical courier independent contractor?

You need a HIPAA and OSHA certification, an insured vehicle, and a clean driver’s license. You may need a business license and you normally need to be over 21 years old to be an independent medical courier.

How long does it take to become a medical courier?

You need to become certified before becoming a medical courier. HIPAA and blood-borne courses take up to 90 days, other courses take a few days. Then building up experience and customers can take longer, normally 3-6 months. But to get started it can take 3 months to become a medical courier.

How much do medical couriers make in the US?

In the US, medical couriers make between $41,000 and $59,000 annually.

What is the best medical courier certification?

Avantor, Freight Broker, and Integrity Medical Courier Training all offer good medical courier certifications.

How to Become a Certified Medical Courier?

You need to do a HIPAA and OSHA certification, you’ll also need to build up contacts with medical facilities in your local area. You often need to be over 21 years old and have a driver’s license with a clean driving record.

What is the best medical courier software for route optimization?

Onfleet is the best medical courier software to optimize and plan your routes, track deliveries, and provide accurate ETAs to your customers by text message.