How medical transport works in practice: from request to proof of delivery

A medical shipment goes through four steps. The request: what goes along, under which condition, from where, to where, when, and who the contact persons are. The confirmation: the carrier records times, addresses and condition and the client checks them. The ride: a check at pickup, transport under the agreed condition, handover at delivery to the addressee. And the completion: the file of the ride with times, who signed, the measurements and any deviations, available to the client.

The division of roles is the same in every step. The client knows what the shipment is and what it needs; for specimens it classifies and packs, for medicines it passes on the manufacturer's storage condition. The carrier checks what it can see, keeps the condition, delivers to the addressee and records what it has done. It does not decide about the product. What medical transport is and which rules apply per type of shipment is explained in medical transport.

A ride goes wrong on what was not said beforehand. These points belong in every request or in a standing arrangement; if one is missing, that is the question the carrier asks before pickup.

• What is being transported, in plain words: specimens, medicines, documents, devices.
• Whether a classification applies, for specimens UN 3373, Category A or exempt, and who determined it.
• How it is packed and what there is to check on the outside at pickup.
• Which temperature condition applies and where it comes from: label, manufacturer or laboratory.
• When it has to arrive, and what happens if that cannot be met.
• Pickup and delivery address with the addressee and any instructions for loading dock or ward.
• Contact persons on both sides, also for a report outside office hours.
• Which proof the recipient wants to see afterwards: times, signature, temperature.

Carriage law requires the carrier to deliver the shipment in the condition received and without delay. Being able to show that this happened is in its own interest and in the client's. That is why every handover comes with a record: actual time, name and role of the person handing over and receiving, the condition of the shipment and, where agreed, the measured temperature. What belongs in a proof of delivery or ride report, what it can contain and what it does and does not prove is explained in proof of delivery and ride report.

Between pickup and delivery the records arise that fill the report afterwards: the actual time per stop, the status of the shipment and, for shipments with a temperature condition, the measured temperature with instrument and who measured. What is recorded follows from the order and the type of shipment. A document ride by a medical courier asks for less than a refrigerated ride for a laboratory; what those two chains look like is explained in laboratory transport and in medicine transport. What a temperature measurement does and does not say, and why a value within the condition is not a release, is explained in temperature logging in medical transport.

There is no fixed set of documents for medical transport. What has to go along depends on the shipment: a dangerous goods transport document only if the ADR requires it, and for UN 3373 in P650 packaging it does not; the delivery note and the conditions for medicines; order information and instructions for every ride; and afterwards the proof of delivery and the records. Which documents are statutory, contractual, product-specific or operational, and who provides them, is explained in transport documents in medical transport.

Traceability is being able to find out what happened to a shipment: which ride, which stops, who signed, which measurements. A unique ride number that recurs on confirmation, file and invoice is the anchor for that. Chain of custody is the part of it that records per handover who gave the shipment when to whom and in which condition. In specimen transport there are at least two: from sender to courier and from courier to laboratory. The substance is an unbroken series of records. How that works for specimens is explained in transporting medical specimens; what is recorded at each handover in proof of delivery and ride report.

A deviation is anything that departs from the arrangement: a temperature outside the condition, a damaged or wet outer packaging, a recipient who is not there, a shipment that cannot be taken because the mark is missing. The rules always place the first step with the carrier: report to the client and the recipient, and record what happened. The decision about the product lies with the owner. For dangerous goods the carrier may not continue after an infringement has been found. What should happen in the event of a temperature excursion is explained in temperature excursion during transport; how temperature is measured and recorded in temperature logging in medical transport.

Working demonstrably means recording, and recording means personal data: the name and role of the person signing, a signature, sometimes a photo of the handover. The GDPR applies to that: record no more than necessary, store securely, and make it accessible only to those who need it. According to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, a logistics provider is as a rule itself responsible for the data it needs to perform its service; which role a carrier has depends on the processing. Patient data do not belong on a ride file.

This page explains the general process. How a ride with UrgentX works, from request to invoice, is described under how we work; anyone who needs transport right now will find it under the urgent medical ride. Per ride we record the actual times and the name and role of the person signing; for shipments with a temperature condition the temperature is measured at pickup and at delivery. Requests, tracking and the file per ride run through your organisation's customer portal. The request form and the portal ask for no patient data.