Establishing and maintaining efficient courier services.

Abstract

Your couriers are your link to your outreach customers. They represent your facility to and carry information (and, of course, specimens) from the communities you service. When establishing your outreach program, who is in the driver's seat and how specimens will be transported are primary concerns. Cost-conscious laboratorians rely on a variety of courier options, from transporting specimens on foot using refrigerated Styrofoam nylon packs to calling taxis to contracting with drivers to having a dedicated arrangement with in-house employees. Often, the expense and bother of maintaining a fleet of cars and drivers, probably most desirable in terms of control and standardizing processes, forces laboratory managers to seek alternatives that may not sound practical or reliable, but that actually do work quite well. Whatever courier route you choose, you should emphasize to your carriers the respect you have for the precious cargo they carry. Of course, there must be no doubt about specimen integrity, carefully and conscientiously maintained from its source to you. But the integrity of your organization is also in the hands of those who accept the responsibility of bringing you all of those potential questions to be answered. Your livelihood depends on it. Just be as certain as possible that your customers want to celebrate--not shoot--your messenger.