Best Medical Courier Software Solutions for 2023

Whether it's life-saving prescription drugs, critical medical supplies, or sensitive patient records, the efficient and secure delivery of healthcare items is paramount. In this era of ever-evolving logistics, medical courier companies are relying on last-mile logistics software and specialized courier apps to ensure the seamless transport of essential medical cargo, even amid the challenges posed by COVID-19. In this blog post, we will dive into the world of medical courier apps and software for 2023, exploring the essential features required for medical deliveries and conducting a comprehensive benchmark of the best solutions in the market.

A medical courier plays a crucial role in the healthcare industry, specializing in the safe and timely transportation of various medical items. These professionals work for medical courier service companies or as in-house drivers for healthcare facilities. The range of medical items they transport is diverse, including but not limited to:

• Patient medical records.

• Laboratory test results.

• Medical specimens and samples.

• Essential medical supplies.

• Life-saving blood and vital organs.

• Prescription medications.

• Diagnostic X-ray images.

Medical couriers cater to a wide array of healthcare providers, laboratories, research centers, and more, delivering medical items either business-to-business (B2B) to other medical facilities or business-to-consumer (B2C) directly to patients' homes. To streamline and execute these deliveries and collections efficiently, medical couriers rely on logistics software and a variety of delivery driver apps.

Whether you are considering launching your medical courier business or seeking to enhance the delivery performance and customer service of your existing operation, it's vital to understand the features that a medical courier app can offer. Here are some essential features to consider:

1. Pickup and Drop-off Tasks

The backbone of any courier software is multi-stop route planning. Considering the intricacies of medical logistics, it's essential to manage both inbound deliveries and outbound collections effectively. Ensure that your chosen medical courier software provider includes or easily enables collection tasks before making your selection.

2. Time Slots

Accurate timing plays a pivotal role in medical deliveries, whether they are for business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) logistics. Medical courier software should offer time slots or time windows to meet customers' preferred delivery times. This feature is essential to avoid delivery failures.

3. Recurring Routes

Medical facilities often have specific schedules for deliveries and collections. Having the ability to plan these recurring routes in advance can significantly streamline the transportation of medical items.

4. Barcode Scanning

Barcode scanning and shipping labels are essential to avoid delivery mistakes in logistics operations. Within the delicate sphere of medical deliveries, guaranteeing the correct assignment of each package to its designated route and ensuring secure delivery to the intended recipient becomes achievable through the utilization of a barcode scanner app designed for medical couriers.

5. Priority Orders

Medical deliveries are often time-sensitive, requiring prioritization. Look for a feature in your courier software that allows for prioritizing certain customers, addresses, or orders to accommodate last-minute delivery requests or to serve specific facilities first.

6. Safety Checklist

Certain medical courier apps provide a digital checklist feature that allows couriers to conduct checks before or after each route, enhancing safety and operational efficiency. These checklists are fully customizable, allowing dispatchers to add items necessary for the safety of both the courier and the cargo.

7. Live Tracking Notifications

Real-time tracking is a crucial feature in any courier software. Medical courier companies rely on live tracking to minimize customer inquiries about delivery status and to enhance delivery success rates. Medical courier software has the capability to offer live tracking and estimated time of arrival (ETA) functionality, empowering customers to receive real-time tracking links and ETA notifications via email or SMS.

8. Electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD)

Electronic Proof of Delivery, or ePOD, minimizes disputes and ensures the successful delivery of medical items. A mobile application designed for medical couriers empowers staff to capture images and collect electronic signatures as proof of delivery (ePOD), offering the flexibility to customize these ePODs to align with specific customer requirements.

9. Partial Delivery

In B2B logistics, couriers often transport large quantities of items that need to be accurately accounted for. To handle variations in deliveries, certain medical courier applications incorporate a partial delivery or over-delivery feature. This functionality permits couriers to scan item barcodes or input the actual quantity of medical items delivered, even if it exceeds or falls short of the planned amount, all without classifying the delivery as a failure.

10. Customer Portal

A customer portal enables customers and shippers to log in and manage their orders independently. Medical courier companies that maintain close partnerships with particular laboratories, hospitals, or research centers can take advantage of a customer portal to empower these entities to manage their own order entries. This delegation of order entry tasks to the customer portal effectively lessens the workload for dispatchers and enhances operational efficiency.

Now that we have a comprehensive understanding of the essential features of medical deliveries, let's examine some of the best-rated medical courier software solutions for 2023. In the table below, you'll find an overview of the number of tasks and features included with the most cost-effective subscription, as well as additional features available with higher-tier plans or as optional add-ons.

1. FarEye

Key Features:

• Multi-stop route planning

• Time slots

• Barcode scanning

• Electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD)

• Live tracking

• Recurring routes

• Safety checklist

• Priority orders

• Customer portal

• Partial delivery

FarEye stands as a comprehensive solution for medical courier software, offering a wide array of features to optimize the logistics of medical deliveries. It covers everything from route planning and time slot management to barcode scanning and live tracking. With features like recurring routes and priority orders, it caters specifically to the needs of medical courier services. Furthermore, the incorporation of a safety checklist serves to bolster safety measures throughout the entirety of the delivery process. The availability of a customer portal further streamlines order management. FarEye's capabilities make it a top choice for medical courier operations.

2. Track-POD

Key Features:

• Efficient management of pickup and drop-off tasks.

• Precise scheduling using time slots.

• Per-item barcode scanning for meticulous tracking.

• Prioritization of orders based on urgency.

• Customizable Proof of Delivery templates.

• Customer portal for streamlined order placement and management.

Track-POD offers an extensive range of features tailored to medical courier operations. Its support for pickup and drop-off tasks, time slots, and barcode scanning ensures efficient and precise medical deliveries. The ability to create custom Proof of Delivery templates enhances documentation. The customer portal simplifies order entry. Track-POD's flexible pricing options, starting at $29 per courier annually, make it an attractive choice for medical courier businesses.

3. Routific

Key Features:

• Route planning for optimized logistics.

• Real-time tracking for live monitoring.

• Optional SMS or email delivery notifications (additional cost).

• Optional Proof of Delivery (additional cost).

• Prioritization of critical orders.

Routific specializes in route planning and real-time tracking, making it a valuable tool for medical courier companies. The software provides the option for delivery notifications through SMS or email, but it's important to note that these features might entail additional costs. Priority order management ensures timely deliveries. Routific charges $39 per vehicle/driver, making it suitable for smaller to mid-sized operations.

4. Onfleet

Key Features:

• Efficient route optimization for streamlined deliveries.

• Robust Proof of Delivery (PoD) capabilities.

• Barcode scanning to enhance accuracy.

• Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) notifications for timely updates.

• Access to historical analytics for performance analysis and insights.

Onfleet caters to larger teams with its route optimization, Proof of Delivery, and barcode scanning capabilities. It also provides ETA notifications and historical analytics for performance analysis. While it comes at a higher starting price of $500 for 2,000 tasks, it offers a comprehensive set of features suitable for robust medical courier operations.

5. OptimoRoute

Key Features:

• Advanced route optimization for efficient deliveries.

• Real-time tracking to monitor deliveries as they happen.

• Live Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) for precise timing.

• Access to historical analytics for performance analysis and insights.

6. Route4Me

Key Features:

• Route planning

• Customizable features via marketplace apps

Route4Me operates as a marketplace for route planning solutions and is designed for teams of up to 10 members. The platform allows customization through the addition of various marketplace apps. While the initial plan starts at $199 per month, the final pricing depends on the specific features you enable, making it flexible for different needs.

7. eLogii

Key Features:

• Multi-depot optimization

• Customer portal

• Barcode scanning

• Proof of Delivery

• Age verification

eLogii offers multi-depot optimization, a customer portal for order management, and features like barcode scanning, Proof of Delivery, and age verification. Starting at $359 per month for 2,500 orders, it's suitable for larger medical courier operations.

8. Tookan

Key Features:

• Customizable courier management

• Route optimization via paid integration

• Delivery notifications

Tookan offers a customizable courier management system suitable for various logistics scenarios.Although it does not come with a built-in route optimization solution, it does offer the option for route optimization through a paid integration with Mappr. Pricing starts at $99 per month for 700 tasks, with an additional $0.1 per task for route optimization.

9. Circuit

Key Features:

• Efficient route planning for optimized logistics.

• Real-time tracking for live monitoring of deliveries.

• Robust Proof of Delivery (PoD) capabilities for verification.

• Customer notifications to keep clients informed.

• Performance analysis tools for in-depth assessment.

Circuit for Teams is tailored to small to mid-sized delivery operations and covers route planning, real-time tracking, Proof of Delivery, customer notifications, and performance analysis. The minimum cost is $100, which includes 2 free drivers and doesn't include Proof of Delivery.

10. GSM Tasks

Key Features:

• Pickup and drop-off tasks

• Barcode scanning

• Proof of Delivery

• Customer portal

GSM Tasks stands as a comprehensive courier management platform that offers the advantage of unlimited orders within any subscription plan. Its pricing structure is based on a per-user model, which means you pay for each user, including web users like dispatchers and managers who access the system. This approach makes it an accessible and cost-effective choice for medical courier operations, with pricing starting at $17 per user. Additionally, it provides a range of essential features right from the start, ensuring that key functionalities are readily available to streamline your operations.

11. Detrack

Key Features:

• Proof of Delivery

• Route planning via paid integration

Detrack is recognized as a last-mile delivery software provider appreciated for its affordability and the inclusion of advanced features. However, it's important to note that it does not provide a built-in route planning feature. Instead, route planning is facilitated through a paid integration with ElasticRoute. Detrack does offer a free version, but if you require route planning capabilities, you will need to acquire ElasticRoute separately. This approach allows you to access robust route planning while benefiting from Detrack's cost-effective solutions.