Couriers are important in the United States healthcare industry and commerce. Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 and rapidly became the preeminent package delivery company. They specialized in shipping gold, packages, and newspapers throughout the West. Shortly afterward, the Pony Express was established to move packages faster than the traditional stagecoach routes. It also illustrated the demand for timely deliveries across the nation. This concept continued to evolve with the railroads, automobiles, and interstate highways that have emerged into today’s courier industry.
Today, companies such as FedEx and UPS make up a large percentage of the courier business, sometimes carrying medical specimens. The remaining courier companies tend to be smaller businesses that specialize as medical couriers that may be found in health care. Additionally, some hospitals and healthcare systems have an internal courier system and employ couriers.
Medical couriers are an important group of employees who serve as the face of their employer’s business. The quality of a courier service and its staff can define the perception of the quality and accuracy of their employer’s business. The image presented by a medical courier is the image of the organization that its clients see. It is essential to understand the importance of a courier's work to the employer, the clients, and, ultimately, the patient. As a courier service, the employer’s mission is to provide them with the knowledge and training for the job and to educate them to serve as the intermediary between the client and the laboratory. A medical courier is responsible for protecting the integrity of the specimens you handle daily.
