How to Win Medical Courier Contracts: 11 Proven Ways (2024)

Winning stable medical contracts involves more than just delivering products from A to B—biological specimens and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals are very different from a burrito from the local Mexican or a new IKEA nightstand.

The stakes are high—one missed delivery can mean the difference between life and, well, you get the idea. But how do you stand out against competitors vying for the same precious contracts? 

Note that getting medical courier jobs differs slightly from winning general courier contracts because there are complex industry rules and regulations you need to abide by. 

In this guide, we'll cover 11 proven strategies to help you win more medical courier contracts this year. From mastering the art of bidding to using cutting-edge technology, we'll show you how to transform your medical courier service into a trusted partner that healthcare providers can't resist.

1. Bid for medical courier contracts

The first port of call for landing medical courier contracts is dedicated courier contract apps and websites. Medical facilities and healthcare institutions often share large, ongoing contracts on these sites, which can be a relatively easy way to establish long-term relationships and secure a consistent revenue stream.

• Research opportunities. Check government procurement websites for public tenders and look for contract listings on specialized courier platforms (we’ve listed a few below). Even one-off jobs can turn into ongoing opportunities if you prove you’re a reliable option. 
• Prepare your business. Make sure you have all the licenses and certifications you need to courier medical specimens and equipment, train staff to handle medical materials and invest in appropriate vehicles for medical deliveries. 
• Write your bid proposal. Provide a clear company overview that shows your relevant experience, highlight specific services (e.g. handling lab specimens or pharmaceuticals), and outline the logistics of the order, including schedules and delivery processes. It’s a good idea to share your pricing structure and include any contract terms and conditions in your proposal. 

When submitting your bid, make sure you follow the submission guidelines carefully and include all required and relevant documents.

You can also monitor and respond to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) via government websites. Here are some places you can do this:

• Government and public health websites. Platforms like BidNet Direct list various RFPs, including some for laboratory courier services. You can also check out county and state health department websites. 
• Healthcare institutions. University and hospital websites for specific institutions often issue RFPs for courier services—you can usually find them on the procurement or purchasing departments’ websites. 
• International organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) regularly issues RFPs for courier services all over the world.

Where to land medical courier contracts as an independent contractor

If you’re an independent medical courier, you can use general delivery apps and websites to find part-time and full-time medical courier jobs. 

Use these sites to get started: 

• GoShare. Find all sorts of delivery jobs, including potential medical courier opportunities. 
• Frayt. Pick up on-demand delivery jobs for medical supply transportation and prescriptions. 
• Curri. Predominantly a construction and industrial deliveries app, but there are often medical equipment transport jobs up for grabs. 
• Bungii. Originally a furniture delivery app, Bungii has expanded into other sectors including medical courier services. 
• Metrobi. A last-mile delivery solution that often attracts healthcare providers looking for reliable couriers.

2. Create a business plan for your medical courier service

Your business plan is your roadmap for making decisions. Having one means you can understand your target clientele’s most pressing needs and create a service that tackles them. 

Start by clearly defining your services. Will you focus on local hospital deliveries, laboratory specimen transport, or specialized services like organ transport?

Next, conduct a thorough market analysis. Research the healthcare industry in your local area (or your target area), identifying potential clients like hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and pharmacies. Don’t forget to analyze your competition too–what are they offering and how can you differentiate your services?

Include your operational strategies. This should show how you’ll manage your fleet of vehicles, your staffing plans, and your approach to training and quality control.

Outline your pricing structure and financial projections. While you may not be looking for funding right away, having a good sense of where you want to be financially can help you pick and choose the courier contracts that will help get you there. Estimate your startup costs, ongoing expenses, and project revenue for at least the first three years.

Explain your marketing strategy. Highlight how you’ll attract and retain clients through social media, search engine optimization, and email marketing (or via any other marketing methods you deem suitable for your business).

Finally, address risk management. How will you handle potential issues like delivery delays or damaged goods?

3. Get compliant with key regulations

The key to securing more medical courier contracts is trust. The easiest way to do this is to make sure you comply with key regulatory bodies like:

• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Medical couriers need to protect patient privacy and handle health information confidentially. This involves training staff on current HIPAA guidelines to make sure they handle and transport medical records appropriately.
• OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). OSHA standards (particularly the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard) are particularly important for employees handling medical materials. Train your team to properly handle biological specimens and use personal protective equipment (PPE). 
• DOT (Department of Transportation). DOT regulations require drivers to safely and legally transport hazardous materials—including medical specimens and pharmaceuticals. Your couriers must be trained to package, label, and document deliveries appropriately.

It’s your job to train your medical drivers on current compliance requirements. Sites like Integrity Delivers offer training programs, live webinars, and online courses that cover the key regulatory bodies and best practices.

4. Use technology to provide a better service

Most medical contracts rely on speed and efficiency—especially if you’re transporting time-sensitive materials or equipment. One of the best ways to improve your speed is to use delivery management software with live route tracking and route optimization. You can see where your drivers are in real-time, adjust routes if needed, and give accurate delivery times to clients. This ultimately increases trust with healthcare providers, but it also improves client satisfaction by delivering on time (or quicker) every time.

Circuit for Teams courier software can help dispatchers plan the quickest, most logical routes by considering traffic, delivery times, and internal details like courier driver breaks and preferences. This means drivers can make more deliveries in less time, making your company more appealing to potential clients who need a speedy, dependable service.

See how Circuit for Teams can reduce delivery costs by 20% and improve your reputation with medical facilities—try it free for 7 days.

5. Network and build industry relationships

Building a strong network can help your medical courier service gain trust and credibility in the healthcare industry.

Forming direct connections with healthcare facilities and providers gives you first-hand access to potential contracts—great when most companies (including medical facilities) are more likely to hire someone they know and trust. Networking also keeps you informed about the changing needs and challenges in the healthcare sector, allowing you to adapt your services accordingly.

Start by reaching out to local healthcare facilities and providers. Introduce your services and demonstrate how you can meet their specific needs. Attending industry events and joining health care associations are great ways to make these connections.

Don’t overlook the power of social media and online platforms like LinkedIn, which is great for connecting with healthcare professionals. Share insights and updates about your services, engage in relevant conversations, and join groups in the healthcare sector.

Check out these places if you want to grow your network:

• Industry conferences. Attend healthcare-related conferences like HIMSS and Health2.0. 
• Local healthcare events. Use sites like Meetup.com and Eventbrite to find healthcare events in your local area. 
• Professional organizations. Join groups like Medical Courier Connection and CAMTS.  
• Online forums. Join dedicated medical courier groups, like Medical Courier Startup on Facebook.

6. Highlight your safety and reliability standards

There’s one certainty in the healthcare industry: providers need to trust that their sensitive materials will be handled correctly and delivered on time. It’s a non-negotiable. By showing you take safety and reliability seriously, you can stand out from your competitors and secure those all-important long-term contracts.

Here are some ways you can do this:

• Develop strict safety protocols for handling medical materials.
• Create clear rules for packaging, transporting, and delivering things like lab samples, medications, and medical equipment. 
• Cover everything, from how to properly label packages to what protective gear couriers should wear. 
• Put together a thorough training program to keep your drivers up-to-date on the latest rules and regulations. 
• Create a strong quality assurance program and regularly check how well your couriers are performing (you can do this by reviewing delivery times and accuracy, and asking clients for feedback).

7. Offer customizable service packages

No two healthcare providers are the same—they all have different needs, and trying to push them all towards the same service can be a waste of time. Instead, create a handful of different packages or, better yet, make your services flexible and easy to customize.

Here are some tips: 

Create different service levels

For example, you might offer an urgent service for time-sensitive deliveries like lab samples that need quick testing, and a standard service for regular deliveries like medical supplies. 

Provide specialized services

You can narrow down your services to focus on specific materials and products. For example, you can provide a temperature-controlled transport service for medicines that need to stay cold.

In your marketing materials and outreach efforts, mention your service uses non-CDL drivers. This can be a strong selling point for small clinics and pharmacies that need reliable, yet affordable delivery services without the added costs of CDL requirements. 

Show your expertise

If you have relevant experience handling specific medical items, make sure you shout about it. This could include things like hazardous materials, temperature-sensitive products, or confidential documents.

There’s a good chance a hospital will choose a courier with special training in handling sensitive lab samples over one who doesn’t. Just bear in mind that if you do plan on offering these services, you might need relevant certifications to prove you’re qualified to handle special items. 

Set competitive prices

When it comes to pricing, you should research your competitors to see what they’re charging. Then, set your prices to be competitive—but make sure you can still cover your costs! It’s a good idea to have clear pricing that shows clients exactly what they’re paying for. This might include a breakdown of costs for different services or package deals for regular clients.

8. Develop a strong online presence

Healthcare companies aren’t going to know you exist if you don’t make yourself visible—and today, that means having a strong online presence. This helps build credibility and attract clients who are actively looking for medical couriers. 

Here are some strategies to get you started. 

Build a professional, optimized website

Start by creating a website for your courier service. Include your service packages, pricing, and relevant keywords that healthcare institutions might use to find companies like yours. For example, if you cater predominantly to a New York market, you might use the words “New York Medical Courier” or “Medical Courer In New York” on your website to help you show up in search results for those phrases.

Paragon Logistics has a slick, professional website that uses keywords.

Share success stories

Displaying client testimonials and case studies on your website highlights your expertise and reliability—but through the words of your previous customers. This builds trust and shows you have a proven track record of handling medical deliveries efficiently and safely.

Zedify showcases several case studies on its website, including this one about its partnership with the NHS.

Develop a strong brand identity

Increase recognition around your brand and stay front-of-mind with memorable branding. This can include an eye-catching logo, colors, and an identifiable tone of voice.

9. Market your services on multiple channels

An offshoot of your online presence is how you show up on other channels—we’re talking social media, email, and industry-specific communities.

Sharing valuable content on a variety of channels will differentiate you from the competition and show you know your stuff (did we mention trust is crucial for medical institutions?).

Here are some ways you can do that:

• Social media marketing. Use LinkedIn to connect with healthcare professionals, post updates to your Facebook page, or share quick industry news and tips on X.
• Email marketing. Build an email list of potential clients, send regular newsletters packed with valuable content, and use personalized email campaigns to reach out to specific types of healthcare providers.  
• Content marketing. Start a blog on your website, create infographics explaining your services, or shoot short videos that demonstrate your safety protocols. 
• Industry advertising. Place ads in healthcare trade publications or medical news websites, sponsor local healthcare events, and use Google Ads to target healthcare-specific keywords.

Medical Couriers regularly posts content on its blog that’s useful and relevant for its audience of healthcare facilities. 

10.  Partner with recruitment agencies

Good delivery drivers are the beating heart of your courier business. Without them, you’ll struggle to win respectable, ongoing medical contracts. Consider partnering with recruitment agencies to find skilled drivers—one way to do this is partnering with agencies like Bright Flag Recruiting, which specializes in finding qualified drivers for the transportation and logistics industry.

The good thing about these agencies is they have access to a large pool of candidates, saving you a ton of time and effort searching for and screening potential employees.

If you decide to work with a recruitment agency, let them know about your safety standards. This way, they can find people who meet those specific requirements. For example, you might need drivers with experience handling sensitive medical materials or who have a clean driving record.

Also, if you're a one-man courier service, you can put yourself forward as a candidate to these specialist courier recruitment agencies, and let them find the contracts for you.

11.  Provide excellent customer service

Happy clients are the holy grail for most medical courier companies. Why wouldn’t you want a roster of high-quality contracts that keep coming back for more?

The key to success is going above and beyond with customer service. When healthcare providers know they can rely on a courier service to deliver on time and respond quickly to their needs, they’re more likely to choose that service again (and recommend it to others!).

Here are some ways to make sure your customer service is stellar: 

• Set up a responsive support system. This might be a dedicated phone line or email address that clients can use to ask questions or report problems. Make sure you have some available to answer these calls or emails quickly. 
• Train your staff. Encourage your team to handle client inquiries and issues efficiently. Teach them about the different types of medical deliveries, common problems that might crop up, and how to solve them professionally. 
• Follow up with clients after deliveries. Make a quick phone call or send a quick email to make sure everything went smoothly. Use this opportunity to ask if there was anything that could be improved.

Remember, in the medical field, every delivery is important and (probably) time-sensitive. Providing excellent customer service shows you understand this and are committed to meeting your client’s needs.

Reputation is everything when it comes to couriering important medical products. Circuit for Teams can help increase your performance through accurate route optimization, and as a result, boost your company’s reputation. Providing fast, reliable service will make you more attractive to facilities and institutions posting medical courier contracts.

Try it free for 7 days.

Circuit for Teams simplifies high-priority medical deliveries with smart route planning

As your medical delivery business grows, you'll face new challenges in organizing and executing time-sensitive deliveries crucial for patient care. A powerful (and easy-to-use) route planning solution can simplify routing and help you manage drivers doing on-demand deliveries.

Here's why Circuit for Teams is an ideal choice for your medical delivery service:

• Automatically optimize important routes. Why spend precious time manually planning routes when you have urgent medical supplies to deliver? With Circuit for Teams, you can instantly optimize delivery routes so drivers can focus on their important deliveries. 
• Add multiple stops to routes. Plan routes around delivery times and assign optimized routes to one or multiple drivers in just a few clicks. Circuit for Teams creates the most efficient routes considering various delivery constraints and driver preferences. 
• Make sure important products are delivered on time. Timing is critical in the medical industry. Circuit for Teams helps you identify the most efficient routes and set priority levels for urgent requests. 
• Get real-time tracking and updates. Know exactly where each delivery is with Circuit for Teams’ live tracking feature. You can provide accurate ETAs to customers and quickly address any issues that crop up during delivery. 
• Collect proof of delivery for your records. Make sure the right products are delivered to the right institutions with flexible proof of delivery in the form of photos and digital signatures. You can now also provide proof of delivery for pick-up points. 

See for yourself how Circuit for Teams can improve your medical courier service so you can land bigger, better contracts. Give it a go for free. 

Medical courier contracts: FAQs

What is a medical courier?

A medical courier specializes in transporting medical items such as lab specimens, pharmaceuticals, medical records, and equipment. These deliveries are often time-sensitive and require special handling to ensure they reach their destination safely and on time.

What types of items do medical couriers deliver?

Medical couriers deliver a variety of items including medications, lab specimens, medical supplies, equipment, and sometimes medical records. These items often require special handling, such as temperature control or secure packaging.

What qualifications are needed to become a medical courier?

Common qualifications include being at least 21 years old, having your own vehicle that’s registered and insured, a valid driver’s license, and a clean driving record. You may also have to go through a background check and obviously you need a delivery vehicle. Some courier apps need you to have a box truck or a cargo van at minimum, but there are others where you can use a regular car. Basic tech and communication skills are also important for using delivery apps and tracking systems.