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Emergency vehicle tire tracks on snow
Author Medi-Ops Team Categories Courier Services

Seven Benefits of Emergency Lights and Sirens Couriers in Winter Months

The winter brings abundant experiences, holidays, gatherings, and activities. The joy and cheer that winter hustles along with its holidays and events are always highlights of this season. While this time of year brings all of this goodness and cheer, the snow and unpredictable weather can bring a whole nother slew of winter experiences. Good or bad, winter weather affects our lives day to day. Another important piece of this to consider in the medical and transportation industry is how the increased unpredictability of weather can cause more frequent accidents and incidents as well as a higher need for medical product transportation. The winter is therefore also bringing in an increased importance of having relationships with emergency lights and sirens couriers to address every unpredictable situation most efficiently. 

Benefits of a Relationship with Emergency Lights and Sirens Couriers: 

  1. Time Efficiency: One benefit of utilizing emergency lights and sirens couriers throughout the year, but particularly in the winter, is the time saved. You know the drill, a lights and sirens vehicle has elevated abilities to transport blood, medical products, and patients in the most time-effective way. These vehicles can get through bad traffic quickly with their legal abilities to bypass certain traffic laws and restrictions when conditions allow. We’ve all seen lights and sirens vehicles navigate their way quickly through traffic jams, lights, and other tricky traffic situations. This ability allows for the highest level of timely transportation.
  1. Bypassing Road Closures: Many roads are closed in the winter due to weather, which can hinder the routes and accessibility of vehicle transportation. However, emergency lights and sirens vehicles can access these roads and safely navigate their way through winter weather closures, providing clients and emergency facilities with efficient and effective route transportation that other transport vehicles don’t necessarily have access to.
  1. Accident Navigation: An unfortunate reality of winter months is an increase in weather-related car accidents. At one point or another, everyone witnesses increased traffic, roadblocks, and slow travel times due to accidents. Emergency lights and siren vehicles can bypass these restrictions and breeze past accident scenes in order to get to their destination. Sometimes the product being transported by an emergency vehicle is for individuals involved in the same car accidents that they are able to quickly drive past. This reality allows for the transportation of products to arrive as soon as possible to better treat the patients in need of the blood or other medical products being transported.
  1. High Priority from Emergency Departments: The high priority status of emergency lights and sirens vehicles creates relationships with police departments and other emergency establishments. This recognition and priority level is yet another factor in why relationships between facilities, clients, and emergency lights and sirens couriers are essential throughout the year, but especially with the unpredictability and danger that winter transportation can bring.
  1. Increased Security: These vehicles bring with them their emergency lights and sirens status, road privileges, safety measures, and high levels of security. Couriers equipped with lights and sirens can safely monitor their vehicles and the product being transported. The increased level of security here provides peace of mind that the product being transported will arrive at its destination in optimal condition.
  1. Quicker Turnaround Time: Emergency lights and sirens couriers offer a quicker turnaround time than normal stat drivers as they are staffed 24/7. There is always a trained ad certified professional available to complete a transport call and ensure the efficiency and safety that comes with utilizing this service. Everyone knows that in the event of an emergency, time is of the essence. Shaving off even a few minutes of transportation time can save lives in the medical world. 
  1. Software (Medi-Ops Specific): The highly advanced software provided by Medi-Ops allows immediate tracking of orders and vehicles (in addition to the ability to place orders, receive immediate quotes, and bill directly from us). With these abilities, the consistent and quality service of Medi-Ops provides an added level of security and peace of mind that orders and transportation services will be on time and in good condition upon arrival. 

All in all, the utilization of emergency lights and sirens couriers will always be an essential relationship to have in winter months, if not year-round. At Medi-Ops, our fleet of vehicles in addition to our relationships with both ground and air couriers provides a level of service like no other. Don’t allow winter weather to hinder the efficiency, safety, and security of medical emergency procedures. Proper transportation is an absolutely essential piece of continuing to make innovative strides in the medical world and can save lives. Creating a relationship with emergency lights and sirens couriers is a vital part of the medical transportation process if you want to deliver the highest level of care to clients and patients alike.

Medi-Ops Rotor Aircraft Operator
Author Medi-Ops Team Categories Courier Services, Flight Services

Rural Communities & Medical Logistics

One of the best things about Colorado is the mountains and remote locations that the state offers. Mountain communities are secluded and peaceful, making them the perfect places to reside or escape for a weekend. The thing about these rural communities is that access to them can be difficult. This not only impacts the traveler, but also the community’s needs for emergency transport. What does emergency transport look like for these communities? How do they operate and what are the solutions to get these rural hospitals what they need?

Rural hospitals are the backbones of the communities that surround them. With all of the wonderful things these hospitals do, transportation can be a struggle due to factors with location and accessibility. Even with hospitals that involve more difficult access, the need for blood product, specimens, and medical equipment doesn’t decrease! These hospitals still require the same urgent transportation of medical products that any other medical facility would. All those mountain towns mentioned above? Think about the factors that could go into shipments and transportation operations – weather, terrain, distance, urgency, and the list goes on. These are real challenges that communities face, and no one wants to deal with those maddening logistics!

These challenging factors create situations where driving and road transportation might not be the fastest, safest, or most efficient option for medical and urgent transportation. These communities are also decently far from blood banks, distribution centers, and important facilities such as these. One option that stands out as a solution is utilizing commercial aircraft, charter rotor aircraft, or fixed-wing aircraft. These transportation options help to meet the urgent needs of rural communities. 

Once a community decides to explore the option of aircraft transportation, ground transportation is still utilized in order to pick these shipments up from distribution centers or blood banks, bring the product to the airport, and then have another transport pick the product up when it lands and deliver it to the final destination. Managing insurance, TSA qualifications, contracts, and other logistics are important in this process as well to create the safest optimal environment for the product being transported. 

Transportation challenges. Aircraft options. Ground transport logistics. This is still quite a list of things to manage when requiring urgent transport. Thankfully, logistics partners such as Medi-Ops can step into the process and help to manage this transportation network in order to meet the needs of and best serve these communities. With Medi-Ops, these various logistics are all taken care of in creating and executing the optimal transportation plan. Through utilizing relationships with commercial aircraft, shipments can be added to these flights that have excess baggage space through Next Flight Out services. Medi-Ops also has partnerships with rotor aircraft and fixed-wing, creating accessibility to all. Instead of a rural hospital having to set up transportation to pick up a medical shipment, bring it to the airport, coordinate a separate transport to pick it up from the receiving airport, and bring it to the hospital, on top of managing their insurance, various qualifications from the TSA, contracts, and other legal and safety logistics, the rural hospital could just set the trip up with Medi-Ops, who will work alongside them to pick the best methods of transportation for the hospital and their product.

In 2020, Medi-Ops partnered with Heli-Ops to continue providing the best transportation possible. Rotor aircraft are essential in reaching remote areas quickly, as they can land almost anywhere and move at high speeds. These aircraft do have a shorter range than fixed-wing aircraft, making the relationships with both types essential when determining optimal transportation in any situation.

The utilization of these alternate services in transportation, for example, a mountain hospital that is out of blood product, can get the product there in two hours instead of the eight hours that it would take between driving through winter roads, terrain, and other barriers. Medi-Ops has established relationships with rotor aircraft carriers in addition to commercial airlines that create the ideal transportation situations for these rural communities.

Medical transportation, especially to and from rural hospitals and medical facilities, can entail an incredible number of hard-to-sort logistics. Involving logistics partners like Medi-Ops will help to create transportation networks that are of the highest safety, efficiency, and quality. Time is of the essence in transportation situations and Medi-Ops is able to eliminate unnecessary pains in the logistics process, so hospitals can focus on their operations without having to worry as much about transportation and whether or not they are going to have a product on time.

doctor-holding-a-carrier-for-air-transport-medical-courier-concept
Author Medi-Ops Team Categories Courier Services, Flight Services

Consideration Factors for Air & Ground Medical Courier Operations

When it comes to getting sensitive materials and specimens to their destinations, you want to make sure that everything is handled with care. Regardless of the mode of transport you choose, it’s crucial that medical shipments get to their destinations safely and quickly. There are two distinctive types of medical couriers: ground and air. Before settling on the right method of transport, you need to know how to weigh their pros and cons. Here are some factors you should consider when choosing between ground and air transportation for your medical courier operations. 

Cost

The obvious advantage of ground transportation is its low cost, especially when you factor in fuel prices. Because aviation fuel is much more expensive than conventional gas, flying can drive up your shipping costs.

However, there are some other considerations you should take into account alongside cost. For example, if you need shipment within 24 hours and your product isn’t temperature-sensitive, ground shipping may make more sense in terms of the overall cost. Conversely, if you need overnight delivery, such as human blood samples sent from one hospital to another, it might be worth investing in air courier services.

Turnaround Time

Time is always a significant factor, especially when you are delivering sensitive products that can only be handled by medical professionals. The prompt arrival of critical items could also mean saving someone’s life.

By using air transport, you are generally able to do deliveries faster than would be possible with ground shipping. While ground shipping can be cheaper, it can be effected by weather changes or road conditions such as traffic jams. 

Nevertheless, at Medi-Ops, we have made our ground transportation system as fast as possible through the use of lights and siren couriers. Our AI technology also makes it easy for us to evaluate many different routes and settle on the most appropriate one, avoiding traffic and other potential pitfalls. 

Ability to Track Shipment

The ability to track your shipment via GPS devices is critical when sending medical supplies. Any sort of tracking device, such as those found on airplanes, can be invaluable in preventing you from losing your shipment altogether. 

If you’re carrying blood products, such as platelets and plasma proteins, you need tracking capabilities that will ensure their safety 24/7. Furthermore, if delivery is urgent and an ambulance must be called in an emergency, having at least some level of tracking capability makes it easier for responders to locate your shipment quickly. 

In addition to airplane deliveries, ground couriers now offer smart shipping containers that come equipped with GPS-tracking technology. These units make shipping medical supplies even more reliable.

Regulations

The regulatory environment is changing rapidly across several industries. Government regulations that impact medical courier services include HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration), FDCA (Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act), PHMSA (Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration), and IMDG / IATA / RID (International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code).

It is important to determine if your items are classified as Hazardous Materials (HazMat). If they are, you will need an FAA license to transport them via air. However, most states require HazMat items to be transported by ground-only couriers. 

Distance

If you’re only transporting your products across town, you’ll probably have a better experience with ground transportation. On the other hand, the big advantage of air transport is that it covers much larger distances faster than ground vehicles. 

Safety

Whenever your medical courier operation involves specimens, sensitive pharmaceuticals, or highly regulated medical devices, you’ll want to choose a mode of transport that minimizes risk. Air carriers are regulated by multiple federal agencies and have strict safety standards in place. For instance, if something goes wrong with a flight transporting samples from an infectious disease lab, pilots must be specially trained on how to handle such situations. On average, ground transportation for these types of shipments isn’t subject to as many safety regulations. 

Weather Considerations

In areas with a high rate of inclement weather, ground travel can be hazardous and risky. Regardless of how careful drivers can be, they could still hit icy patches on roads, causing vehicles to slide off-road. If you’re located in an area prone to snow, rain, and hurricanes, opt for air transport. It will guarantee you more safety, flexibility, and faster delivery time. 

Condition of Item Being Shipped

Temperature-sensitive or otherwise fragile products need special handling. For such shipments, an air courier service is your best bet, particularly if you don’t have time to wait around on ground shipping. For less sensitive items, it’s better to choose ground services and avoid the high costs associated with airline travel.

An Appropriate Solution for Your Medical Courier

There are many factors that you should consider when choosing between ground and air transport for your medical courier operations. Each mode of transportation has its own benefits and limitations. You need to take into account many factors like cost, expected delivery times, distance, regulatory aspects, legal concerns, and more. At Medi-Ops, we provide you with the right ground and air transport services for all your medical needs. Regardless of how complicated your operation is, our team of medical courier professionals can help you take it from conception to completion. We rely on the best technology that includes AI and machine learning to find the right solution for your transportation needs. Contact us today if you have any questions about our courier services.

transportation-ai-technology-for-warehouse-management
Author Medi-Ops Team Categories Courier Services

The Impact of Transportation AI on the Delivery of Emergency Medical Supplies

Medical emergencies are unpredictable and may occur at the worst time. Therefore, it is valuable to have swift services to deliver medical supplies during emergencies. In the case of any delays in transportation, the lives of people involved in accidents are at high risk and will have lower and lower chances of recovery or survival.

A human brain deprived of oxygen causes irreversible damage in under four minutes. The same person may not be alive after four to six minutes.

Digital healthcare technologies allow you to race against time and save people regardless of their location. You can turn the patient to the point of care when needed. Emergency units and first responders require these technologies to ensure they can save lives and offer emergency services effectively.

One major technology that has revolutionized the world of digital healthcare is Artificial Intelligence. With AI, it is possible to use drones and autonomous vehicles to deliver medical supplies within minutes to any location. More research on AI technology is increasing by looking at the advancements and influence on emergency patient care.   

According to Gartner, the transportation sector expects to double the machine automation and AI used in its supply chain process over the next five years. Another recent study found that global spending on IoT platforms will grow from just $1.67B in 2018 to a whopping $12.44B in 2024. In less than eight years, this is a 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The innovations and trends in the medical supply chain sector are pushing emergency medicine into the front lane. This post looks at the possible ways transportation AI will impact the field and make deliveries seamless and faster.

AI for Logistics and Capacity Allocation

AI is already revolutionizing the world of the supply chain. For example, in logistics and capacity allocation, detailed reports are essential to optimize the day-to-day operations of the transportation sector. AI offers intelligent algorithms to offer a logical and practical solution for mining data required for accurate predictions of future operations.

AI can predict the statistical probability of accidents on roads to show the best possible point for future operations. In addition, planning for daily capacity allocation of medical supplies within countries is essential for deploying vehicles to the nearest areas with capacity peaks. 

Apps for Emergency Care

Studies show that 80% of clinical errors occur due to miscommunication between medical staff. Technically, medical information requires accurate sorting to ensure you offer the best services to each patient. However, AI and innovative software programs will eliminate these errors by automating manual and repetitive tasks for emergency care.  

An innovative platform developed by the U.S Company Pulsara helps in proper ambulance and emergency management. The venue is a mobile app that allows paramedics to notify the emergency department before the arrival of a new patient and make the necessary preparations to ensure their survival.

The app also calculates the estimated arrival time by relying on a GPS while enabling the paramedics to share essential details such as images or ECGs from the field.

Another essential free app mainly used in transportation is the Full Code Pro. It uses real-time CPR event tracking tools that allow users to document critical interventions. For example, it will enable first responders to input their administered medication, start a countdown, and access metronomes to optimize chest compression rhythm. Doctors can then use these details to offer effective medical care.

Supportive and Tutorial Video Games

A huge part of digital health training uses games that simulate real-world emergency cases. Healthcare professionals can use these games to learn their skills and do their jobs effectively.

One prominent example of a company that has followed suit is Level Ex. Level Ex is a Chicago-based start-up that created the Airway Ex app to allow doctors and paramedics to prepare themselves for airway management issues in every realistic scenario.

The app shows scores on damages caused, bleeding, and speed of the virtual patient’s vital stats while the “procedure” occurs. Medical practitioners can use the app anywhere, making learning easy and convenient.    

Driverless Ambulances

Limited transportation has been a significant barrier to access to healthcare in the world for many years. Statistics show that over 3.6 million people worldwide miss their doctors’ appointments and healthcare services due to a lack of transportation.

To solve these issues, companies like Uber and Lyft have launched new services for non-emergency medical transportation. The services enable patients to reach hospitals safely and get their services.

Uber launched Uber Health non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service. The service is HIPAA-compliant to ensure they follow the regulations set to offer excellent healthcare services.

Lyft is also expanding to offer NEMT to ensure patients can efficiently access healthcare services. To optimize transportation, driverless cars are on the rise. They have the potential to allow cars to become the point of care. The new technology made successful by AI will ease any burdens of emergency transport services and enable excellent patient care.

Other governments are already setting up these driverless ambulances as ‘medical taxis’ to pick up low-risk patients and transport them to the nearest clinic for treatment.

Medical Drones

Drones are a great alternative to transporting vaccines, medical aids, and drugs faster than today’s options. For example, for emergency medical services, drones effectively deliver external defibrillators (AEDs) straight to patients who may have suffered a heart attack.

Apart from transportation, the drones can also offer instructions in the form of videos to passers to enable them to give CPR with the AED machine they deliver to the emergency location. Drones are the most effective transportation option for remote areas, especially islands with no road access.

The Future of EMS

Digital technologies support emergency care units and help handle situations safely and more confidently, but they also help all patients get services quickly and effectively. The widespread use of AI for improving the delivery of emergency medical supplies.

At Medi-Ops, we strive for the best technology-enabled logistics and transportation organization and bring unique and innovative perspectives to medical supply chains. Request a demo today to understand how they work.

senior-doctor-checking-medical-stock-in-a-warehouse-healthcare-supply-chain-management
Author Medi-Ops Team Categories Courier Services

Healthcare Logistics & Supply Chain Management: Improving Coordination and Transport

Healthcare faces extraordinary pressure to offer excellent customer service, handle material, and proper inventory management while working on cost savings. Transport of supplies between sister hospitals or medical centers has become increasingly common to help in improving healthcare services. Many organizations are looking to improve their supply chain for effective coordination and transportation of medical supplies between hospitals. Managing the supply chain is a highly complex and fragmented process in healthcare. The healthcare supply chain management goes through several sectors involving getting resources, delivering goods and services to sister hospitals, and managing supplies.

The physical goods movement involves independent stakeholders, insurance companies, hospitals, manufacturers, providers, and regulatory agencies.

Promoting all these processes can substantially affect the organizations’ budget. Here we look at the complexity of transportation medical resources between sister hospitals. We also cover the various ways to overcome these challenges with reliable medically trained third-party supply chain services.

What is Healthcare Supply Chain Management?

Medical providers use various items that are very delicate. The most common things are prescription drugs, syringes, gloves, papers, pens, and computers. Typically, employees are the ones responsible for the stock of goods and managing the inventory. Managing the supply chain is not simple, and with high customer expectations, employees require more time to take care of their customers.

Healthcare supply chain management starts at the manufacturer, where production begins, and finished products are sent to distribution centers. Depending on the product type, the hospitals will require an inventory directly from the manufacturer or distributor.

The distribution centers will then send the medical products to the healthcare organization, which stocks goods into inventory for patients and providers. To ensure providers are never left without essential medical products and patients have access to potentially life-saving tools, hospitals share these products with other hospitals.

Another aspect of the healthcare supply chain is regulatory agencies like the Federal Drug Administration and Medicare and private health insurance companies. The regulatory agencies determine if all resources are fit for consumer use.

Why is Healthcare Supply Chain Management So Complex?

Healthcare supply chain management is unique as every stakeholder has specific interests to protect. Each stage in the supply chain flow has a different goal that stakeholders want to achieve. Providers also like particular products that are effective for the best services. It is also best to get these products at the most affordable option without compromising quality.

Supply chain goals don’t align with an organization, making most healthcare management processes inefficient and fragmented. Organizations must also focus on the numerous requests and viewpoints to settle product budgets.

Customizations in healthcare are critical. Patients now have a voice about what they need, and organizations should provide them when required. Depending on the health status of the patients, you may need to get unique products such as latex-free gloves.  

Any misaligned incentives or independent goals will disrupt the workflow of your healthcare organizations. Overcoming these challenges requires effective collaboration with reliable third-party deliveries for fast and cost-effective deliveries.  

Overcome Common Challenges in Healthcare Supply Chain Management With Third-Party Providers

Most healthcare organizations have found success with third-party delivery providers. With an effective supply chain, you can improve the delivery of your healthcare service. Managing these complex supply chains is not easy, but a reliable third-party delivery provider will reduce the complexity and make it more efficient.

Here are some ways you can benefit from using third-party deliveries.  

Use Technology and Analytics to Make Operations Run Smoother

Healthcare executives rely on effective technologies to support their supply chain. These require new investments and a team. It may be hard to purchase the new technologies and pay new employees. Third-party delivery providers use technologies supported by solid analytics to make deliveries more practical.

Effective data analytics and automation tools are essential to simplifying supply chain management while giving valuable insights to improve operations. Healthcare organizations require accurate data and effective analytics to transform the supply chain into a strategic business asset. Technological solutions enable you to connect to the everyday process and make all data visible.

With third-party services, you focus more on technology and automation to prevent financial waste and support a transparent and data-driven choice.

Improved Order Accuracy and Order Cycle Times to Lower Costs

Most healthcare providers struggle with large error rates due to the complex ordering and delivery process. When you order the wrong products, it will result in a loss of revenue, and you may not get the right products to deliver expert services. Ordering errors lead to serious medical errors, leading to poor health outcomes.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), most errors that affect your orders at the ordering or transcribing stage result in severe inpatient medical errors. Providers need to improve their ordering accuracy to eliminate these risks.

Third-party delivery providers offer accurate deliveries and reduce time wasted when reordering the correct product. They help healthcare organizations have order controls in place to improve supply efficiencies.

Get Effective Inventory Management

Most manufacturers struggle with moving inventory oversupply chains fast. Other medical products require usage almost immediately and may expire after a short while. It will lead to a loss of revenue, and profit margins will be hurt. It is crucial to managing the inventory process effectively to minimize losses.

When an organization lacks a good capital equipment management system, it can add significant losses to cause the underutilization of all existing equipment during ordering. You can achieve this using a reliable third-party delivery provider who understands the process of inventory. They will figure out how to create effective cooperation and maximize productivity.

Collaboration is also effective for successful inventory management. Suppliers and delivery providers will work together to ensure all medical providers get their products and use them before expiry. The potential for costs is also significantly reduced.

Partner With Medi-Ops for Effective Medical Logistics and Transportation Organization

Medi-Ops offers reliable technology for medical logistics to bring a unique and innovative perspective to medical supply chains. Our goal is to revolutionize the industry by improving our team culture of innovation and compassion. We have friendly dispatchers working 24 hours every day with state-of-the-art software and a network of operators to best suit your needs. Contact us today for a consultation.

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