Healthcare Logistics Management
In the evolving healthcare industry, one thing remains constant: the need for an unwavering focus on compliance, safety, and risk management. When it comes to transportation and the storage and distribution of sensitive materials and devices, the ability to track and manage risks across the supply chain is paramount. It’s also crucial that shipments are delivered on time. Medical professionals need what’s being shipped to enhance (or even save) lives, and patients need them for the same reasons.
NXTPoint Logistics’ reliable and specialized medical supply logistics services ensure your products are handled with fully compliant healthcare regulation standards and complete visibility from temperature-controlled sites to customized kitting and labeling to final mile parcel delivery.
From raw materials manufacturing to order fulfillment, every step is meticulously monitored and documented to guarantee quality and safety. With people's health and well-being at stake, we understand there’s no room for error. At NXTPoint Logistics, we prioritize risk management and maintain a sharp focus on inventory management systems, product integrity, and specialized handling throughout your health logistics supply chain.
We offer a variety of healthcare logistics services with desired turnaround times, including:
- Domestic and international transportation from first mile to last: both full truckload and less than truckload options are available for the maximum amount of choice in efficiencies
- Freight broker services where we match shippers of healthcare goods with appropriate carriers with capacity, seamlessly meshing supply and demand
- Drayage services to keep the supply chain efficiently moving along to get vital products where they need to go on time
- Highly trained quality management professionals ensure operations meet government and industry regulatory standards
- We are flexible, scaling with your business – we can operate on-site at your facility or manage your operations at one of our 30+ owned and operated facilities across the US
- Greater control, tracking, and visibility of goods through our Tier-1 Enterprise Warehouse Management System (WMS), Körber One
- Value-added, high-touch services such as raw materials handling, labeling, kitting, and returns management services for optimized healthcare logistics flow
Because no situation is ever the same as the next one, NXTPoint crafts unique solutions for each customer based upon their specific requirements, market needs, goals, and competitive environment. In each case, we provide risk mitigation strategies and exceptional care, using proven methodologies to strengthen and optimize healthcare supply chains. At the forefront: the proactive prioritization of health, quality, and safety performances. To discuss your unique needs, schedule an expert consultation.
Case Study
Streamlined Production for Global Medical Device Manufacturer
Dedicated warehousing of raw materials, onsite personnel, and country-specific repackaging helped this medical device manufacturer adjust to supply shortages and limited transportation capacity. See how NXTPoint Logistics’ exclusive medical supply logistics solution evolved their supply chain.
Additional Healthcare Logistics FAQs
Healthcare logistics refers to the process in which sensitive products in the healthcare system are handled and managed throughout the supply chain. Products can include medical devices and supplies, pharmaceuticals, and lab specimen transport. It can also include veterinary medical products and specimens.
The supply chain begins with raw materials from suppliers, flows through distributors, and then reaches healthcare facilities where they will be used to provide patient care. For lab specimens, the journey starts at healthcare facilities and transitions to testing locations, and so on. In each situation, temperature controls must be tightly managed and governmental and healthcare regulations closely followed.
Although specific details can be different, overall, medical supply logistics must be seamlessly managed to make sure the proper products arrive at the appropriate destination, within the required timeline, in excellent condition, and by compliant means. Otherwise, optimal patient care can be disrupted, adding to costs and potentially causing harm to the patients.
Moreover, inadequate medical supply logistics can seriously harm the reputation of the manufacturer, impacting their bottom line and industry image. Fortunately, when you choose NXTPoint for your medical supply logistics/medical equipment logistics, you can count on optimal transportation and delivery.
Medical logistics is a system that’s set up to safely, accurately, compliantly (and, ideally, cost-effectively) move healthcare-related items along the supply chain. Examples of this includes medical supply logistics and medical equipment logistics.
Although logistics-related delays or errors in other industries can be frustrating, in the healthcare world, they can have a true life-or-death impact, as doctors, nurses, and patients await potentially life-saving or life-enhancing supplies, equipment, and more.
Medical logistics involves storing and managing inventory in temperature-controlled warehousing before transporting the sensitive products appropriately, including in ways that comply with healthcare and governmental regulation standards for optimal medical order fulfillment.
With our specialized medical supply logistics services, our expert team manages risk throughout the entire medical supply logistics and medical equipment logistics processes. Each step of the way, NXTPoint stays fully in compliance, thanks to our skillfully trained quality management professionals, and provides full transparency from the first mile to the last. This is true with domestic transportation and international transportation, whether we operate on a customer’s site or in one of our own facilities across the country.
Our Tier-1 Enterprise Warehouse Management System (WMS), Körber One, provides maximum control of the medical supplies, equipment, and more, providing real-time visibility and tracking. Additionally, NXTPoint offers numerous value-added services in our medical supply logistics and medical equipment logistics: raw materials handling, labeling, kitting, returns management, and much more.
The healthcare fulfillment process (or medical order fulfillment process) involves getting the needed products and supplies from manufacturers and other parties to hospitals and other medical facilities. The medical order fulfillment supply chain can be quite complex due to governmental and healthcare regulations, temperature and handling requirements, the just-in-time nature of the supplies and equipment, and more.
Healthcare logistics companies vary in their ability to optimally provide medical order fulfillment. Here’s what the best can provide:
- Efficient and cost-effective processes: first mile through the last mile
- Compliant processes across the entire supply chain: governmental and healthcare
- Streamlined inventory management in medical-grade facilities
- Demand forecasting and management for just-in-time deliveries
- Quality communication and collaboration across the supply chain
- Advanced technologies that allow real-time visibility
- Outstanding customer service
NXTPoint checks all of those boxes in our medical order fulfillment. To discuss your company’s needs for medical supply logistics/medical equipment logistics, please reach out for an expert consultation.
A medical logistics company is a third-party logistics company (often called 3PL) that provides services for healthcare companies across the supply chain. Also known as healthcare logistics companies, what they offer can vary in specialties provided, facilities owned and managed, their locations, range of services, and so forth.
Healthcare logistics companies also vary in their experience (we leverage more than a century of logistics-based services) and expertise: We have experts who are deeply knowledgeable about each portion of the medical supply chain.
You can read bullet points about the ways in which NXTPoint stands out among healthcare logistics companies in the answer to the FAQ, “What is the fulfillment process in healthcare?” What matters to your company, of course, is how our experts can specifically help your company with your unique requirements. To discuss specifics and have our team craft a personalized plan, please connect with us. We’ll happily discuss which of our services will dovetail and fulfill your particular requirements. Thank you!
Healthcare logistics services refer to the process of getting medical devices, pharmaceuticals, lab specimens, medical supplies, and so forth from the manufacturer to the place where usage can occur. This may be in a hospital setting, doctor’s office, or other medical facility, or a retail store where consumers can purchase the items and pick up their prescriptions.
Depending upon the specifics of the item, it can begin by transporting raw materials to a manufacturer. Finished items can then be transported in temperature-appropriate ways to warehousing, distribution centers, and so forth where they can be inventoried, stored, and made available upon order.
This term of “hospital logistics” expresses the same idea as healthcare logistics, except that the products used are ones intended specifically for hospitals rather than for a broader medical usage.
This is a specialized type of temperature-controlled warehouse designed for storing medical supplies, devices, and other healthcare-related items. This type of facility may be a separate facility from other types of storage or have a discrete space within a larger facility for medical storage. The environment must be secure, clean, and organized with top-quality inventory control and management.
Many of the products being shipped along the healthcare supply chain come with temperature-sensitive requirements to maintain quality and usability. To address this, NXTPoint Logistics ensures that devices, supplies, pharmaceuticals, lab specimens, and so forth are maintained in the optimal environment during shipping and storage as well as in every other logistics stage.
There’s also the time-related requirements associated with these products. Patients and medical professionals alike are anticipating results from lab specimens, and they need devices, supplies, and medications to treat conditions. Thanks to our well-established, optimal routes and backup plans, healthcare companies can trust NXTPoint and our healthcare logistics services to get products where they need to go, accurately and on time.
Appropriate labeling of items is crucial, too, and NXTPoint offers custom kitting and labeling and can conduct operations in your in-house facilities when that is the desired situation. This can be a complex situation when a large number of SKUs, medications, and/or lab samples must be shipped, but our experience and expertise allow us to smoothly and accurately keep the supply chain going.
Here’s one more challenge to consider: the ever-evolving healthcare regulatory environment. Our experts are fully aware of the distinctions between Class I, Class II, and Class III items in the medical industry and know exactly how to manage them within compliance. We also stay in compliance with our healthcare logistics services in other areas, including having the right permits, handling returns and product disposals appropriately during reverse logistics, and much more. If you have questions about how we remain in compliance or on other topics, just let us know. We’ll happily discuss them with you.
The medical products being transported in the healthcare logistics supply chain are vital for people’s health and well-being. So, being transported in the right climate and environment on time and within regulatory compliance plays a key role in contributing to people’s healthcare.
If this question had been asked before the global pandemic occurred, this might not have made number one on the list. But the pandemic did happen, highlighting both significant supply chain vulnerabilities and the high level of importance of creating more resilient ones. To mitigate disruptions, it’s vital to avoid single points of failure by diversifying options while maintaining consistency.
Thanks to today’s advanced technology, healthcare companies can use predictive analytics and other strategies to obtain high visibility into their global supply chains. This also allows them to better forecast demand and mesh supply and demand in more optimal ways. NXTPoint Logistics’ proprietary technology provides transparent insights, which is just one reason why our healthcare logistics services are so efficient, cost-effective, and accurate. Artificial intelligence advancements will continue to drive the technological momentum of the healthcare supply chain. So will blockchain technology, automation, and autonomous vehicles.
At a high-level look, seek a company with the experience that gives you confidence and expertise in the specific services you need. Ensure that they have the appropriate warehousing and transportation methods for products with temperature requirements. Look at their track records, too, for on-time, accurate deliveries that remain within the ever-evolving regulatory environment associated with healthcare logistics.
The first reason is our logistics experience. You wouldn’t want to entrust your important pharmaceuticals, lab specimens, medical devices, and supplies to a company that’s learning on the job, right? NXTPoint leverages more than a century of experience, allowing you to proceed with confidence as we safely, effectively, and accurately transport your medical items on time.
We provide secure, climate-appropriate warehousing and flexible, compliant inventory management in each of our owned and operated facilities. Upon order, we transport inventory along well-established, optimized routes with backup plans in case of detours, traffic jams, and other roadblocks. NXTPoint Logistics offers both domestic and international transport, from first mile to last mile, using either full truckloads or less than full truckloads. In addition, we provide value-added services to customize your experience to mesh with your specific requirements.
Throughout the supply chain, we provide high levels of visibility through our advanced technologies, giving you real-time insights into your shipments’ progress and ready access to shipping documentation. Data-driven information can allow you to identify potential problems and create proactive workarounds to avoid supply chain disruption.
Summed up, NXTPoint Logistics serves as your flexible, responsive collaborator to optimize your healthcare supply chain from beginning to end. Reach out for a one-on-one consultation with one of our experts.
The process starts with a consultation. So, schedule one online or by calling (833) 835-1201. Our experts will listen carefully to your unique requirements, goals, and competitive marketplace and then design a customized plan to provide your healthcare logistics services and strengthen your entire supply chain.
