We live in an age where medical technology is increasing at a rapid rate. It used to take weeks for blood tests to come back, now those same tests can be completed in a matter of hours, sometimes minutes. There have also been great advancements made in the area of pharmaceuticals that treat patients, as well as medical testing for those treatments.

Temperature Controlled Shipping 

However, with the good comes the tricky: these items can be extremely ship sensitive. This means measures such as temperature-controlled shipping has to be taken to ensure medicines and specimens arrive at their destination unharmed, a crucial element of medical logistics. 

Ensuring Your Sensitive Items Stay Unharmed During Shipment

The transport of temperature sensitive products is known as temperature controlled shipping. Many specialty medications and medical tests must be maintained within a specific temperature range during shipment. To keep those items at the manufactured recommended temperature, they require special handling and storage during transport from shipper to recipient. If you have this type of sensitive freight you will want to integrate cold chain logistics into your shipping process. A cold chain is a way of utilizing disposable cold boxes, refrigerated trucks, and cold storage facilities to ensure temperature-sensitive products are kept at the right temperature from dock to dock. When it comes to sensitive freight there is no room for error in your cold chain delivery system. Shipping temperature sensitive products takes great care and communication to keep your products safe as it moves through the medical and pharmaceutical supply chain.

Benefits of Temperature Controlled Shipping Solutions

Cold chain solutions are vital to the success of treatments using biologic drugs. Biologic drugs are manufactured inside a living system such as a microorganism, plant or animal cell. Because of the unique way they are created, biologics are often sensitive to temperature fluctuations during the shipment and require special handling. If these drugs are subjected to excessive heat or cold, it may put the drugs and patients at risk. Those receiving their medications with compromised potency or damage altogether could endure setbacks in their treatment plan, symptoms that reoccur, or other adverse effects. And depending on the destination and manufacturer's suggested temperature, dry ice may not be enough to maintain a proper shipping temperature for sensitive pharmaceuticals. This is why it's essential that you have a shipping service that utilizes temperature-controlled transportation for your medicines and lab testings. 

Tips for Cold Chain Management

Finding a shipping service is crucial to a successful shipment. Here are some tips for finding the right shipper.

• Find a company with experience. When researching various shipping services, make sure they have handled shipments like yours previously. Companies like the FedEx Health Center have extensive experience in handling temperature sensitive shipments. 

• Be aware of their security measures. Look at their claim rates and delivery performance. Check out their equipment and make sure that it is operating efficiently.

• Know the different service options a company provides. A carrier may have more than one way to control temperature for sensitive freight. Make sure you understand the difference and if it is right for your temperature-sensitive shipments. The first option of service protects sensitive goods that should remain above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, typically called protection from freeze. The second option is complete temperature-controlled shipping, including precise temperature monitoring, humidity control, and shipment visibility.

• Be ahead of the game. You will need to give adequate notice of your intended shipping date when using a temperature-controlled shipping service. Many companies only have a few refrigerated trucks, so they need advanced notice. You should always have your items appropriately packed and secured as well.

• Plan for the unexpected. While every company does their best to ensure items get to their intended destination, unexpected events may occur. Things like equipment failure or accidents do happen. It's always a good idea to have a backup plan in place for when things go wrong, especially in an industry where every test or every pill is critical to someone's well-being. 

Be sure to discuss any concerns with your carrier, as well as how they handle accidents. Even with temperature controlled shipping, 30 percent of discarded pharmaceuticals were  unusable because of temperature-related logistical problems. To avoid any risk, acquiring top-quality shipping insurance is just as critical as the shipping method itself. 

Using a Third-Party Shipping Insurer

Damaging a patient’s medicine and endangering their life is not your intention when shipping out medication. Nor do you want to ruin a crucial lab test. Temperature-controlled shipping solutions are costly to begin with, so you want to make sure that your sensitive goods are protected from all angles. Third party shipping insurance helps protect your shipments at a lower rate. Cabrella provides up to a 90% savings in your shipping insurance costs than if you were to buy additional insurance through the carrier. It's also important to note that some shipping services may not provide insurance coverage for medical/pharmaceutical. But a third-party shipping insurance company can.

Third-party shipping insurance companies, like Cabrella, offer higher coverage limits, including coverage for up to $150,000 per package. If you find yourself using a temperature-controlled shipping frequently, you will want to consider using a third-party shipping insurer for your sensitive freight.

Cabrella's third party shipping insurance guarantees the best rates for shipping insurance and can save you up to 90%. Discover how much your savings would be with Cabrella's savings calculator.