Pulled a 1:30 a.m. STAT from ER to reference lab — two blood cultures on ice and a biopsy slide — 27 miles in 42 minutes, chain-of-custody logged at 2:18. For those doing express medical runs, what are you getting for on-call and urgency premiums, and any extra rate for temperature-controlled or sensitive specimens?
For “1:30 a.m.” STATs, I add $40 on-call + $25 cold-chain; 1.5x urgent. Do you itemize “chain-of-custody”?
I’d add one line for “COC + temp log” on runs like your 27 miles in 42 minutes: I photo the probe at pickup and drop and attach those to the POD so the cold-chain add-on isn’t questioned. Tiny caveat — some labs insist on a calibrated probe serial in the note; do yours accept photo evidence on the ticket? It’s saved me charge disputes.
I switched to a small nightly retainer plus an ‘after-hours activate’ fee so I’m covered even if a STAT cancels; urgency is 1.6x from 12–5. Do your clients balk at retainers, @OP? Works well when the pager’s quiet but you still have to stay within range.