[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":478},["ShallowReactive",2],{"landing-nav":3,"\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist":29,"\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist-surround":472},{"nav":4,"footer":26},[5,8,11,14,17,20,23],{"label":6,"to":7},"Markets","\u002F#who",{"label":9,"to":10},"Board","\u002F#board",{"label":12,"to":13},"Map","\u002F#map",{"label":15,"to":16},"Techs","\u002F#field",{"label":18,"to":19},"Clients","\u002F#clients",{"label":21,"to":22},"Blog","\u002Fblog\u002F",{"label":24,"to":25},"Help","\u002Fhelp\u002F",{"tagline":27,"disclaimer":28},"Dependable Dispatch · dispatch software for mobile phlebotomy, imaging and home health","Screens show demo data. Patient and client names are fictional.",{"id":30,"title":31,"author":32,"body":33,"canonical":430,"date":431,"description":432,"extension":433,"meta":434,"navigation":450,"path":465,"seo":466,"seo_title":467,"status":468,"stem":469,"target_keyword":470,"__hash__":471},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist.md","Choosing dispatch software for mobile lab, imaging and home health: a buyer's checklist","Dependable Dispatch",{"type":34,"value":35,"toc":415},"minimark",[36,40,44,47,52,55,96,100,103,129,133,141,161,165,190,194,197,234,237,241,254,258,296,300,319,327,331,349,352,356,375,383,387],[37,38,31],"h1",{"id":39},"choosing-dispatch-software-for-mobile-lab-imaging-and-home-health-a-buyers-checklist",[41,42,43],"p",{},"Mobile phlebotomy, specimen courier and portable imaging companies share one core problem: get a tech who can do the work to the patient inside the time that matters, and keep a record that holds up when someone asks what happened. Home health agencies share part of it when visits run as stops on a route. Generic field service and delivery tools solve some of that. They route vans well. They usually don't know what a timed draw is, or what a specimen handoff has to record.",[41,45,46],{},"These are the questions we'd ask any vendor, including us. Make the vendor answer each one on screen, on a demo day shaped like yours.",[48,49,51],"h2",{"id":50},"_1-the-dispatch-screen","1. The dispatch screen",[41,53,54],{},"Dispatchers live on this screen for a full shift, so it has to show the whole day without hunting.",[56,57,58,66,78,84,90],"ul",{},[59,60,61,65],"li",{},[62,63,64],"strong",{},"Can you see every order, tech and client on one screen",", with filters for client, tech, facility and order type?",[59,67,68,71,72,77],{},[62,69,70],{},"Do STAT orders and timed draws pin to the top?"," A STAT should show its age. A ",[73,74,76],"a",{"href":75},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatching-timed-draws-peaks-troughs\u002F","timed draw"," should show its window.",[59,79,80,83],{},[62,81,82],{},"What catches a wrong assignment?"," Most boards let you drag an order to a tech. Ask what happens after the drop: Undo when it lands on the wrong tech, and a refusal before it goes through when that tech doesn't work for that client.",[59,85,86,89],{},[62,87,88],{},"What happens on a reassign after the first tech confirmed?"," Is that tech told which order left their route, and does the new tech get it with its instructions intact?",[59,91,92,95],{},[62,93,94],{},"Can you stage work?"," Assigning tomorrow's orders tonight without buzzing every tech's phone saves a night of texts.",[48,97,99],{"id":98},"_2-the-techs-phone","2. The tech's phone",[41,101,102],{},"If the route is slower than texting dispatch, techs will text dispatch, and the timestamps never get written.",[56,104,105,111,117,123],{},[59,106,107,110],{},[62,108,109],{},"Does it need an app install?"," A route that runs in the phone's browser means no app store download and no update to push to every tech.",[59,112,113,116],{},[62,114,115],{},"Is the full order on the phone before the visit?"," Special instructions, the timed draw window, level and dose, and the address one tap from the tech's maps app.",[59,118,119,122],{},[62,120,121],{},"Is each step one tap?"," Confirm, en route, on site, departed, completed. Each tap is a timestamp you'll need later.",[59,124,125,128],{},[62,126,127],{},"What does the tech see when a stop changes?"," A cancelled or reassigned order should name the order and patient, not just say something changed.",[48,130,132],{"id":131},"_3-chain-of-custody-and-handoffs","3. Chain of custody and handoffs",[41,134,135,136,140],{},"This is the part generic tools miss. Our longer post on ",[73,137,139],{"href":138},"\u002Fblog\u002Fspecimen-chain-of-custody-mobile-phlebotomy\u002F","chain of custody"," has the full set of demo tests.",[56,142,143,149,155],{},[59,144,145,148],{},[62,146,147],{},"Can a tech hand specimens to another tech mid-route",", with each specimen checked off?",[59,150,151,154],{},[62,152,153],{},"Can a tech leave specimens at a facility for courier pickup",", and does the courier see exactly what was left?",[59,156,157,160],{},[62,158,159],{},"Is there an audit trail on every order",": who created, assigned, moved, handed off or cancelled it, and when?",[48,162,164],{"id":163},"_4-recurring-work","4. Recurring work",[56,166,167,178,184],{},[59,168,169,172,173,177],{},[62,170,171],{},"Does each facility have its own schedule"," for ",[73,174,176],{"href":175},"\u002Fblog\u002Fstanding-orders-am-rounds\u002F","standing orders",", including week-of-month patterns?",[59,179,180,183],{},[62,181,182],{},"Can you create a day's recurring orders in one step",", without duplicates when the screen is run twice?",[59,185,186,189],{},[62,187,188],{},"Can it read an AM rounds list a facility sends",", instead of making someone retype it?",[48,191,193],{"id":192},"_5-your-service-lines","5. Your service lines",[41,195,196],{},"If you run more than one kind of mobile service, check the software against each one, not just the first.",[56,198,199,213,226],{},[59,200,201,212],{},[62,202,203,206,207,211],{},[73,204,205],{"href":7},"Mobile phlebotomy"," and ",[73,208,210],{"href":209},"\u002F#handoffs","specimen courier",":"," timed draws, drops at the lab, redraws with a reason, turnaround reporting.",[59,214,215,220,221,225],{},[62,216,217,211],{},[73,218,219],{"href":7},"Mobile radiology"," each tech's ",[73,222,224],{"href":223},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatching-mobile-radiology-by-modality\u002F","modality"," recorded in the system, and imaging clients who see imaging order options.",[59,227,228,233],{},[62,229,230,211],{},[73,231,232],{"href":7},"Home health"," visits on the route as stops, a timestamp at each step, and agency staff who can track their own visits.",[41,235,236],{},"One board for all of them beats a separate system per service line.",[48,238,240],{"id":239},"_6-the-client-portal","6. The client portal",[56,242,243,248],{},[59,244,245],{},[62,246,247],{},"Can clients place orders and track status themselves?",[59,249,250,253],{},[62,251,252],{},"Does each client see only its own facilities and orders?"," Ask the vendor to sign in as one client and show you that another client's orders aren't visible.",[48,255,257],{"id":256},"_7-reports","7. Reports",[56,259,260,266,272,278,284,290],{},[59,261,262,265],{},[62,263,264],{},"Turnaround by tech",", from request to completion.",[59,267,268,271],{},[62,269,270],{},"A STAT report card"," showing how many STATs finished inside your target.",[59,273,274,277],{},[62,275,276],{},"AM rounds completion"," by date and facility.",[59,279,280,283],{},[62,281,282],{},"UTOs"," (unable to obtain), tracked apart from cancellations.",[59,285,286,289],{},[62,287,288],{},"Mileage"," by tech.",[59,291,292,295],{},[62,293,294],{},"CSV export"," for anything you need to send a client or put in a spreadsheet.",[48,297,299],{"id":298},"_8-security-and-compliance","8. Security and compliance",[56,301,302,308,313],{},[59,303,304,307],{},[62,305,306],{},"Is access scoped by role and by client?"," Dispatchers, techs and client users should each see only what their role needs.",[59,309,310],{},[62,311,312],{},"Are internal notes kept from techs and clients?",[59,314,315,318],{},[62,316,317],{},"Will the vendor sign a Business Associate Agreement?"," If the system holds patient information, you need one. Ask for it in writing, and ask what the vendor's HIPAA program covers today.",[41,320,321,322,326],{},"Our own answer, today: access is scoped by role and client, dispatch-only notes stay with dispatch, and every order change is logged. A full HIPAA program with a signed BAA for every customer is coming soon. Our ",[73,323,325],{"href":324},"\u002F#security","security"," section lists what's in place now and what's still to come.",[48,328,330],{"id":329},"_9-pricing","9. Pricing",[56,332,333,339,344],{},[59,334,335,338],{},[62,336,337],{},"What counts toward the bill?"," Per user, per tech, per order? Do cancelled orders count?",[59,340,341],{},[62,342,343],{},"What's the setup fee, and what does it cover?",[59,345,346],{},[62,347,348],{},"What happens to the price as you add techs and clients?",[41,350,351],{},"Ask for the price in writing before the demo ends, worked out for a month at your volume.",[48,353,355],{"id":354},"_10-onboarding-and-cutover","10. Onboarding and cutover",[56,357,358,363,369],{},[59,359,360],{},[62,361,362],{},"How do facilities, clients, techs and standing orders get into the system?",[59,364,365,368],{},[62,366,367],{},"How does cutover work"," so no order falls between the old system and the new one?",[59,370,371,374],{},[62,372,373],{},"Will the vendor walk a day like yours through the system"," before you sign?",[41,376,377,378,382],{},"On that last one, use demo data until a BAA is signed. Real orders are patient information, and even with names removed, dates of service and addresses still identify people. Until our BAAs are ready, we'll walk a day like yours through the board, the map and a tech's phone on demo data. ",[73,379,381],{"href":380},"\u002F#demo","Book a demo",".",[48,384,386],{"id":385},"related-reading","Related reading",[56,388,389,394,399,404,409],{},[59,390,391],{},[73,392,393],{"href":138},"Specimen chain of custody for mobile phlebotomy",[59,395,396],{},[73,397,398],{"href":75},"How to schedule and dispatch timed draws",[59,400,401],{},[73,402,403],{"href":175},"Phlebotomy standing orders and AM rounds",[59,405,406],{},[73,407,408],{"href":223},"Dispatching portable X-ray and ultrasound techs by modality",[59,410,411],{},[73,412,414],{"href":413},"\u002Fglossary\u002F","Glossary of mobile lab, imaging and home health dispatch terms",{"title":416,"searchDepth":417,"depth":417,"links":418},"",2,[419,420,421,422,423,424,425,426,427,428,429],{"id":50,"depth":417,"text":51},{"id":98,"depth":417,"text":99},{"id":131,"depth":417,"text":132},{"id":163,"depth":417,"text":164},{"id":192,"depth":417,"text":193},{"id":239,"depth":417,"text":240},{"id":256,"depth":417,"text":257},{"id":298,"depth":417,"text":299},{"id":329,"depth":417,"text":330},{"id":354,"depth":417,"text":355},{"id":385,"depth":417,"text":386},"https:\u002F\u002Fdependabledispatch.com\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist\u002F","2026-11-07","What to ask any mobile lab, imaging or home health dispatch vendor, and make them show it live: timed draws, specimen handoffs, client portal, BAAs, pricing.","md",{"slug":435,"secondary_keywords":436,"internal_links":440},"dispatch-software-buyers-checklist",[437,438,439],"how to choose phlebotomy dispatch software","questions to ask dispatch software vendors","phlebotomy software pricing",[441,444,445,447,451,453,456,459,460,461,462,463],{"href":10,"anchor":442,"planned":443},"dispatch board",false,{"href":324,"anchor":325,"planned":443},{"href":380,"anchor":446,"planned":443},"book a demo",{"href":448,"anchor":449,"planned":450},"\u002Fmobile-phlebotomy-software","mobile phlebotomy",true,{"href":452,"anchor":210,"planned":450},"\u002Fspecimen-courier-software",{"href":454,"anchor":455,"planned":450},"\u002Fmobile-radiology-software","mobile radiology",{"href":457,"anchor":458,"planned":450},"\u002Fhome-health-dispatch","home health",{"href":138,"anchor":139,"planned":443},{"href":75,"anchor":76,"planned":443},{"href":175,"anchor":176,"planned":443},{"href":223,"anchor":224,"planned":443},{"href":413,"anchor":464,"planned":443},"glossary","\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist",{"title":31,"description":432},"Phlebotomy Dispatch Software: A Buyer's Checklist | Dependable Dispatch","published","blog\u002Fdispatch-software-buyers-checklist","phlebotomy dispatch software","gNEil8NgM2ydNZD7WjlQPOFbqs2Oad30yGA_ZjPY5uo",[473,474],null,{"title":408,"path":475,"stem":476,"description":477,"children":-1},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdispatching-mobile-radiology-by-modality","blog\u002Fdispatching-mobile-radiology-by-modality","Portable X-ray and ultrasound dispatch starts with who can do the exam. Recording each tech's modality, setting up imaging clients, and sizing imaging routes.",1794265058538]