Healthcare logistics is unlike any other part of the supply chain. Delays, errors or lack of visibility in the healthcare supply chain can have life-critical impact.

As care models shift away from hospitals and into the home, healthcare logistics is becoming more complex, more patient-facing and more demanding. Today, medical device logistics needs to support individual patients as well as clinical environments, often receiving large volumes of product on a regular schedule.

Home dialysis is a clear example of this shift—and of why healthcare logistics must be designed around people, not just processes. Our customer’s home dialysis model, supported by XPO Logistics, shows what’s possible when healthcare logistics is designed around patients, reliability and real-world delivery challenges.

Why home dialysis raises the bar for healthcare logistics

Home dialysis allows patients to manage treatment alongside everyday life. It can reduce time spent travelling to hospitals and give patients more control over their routines. But this model places new pressure on the healthcare supply chain.

From a healthcare logistics perspective, home dialysis introduces several challenges at once:

• Products must move through a tightly controlled healthcare supply chain
• Medical device logistics must support both hospitals and private homes
• Volumes per patient are high, often pallet-level
• Deliveries must be reliable, repeatable and precisely timed

Healthcare logistics for home dialysis requires an end-to-end healthcare supply chain built around reliability, accountability and visibility.

When healthcare logistics underpins patient outcomes

Our customer is a French medical device company specialising in home dialysis solutions. They needed a healthcare logistics partner that could deliver:

• Consistent, dependable medical device logistics
• Temperature-controlled logistics for warehousing
• Nationwide delivery to both healthcare sites and patients’ homes
• A scalable healthcare supply chain able to grow with demand

Their previous setup did not operate within a pharma-grade environment. Moving into a more structured, controlled healthcare logistics model was an important step—both operationally and for confidence.

Designing healthcare logistics around real-world requirements

During the initial engagement phase, our customer shared with XPO Logistics its stability data confirming that the products could be distributed at ambient temperature, while warehousing still required 15–25°C control.

The resulting healthcare logistics design focused on:

• Temperature-controlled logistics for storage in a pharma-grade environment
• Structured processes aligned with regulated healthcare supply chain expectations
• Secure access and continuous temperature monitoring
• A dedicated quarantine area for non-conforming goods
• Order preparation and palletisation designed for medical device logistics

This approach gave our customer confidence that their products were handled within a controlled, procedural healthcare logistics framework, even though they are classified as medical devices rather than medicines.

Connecting warehousing, transport and last mile in one healthcare supply chain

In healthcare logistics, fragmentation creates risk. Multiple providers, unclear handovers and disconnected systems make it harder to maintain control.

We connected operation covering:

• Warehousing and inventory management
• Order preparation for medical device logistics
• B2B distribution to dialysis centers and hospitals
• B2C last-mile delivery to patients’ homes

This end-to-end healthcare logistics model reduced interfaces and simplified oversight. A single point of coordination across logistics, LTL and last-mile delivery gave our customer clearer visibility and faster decision-making across the healthcare supply chain.

For patient deliveries, the healthcare logistics operation also manages upstream authorisation steps with hospital pharmacy units (PUI), ensuring quantities are declared and approved before delivery. This is a good example of how modern healthcare logistics goes beyond transport alone, supporting the full operational flow around patient care.

What reliable healthcare logistics looks like in practice

Inbound and outbound flows are steady and predictable—a critical requirement for medical device logistics supporting home dialysis.

By consolidating warehousing, order preparation, B2B transport and B2C last-mile delivery under one healthcare logistics model, our customer has gained clearer visibility and fewer operational interfaces.

What this case says about the future of healthcare logistics

Home-based care models are growing. That means healthcare logistics will increasingly operate outside traditional clinical settings, directly supporting patients in their homes.

There is also a growing focus on replicability. The healthcare logistics model developed in France is now being assessed for use in other markets. For medical device logistics, the ability to scale proven healthcare supply chain models across borders will be a key differentiator

Key takeaways for healthcare logistics leaders

For organizations operating in healthcare logistics or medical device logistics, this case highlights a few clear lessons:

• Reliability must be designed into the healthcare supply chain from day one
• Integration across warehousing, transport and last mile reduces risk
• Healthcare logistics is increasingly patient-facing—and must be built accordingly

As healthcare delivery continues to evolve, healthcare logistics will play an even greater role in enabling safe, reliable and sustainable care.

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