By Gabriela Thierer
July 20, 2026 · 6 min read
A vendor bench is only real if it has been tested before you need it. Most healthcare fulfillment teams discover the gaps in October, when there is no runway left to close them.
Verify actual capacity, not committed capacity
A vendor that can produce 2M envelopes annually is not a vendor that can produce 5M during a ten-week window. Ask for peak-week throughput, not annual volume.
Confirm compliance paperwork is executed, not promised
BAA execution at the entity level, chain-of-custody documentation, and staff certification should already exist on file. HIPAA-aware is not HIPAA-compliant.
Build the onboarding runway in summer
Proper pre-clearance takes 2-3 weeks: spec confirmation, BAA execution, sample runs, first order. Pre-clearance in summer means the runway is already built when you need to use it.
- Healthcare Fulfillment
- Peak Season
- TCGC Group
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