CoverMyMeds (McKesson) vs Rhyme
Two Prior Authorization vendors, side by side. Facts from public sources; judgments are ours.
At a glance
Derived from public facts · a rough scale, not a ranking
| CoverMyMeds (McKesson) | Rhyme | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free to providers (funded by payers/pharma) · Payers, PBMs, pharma fund the network | Not published · Network deal terms not public |
| Speed to go live | Free self-serve portal; EHR-embedded options exist | EHR integration project plus payer connections |
| Automation model | Data / network utility · medication ePA network and portal | Data / network utility · payer-provider prior auth network |
| Built for | Small practices, Mid-size groups, Enterprise systems, Payers | Enterprise systems, Payers |
| Security posture | No certifications published | No certifications published |
| Company maturity | 18 yrs (est. 2008) | 12 yrs (est. 2014) |
| Financial backing | Subsidiary of McKesson | $57M · Venture-backed (Series B era) |
| Named customers | None public | 3 named |
| Published results | No public numbers | No public numbers |
| Documented integrations | 5 listed | EHR-agnostic |
| Third-party validation | None found | None found |
Bottom line
- Pick CoverMyMeds if you want free electronic prior auth for medications with the broadest payer and pharmacy network.
- Pick Rhyme if you are a large health system or health plan that wants prior auth handled inside the EHR through a shared payer-provider network.
CoverMyMeds (McKesson)
The largest electronic prior authorization network for medications
- Founded
- 2008
- HQ
- Columbus, OH
- Stage
- Subsidiary of McKesson
- Raised
- n/a
What it does
- Electronic prior authorization for retail and specialty drugs
- Specialty enrollment and hub services (RxLightning)
- Medical benefit PA for oncology and radiology (FastAuth)
- Benefit checks and prescription price transparency
- Patient affordability and copay program delivery
Where it's strong
- Network effects are real: it completed 43 million prior authorizations in the 2025 reverification season and most prescribers already have accounts.
- Free for providers and pharmacies, which makes adoption easy.
- McKesson ownership ties it into specialty distribution and pharma services that competitors cannot match.
What buyers should weigh
- Coverage is payer-dependent and shifting: Independence Blue Cross dropped CoverMyMeds for Surescripts ePA in August 2025, so verify your payer mix routes through it.
- It centers on medication PA; medical benefit and procedure prior auth needs mostly require other tools despite the FastAuth acquisition.
- Its revenue comes from pharma and payers, so provider-side feature priorities can lag.
Integrations
Rhyme
Connecting payers and providers for touchless auths
- Founded
- 2014
- HQ
- Columbus, OH
- Stage
- Venture-backed (Series B era)
- Raised
- $57M
What it does
- Submits and tracks prior auths inside provider EHR workflows
- Connects providers and payers on one shared auth network
- Touchless auth processing with real-time payer decisions
- Gold carding programs that waive auths for trusted providers
- Shared payer-provider dashboard for auth status and collaboration
Where it's strong
- A working two-sided network: 80 to 90 of the largest health systems and over 300 payers processing 4 to 5 million auths a year.
- Auths run inside the EHR workflow staff already use, so adoption requires little retraining.
- Its gold carding model removes prior auth entirely for high-performing providers rather than just speeding up submissions.
What buyers should weigh
- Rhyme is connectivity and workflow, not a clinical decision engine; payers still need their own UM review stack (its Medical Mutual deal paired it with Cohere for exactly that reason).
- Value depends on payer overlap; auths for payers outside the network fall back to portals, fax, and phone.
- At roughly $57M raised and a modest team, it is a smaller vendor than RCM incumbents like Availity or Waystar, so weigh long-term durability and roadmap capacity.
Named customers
Medical Mutual of Ohio · Norton Healthcare · Ohio Hospital Association
Integrations
Compare against the rest of Prior Authorization
Deciding between these two?
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