Rhyme vs Valer (Voluware)
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
| Rhyme | Valer (Voluware) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Not published · Network deal terms not public | Not published · custom quotes for health systems |
| Speed to go live | EHR integration project plus payer connections | customized to each workflow and EHR |
| Automation model | Data / network utility · payer-provider prior auth network | Software platform · single portal for all payers |
| Built for | Enterprise systems, Payers | Mid-size groups, Enterprise systems |
| Security posture | No certifications published | HITRUST |
| Company maturity | 12 yrs (est. 2014) | 14 yrs (est. 2012) |
| Financial backing | $57M · Venture-backed (Series B era) | PE-backed (Hughes & Company) |
| Named customers | 3 named | 1 named |
| Published results | No public numbers | No public numbers |
| Documented integrations | EHR-agnostic | 4 listed |
| Third-party validation | None found | None found |
Bottom line
- 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.
- Pick Valer if your staff juggles dozens of payer portals and faxes for prior auths and you want one submission and tracking hub across all service lines.
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
Valer (Voluware)
Prior auth submission and tracking automation across payer portals
- Founded
- 2012
- HQ
- Huntington Beach, CA
- Stage
- PE-backed (Hughes & Company)
- Raised
- $7.6M disclosed
What it does
- Automated PA submission to 75+ payer portals
- Auto-completion of 1,000+ payer fax forms
- Automated status checking and verification
- Bi-directional EHR sync using standard 278/275 transactions
- Covers procedures, referrals, and services, not just drugs
- Reporting on turnaround times and staff productivity
Where it's strong
- Covers the messy middle of PA: portal and fax submissions that pure API-based tools cannot reach.
- Bi-directional Epic integration writes auth numbers and statuses back automatically.
- Workflow is configured per client rather than one-size-fits-all, which suits complex health system setups.
What buyers should weigh
- Small company with modest disclosed funding, so evaluate roadmap and support depth against bigger rivals.
- Portal and fax automation depends on payer sites staying stable; expect some maintenance lag when payers change portals.
- Per-client configuration means implementations take real effort compared with plug-and-play point tools.
Named customers
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
Integrations
Compare against the rest of Prior Authorization
Deciding between these two?
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