McKesson’s patient-support services rebrand under the CoverMyMeds name

It’s usually not a very big deal when a corporation reorganizes the management of some of its business units, but there seems to be more than meets the eye with the McKesson announcement: the company is bringing together RelayHealth, McKesson Prescription Automation, CoverMyMeds and RxCrossroads by McKesson—all under the CoverMyMeds brand. If one visits the home page of CoverMyMeds, you don’t even know it’s a business unit of McKesson.

Each of the Big Three wholesalers—McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health—now has a substantial business in providing services for specialty pharmaceuticals, which typically require more intricate storage and logistics, more complex prescribing processes and, if a pharma manufacturer supports it, personal interaction with patients (all of which often goes under the moniker of “hub services.” In McKesson’s case, a key building step was purchasing CoverMyMeds in 2017; that business specializes in handling prior authorizations and related documentation that insurers require. Now, the unified CoverMyMeds business potentially links 500 electronic health record systems (EHRs), 60,000 pharmacies, 750,000 providers and most health plans and PBMs, including government plans.

“Coming together as CoverMyMeds aligns our capabilities around the patient journey and creates a cohesive experience for our customers, patients and employees,” said CoverMyMeds president, Nathan Mott, in a statement. Those “customers” include the pharma industry clients who pay for a range of patient support services.