CoverMyMeds
A healthcare software company that helps automate prescription prior authorization and related medication-access workflows.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
CoverMyMeds is a United States healthcare software company focused on reducing administrative work associated with prescription prior authorization. Prior authorization is a utilization-management step in which a health insurer requires a prescriber or pharmacy to provide clinical or coverage information before a medication can be approved. Traditionally, these requests could involve repeated telephone calls, paper forms, and fax exchanges among prescribers, pharmacies, insurers, and patients. CoverMyMeds provides a digital workflow intended to replace much of that manual coordination with electronic submission, information exchange, and status tracking. The company was founded in 2008 by pharmacist Sam Rajan and software developer Matt Scantland. Its founding concept combined clinical familiarity with software development: the product was designed around the practical difficulties that prescribers and pharmacies encountered when seeking coverage approval for medicines. In its first year, JumpStart Ventures invested $250,000, and the company had raised a cumulative $1 million by 2011. As its employee base expanded, CoverMyMeds established a significant operating presence in Columbus, Ohio, while retaining activity in Twinsburg and later relocating that office to Highland Hills. The company described both Columbus and Twinsburg as important to its operations rather than identifying a single conventional headquarters in a 2014 interview. CoverMyMeds expanded rapidly during the early and mid-2010s. Its software was reported as being used by 45,000 pharmacies and 260,000 prescribers in November 2014. The reported prescriber user count exceeded 400,000 by August 2015 and 500,000 by June 2016. Growth was supported in part by state and municipal incentives connected with employment expansion in Ohio. In 2014, Francisco Partners invested an undisclosed minority stake, and the company announced plans associated with additional job creation and a larger Columbus office at 2 Miranova. McKesson acquired CoverMyMeds in early 2017 for approximately $1.1 billion, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of the healthcare distribution and services group. The acquisition placed CoverMyMeds within McKesson's broader healthcare technology and medication-access activities while allowing the brand to continue operating as a specialized digital platform. In late 2018, CoverMyMeds announced plans for a new campus in Columbus's Franklinton area, designed by Perkins+Will's Dallas studio. The planned facility reflected the company's continued investment in its Ohio operations. Although prior authorization remains the brand's defining service, its scope has broadened toward medication access and specialty-drug administration. In June 2025, CoverMyMeds acquired RxLightning, a digital platform intended to help providers and care teams complete and monitor specialty-medication enrollment and related access workflows. The transaction extended CoverMyMeds beyond the initial authorization request into adjacent processes that can require extensive communication among clinical teams, manufacturers, pharmacies, insurers, and patients. CoverMyMeds therefore occupies a position in healthcare information technology centered on administrative connectivity, coverage approval, and reducing friction in the path from prescribing to obtaining medication.
History
CoverMyMeds began in 2008 as a collaboration between pharmacist Sam Rajan and software developer Matt Scantland. The founders sought to address the administrative burden of prescription prior authorization, a process that often required prescribers and pharmacies to communicate with insurers through phone calls, paper forms, and fax machines. Their software sought to digitize the request and follow-up process, allowing the parties involved in an authorization to exchange information and see the status of a request as it moved through review. The company received an early investment of $250,000 from JumpStart Ventures in 2008. By 2011, its cumulative fundraising had reached $1 million. Employee growth soon created a need for additional office space. CoverMyMeds opened a Columbus, Ohio, office in 2008 and moved much of its technical workforce there. The company continued to maintain operations in the Cleveland-area community of Twinsburg, and in 2014 its co-founder described Columbus and Twinsburg as serving critical functions rather than designating one location as the sole headquarters. Ohio became an important base for the company's expansion. CoverMyMeds benefited from tax credits offered by the state and the city of Columbus in connection with growth plans that included 116 additional jobs. The company also moved its Columbus office from the Arena District to a larger location in the 2 Miranova building at Scioto Mile. In 2014, Francisco Partners invested an undisclosed minority interest. The same period marked substantial growth in platform adoption: by November 2014, the software was reportedly used by 45,000 pharmacies and 260,000 prescribers. The reported number of prescribers rose above 400,000 in August 2015 and above 500,000 by June 2016. The company continued to expand its Ohio footprint in 2016. It announced that the Twinsburg office would move to a larger 15,000-square-foot facility in Highland Hills. The new site opened on January 11, 2016, and was intended primarily for analysts and financial employees while also providing room for additional hiring. A major ownership transition occurred in early 2017, when McKesson acquired CoverMyMeds for approximately $1.1 billion. Following the transaction, CoverMyMeds operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of McKesson. The acquisition connected the specialized prior-authorization business with a large healthcare distribution and services group, while the CoverMyMeds brand remained focused on digital medication-access workflows. In late 2018, CoverMyMeds announced plans for a new campus in Columbus's Franklinton neighborhood. The multimillion-dollar project was designed by Perkins+Will's Dallas studio and represented a further commitment to the company's Ohio operations. The company's original product focus also broadened over time from the electronic submission of prior-authorization requests toward related processes involved in obtaining specialty medicines. In June 2025, CoverMyMeds acquired RxLightning, a digital platform for specialty medication access. RxLightning supports workflows such as specialty-drug enrollment and enables providers and care teams to complete and track access-related steps. The acquisition extended CoverMyMeds into an adjacent segment of medication administration in which multiple parties must coordinate information and documentation. Across its history, the brand's central proposition has remained the digitization of fragmented administrative work between prescribers, pharmacies, insurers, and patients.
- 2025
RxLightning acquisition
[1]CoverMyMeds acquired RxLightning to expand into digital specialty-medication enrollment and access workflow management.
- 2018
Franklinton campus announced
[1]CoverMyMeds announced development of a new multimillion-dollar campus in Columbus's Franklinton area.
- 2017
McKesson acquisition
[1]McKesson acquired CoverMyMeds for approximately $1.1 billion, after which the company operated as a wholly owned subsidiary.
- 2016
Highland Hills office opens
[1]The company opened a larger Highland Hills, Ohio, office intended primarily for analysts and financial employees and designed to support additional hiring.
- 2014
Minority investment and Columbus expansion
[1]Francisco Partners invested an undisclosed minority stake. CoverMyMeds also announced growth plans linked to Ohio tax incentives and moved its Columbus office to the larger 2 Miranova building.
- 2011
Early fundraising reaches $1 million
[1]The company had raised a cumulative $1 million by 2011.
- 2008
CoverMyMeds is founded
[1]Sam Rajan and Matt Scantland founded CoverMyMeds to develop software for automating prescription prior authorization. JumpStart Ventures provided an early $250,000 investment, and the company opened a Columbus, Ohio, office during its first year.
Products and positioning
Healthcare information technology focused on automating medication prior authorization and coordinating prescription-access workflows.
Electronic prior authorization · 2008
CoverMyMeds prior authorization platform
The platform digitizes the process of requesting insurer approval for prescriptions. It is designed to replace or reduce manual phone, paper, and fax interactions by allowing prescribers and pharmacies to submit authorization information electronically, coordinate with other participants, and monitor the progress of a request. The product is the foundation of the CoverMyMeds brand and is intended to reduce administrative delays in medication access.
Specialty medication access
RxLightning
RxLightning is a digital platform acquired by CoverMyMeds in 2025. It supports specialty-medication access workflows, including enrollment and related steps that providers and care teams must complete and track. Its addition broadens the brand's scope from prior authorization toward the wider operational process of helping patients obtain specialty medicines.
Brand decisions
2025
Acquire RxLightningM&ABackground
CoverMyMeds sought to extend its medication-access capabilities beyond the core prior-authorization workflow into specialty-drug enrollment and coordination.
Action taken
CoverMyMeds acquired RxLightning, a digital specialty-medication access platform.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded the brand's stated technology scope to include completion and tracking of specialty-medication access steps.
2018
Develop a new Columbus campusStrategyBackground
CoverMyMeds had built a substantial operating presence in Ohio and had previously expanded its offices in Columbus and Highland Hills.
Action taken
The company announced the construction and development of a multimillion-dollar campus in Columbus's Franklinton area.
Aftermath
The announcement represented continued investment in the company's Ohio workforce and facilities.
2017
Accept the McKesson acquisitionM&ABackground
CoverMyMeds had expanded its prior-authorization platform substantially by the middle of the 2010s and had attracted minority investment from Francisco Partners in 2014.
Action taken
McKesson acquired CoverMyMeds for approximately $1.1 billion, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Aftermath
The brand continued as a specialized healthcare software business within McKesson's corporate group.
Acquisition value. $1.1 billion (Early 2017)
Recent events
- 2025
CoverMyMeds acquires RxLightning[1]
M&A
CoverMyMeds acquired RxLightning, a digital platform for specialty medication access, extending its capabilities into specialty-drug enrollment and related workflow tracking.
- 2018
CoverMyMeds announces a new Columbus campus[1]
Other
The company announced development of a new multimillion-dollar campus in Columbus's Franklinton area, designed by Perkins+Will's Dallas studio.
- 2017
CoverMyMeds acquired by McKesson[1]
M&A
McKesson acquired CoverMyMeds for approximately $1.1 billion, and CoverMyMeds began operating as a wholly owned McKesson subsidiary.
Sources1 sources
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