American Oncology Network Partners with RxLightning to Speed Access to Specialty Medications for Cancer Patients

FORT MYERS, Fla., October 5, 2022 – The American Oncology Network (AON) and RxLightning have partnered to provide AON’s community oncology practices with an all-digital approach to financial assistance enrollment for specialty medications. This partnership makes the complex burden of specialty medication enrollment simple for AON’s healthcare providers and allows patients quicker access to lifesaving medications.

RxLightning’s technology simplifies a historically cumbersome process by giving healthcare providers a way to easily submit specialty drug enrollment and patient assistance applications through a single digital source. Additionally, the platform safely and securely captures patient information to allow for future enrollments and applications to be submitted without delay.

AON introduced the digital platform to its in-network practices in May 2022. Since implementation, the practices are reaping the benefits of lightning-fast enrollments, including increased efficiency of application completions, reduced time for patient access to medications and increased patient satisfaction. Early results show RxLightning’s platform reduces the time patients have to wait for medication enrollment from over a week to 79% of patients enrolled in less than one day. When a patient needs specialty medication, this decrease in wait time is life-changing and a significant contrast to the antiquated paper form and fax method in which enrollment would take a week or longer.

“In a space where specialty medications often cost thousands of dollars, financial toxicity and the enrollment process for assistance can be very burdensome on the patient. Having the ability to avoid the lengthy process of manually filling out and mailing forms back and forth between the pharmacy, patient, clinic and manufacturer can significantly reduce the time to get access to medications, which is critical to the overall health success of cancer patients,” said Doug Braun, AON’s senior pharmacy director. “We are excited to have partnered with RxLightning. Our AON Pharmacy team is able to send financial assistance applications securely and electronically to patients, which ultimately facilitates getting medications out to patients sooner all while having a single platform that supports all medications we prescribe.”

“RxLightning is on a mission to create an ecosystem that benefits everyone, from patients to providers, health systems, payers and pharma manufacturers. Specialty medication access is cumbersome, prolonging life-changing treatment and leaving patients in the dark. Through our solution, we are seeing patients enrolled in a single day,” said Julia Regan, CEO and founder of RxLightning. “AON has been an exemplary partner, seeing the true benefits of RxLightning through improving new patient starts and a reduced turnaround time for therapy initiation. We look forward to our continued partnership and improving medication access for AON’s patients.”

“This partnership has given me the ability to quickly enroll my patients for the most beneficial specialty medication that is needed to treat their disease,” said Dr. Taral Patel, medical oncologist at Zangmeister Cancer Center. “The platform speeds up the enrollment process for medications, getting patients their medications quicker, which is critical for those with cancer.”

“Our values guide every decision we make,” said AON Chief Executive Officer Todd Schonherz. “Our C.A.R.E. values center on continuously supporting our patients, and this partnership with RxLightning exemplifies our values in every way. More importantly, however, it supports our patients and eases some of the financial burdens they may experience when requiring specialty medications.”

For more information about how AON is working toward easing administrative burdens for community oncology practices and delivering patient-centered care, visit https://www.aoncology.com/blog/.

To learn more about how RxLightning is revolutionizing the face of specialty pharmacy by making the complex simple, visit https://www.rxlightning.com/.

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About American Oncology Network, LLC
The American Oncology Network, LLC (AON), an Inc. 5000-recognized company, is an alliance of physicians and seasoned healthcare leaders partnering to ensure the long-term success of community oncology. Launched in 2018, the rapidly expanding AON network represents 108 physicians and 89 nurse practitioners and physician assistants practicing across 16 states . The executive management team of AON encompasses more than three decades of oncology practice management experience, enabling physicians to focus on what matters most — providing the highest quality care for patients.

The organization provides unique and comprehensive protocols for managing administrative procedures and enhancing ancillary services for its affiliates. AON is able to aggregate volume and attain economies of scale, as it guides its member physicians and practices through the transition to value-based reimbursement models that improve the patient experience and help to reduce the per-capita cost of cancer care.

AON also provides a unique model of physician-led, community-based oncology management. With services such as a centralized specialty pharmacy, diagnostics, pathology, fully integrated electronic medical records, a care management team and a variety of financial assistance programs, an alliance with AON ensures that patients’ experiences are at the very pinnacle of cancer care today. Learn more at AONcology.com.

About RxLightning
Founded in New Albany, Indiana in 2020, RxLightning digitizes, automates and streamlines the historically complicated manual enrollment process of starting a patient on specialty medications. Specialty medications are expected to account for 70% of new medication launches through 2023. With RxLightning, healthcare providers can quickly and easily complete the enrollment process for every specialty medication in every therapeutic area, helping reduce paperwork, streamline communication and accelerate the speed of therapy for patients. Learn more at rxlightning.com.

Contact for more information:
Caroline Hewitt, Vice President of Marketing
American Oncology Network, LLC
Caroline.Hewitt@AONcology.com

Kriste Goad
RxLightning
Kg@growwithfuoco.com