Skip to main content

Company helps patients get needed medicine

By Terri Rimmer
Updated: 08/16/05
Rx Hope is a "clearinghouse for drug companies to get their medications to the people who need them".

[Full Story Below ↓]

This story was written by Citizen Journalist Terri Rimmer. We encourage you to click the Tip Jar to support this writer's work. By Terri Rimmer
Happy News Citizen Journalist


Beginning as a grassroots effort, one company has grown into the leading Internet-based patient assistance and sampling web portal in the pharmaceutical industry.


CEO and founder of Rx Hope (www.rxhope.com), Anthony Maris said his business is a very simple one.


"It's a clearinghouse for drug companies to get their medications to the people who need them," he said.


Maris said due to the economy the percentage of people needing medication through his company have gone up 20 percent every year. He said he expects this year to be a particularly heavy year regarding need.


Maris founded Rx Hope in 1999 after having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 19 years, observing the process of patients trying to get their medications and the drug companies not knowing how to get them to the people.


"I saw there was a need and the patients didn't know how to get the medications that the pharmaceutical companies were trying to get to them," said Maris. "We're very happy helping people. There's nothing worse than not being able to afford your medications. Before trying to get the medications to the patients was very clunky."


Rx Hope, located in Clinton, NJ, is made up of about 30 staff members who are very happy with what they do, Maris said. The company is the only patient-assistance internet initiative financially supported by Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America (Phrma) and participating pharmaceutical companies. The company began as a grassroots effort of the Patient Assistance Managers and Directors of the Phrma-member companies.


"We don't have any plans for getting into marketing or anything like that. We don't plan to change anything," he said.


Each patient assistance request form has been custom designed to the drug company's rules engine. Rx Hope is an independent company and is not affiliated with third parties who may provide patients with no-cost or low-cost medications.


According to Rx Hope's website, they provide faster processing for doctors requesting samples for their qualified applicants versus the weeks or months it now takes to process these requests. This requires less time and resources because the doctor's office completes the requisition process in just a few minutes. This results in financial savings - less money spent on postage, printed material, opening and sorting requests, and other time-consuming tasks.


Rx Hope, a privately held company, also offers an Assistance Finder which matches patient information against other available federal, state, and charitable prescription drug programs. Patients can download a printable application form that they can bring to their doctor from Rx Hope's website. If the drug the patient is looking for on the site does not have an online application, the patient can select the Patient Assistance Information icon on the screen to search Rx Hope's listing of over 1,000 drugs with printable application forms.


Rx Hope, which contracts directly with the pharmaceutical companies to provide an electronic application process for their patient assistance programs, also has healthcare and pharmaceutical company links and drug info center links on it site.


The 2003 Medicare law included, for the first time in the 40-year-old program's history, broad prescription coverage. In the Sept. 30 fiscal year Medicare will disburse $295 billion.


For more information on Rx Hope, call 908-713-7600 or email customerservice@rxhope.com.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story was produced by a Happynews Citizen Journalist.


For more information on contributing to Happynews, click here.


This story was produced by Happynews Citizen Journalist Terri Rimmer. Terri Rimmer works from Fort Worth, TX.
For more information on contributing to Happynews, click here.

More Health Stories
Tofu, oatmeal lower cholesterol
Study shows exercises can prevent fainting
Virtual medical checkups on the rise
Safer method found to treat heart failure
Fewer NYC high schoolers are lighting up
More Stories by Terri Rimmer
The “C” word
The know-it-alls of Halloween
Halloween costumes made easy
The art and economy of dumpster diving
Animal Magazine holding benefits for Katrina pets
Print This Article | E-Mail This Article Terms of Use & Disclaimer | Contact Us | © 2005 HappyNews.comLook for some happy news for a change » Updated: 3/16/2006 12:36:42 AM
RSS Feed Bookmark This Page Tell a Friend Make HappyNews Your Homepage
Home

International
National
Heroes
Health
Opinion & Editorials
Science & Technology
Environment
Arts & Entertainment
Sports
Business/Money
$1000 Are You Optimistic About the Future Contest Essays

HappyLiving


Contact Us

About Us

Report Happy News


Happy Newsletter
Sign up to get our top happy headlines e-mailed to you daily by entering your e-mail address below:






"The Happynews glass is always at least half-full, and sometimes it bubbles right over."

"Happynews.com forsakes war and famine, terror and man's inhumanity to man 24/7."

"As far as anyone can tell, it's the first international and national daily news organization dedicated exclusively to upbeat stories."


Unhappy News

MSNBC

CNN

ABCNews

FOX News

BBC News

Popular posts from this blog

Families are the Fastest Growing Group in the US Homeless Population

Content Clout: 3.0 out of 5 Rate Content 5 (best) 4 3 2 1 (worst) Published Dec 5, 2005 by Terri Rimmer happynews.com, Adoption.about.com Related Content View all (7 total) A Writing Contest is Benefiting Homelessness Community Action Committee Donate Your Old Cell Phone More by Terri Rimmer View all (163 total) Classic House Destroyed by Katrina Step Up Women's Network Offers Professional and Ph... Poor Scores for the US on Family-Friendly Workplac... Did you know? Homeless women have to deal with being victimized in shelters by some male residents. Takeaways · 81 percent of single homeless people enter and exit shelters quickly. · The Salvation Army allows for a three-night stay. · Between 700,000 and 800,000 people are homeless on any given night. Comment | Add your own article to our site Between 700,000 and 800,000 people are homeless on any given night. People like Roger and David who when they moved to Dallas thought it would be a haven. Most families beco

EZH2: Enzyme That Promotes Cancer May Also Prevent It

READ LATER COMMENT E-MAIL PRINT May Help Researchers Stop the Process of Tumor Development Click to rate: Bad < > Good Published Jan 12, 2006 by Terri Rimmer ryze.com, Adoption.about.com Related Content View all (6 total) The Children's Health Environmental Coalition... Row, Row, Row Your Boat: One Man's Battle Aga... How to Talk to and Support a Friend Facing Ca... More by Terri Rimmer View all (230 total) Bars, Live Music and Nightlife in Fort Worth How to Not Get Conned An Obscure Read Did you know? Cancer will affect 1 in 3 individuals. Takeaways · EZH2 is a biomarker enzyme. · Leandra Smith was diagnosed with cancer in 1996. · Terry Healey was diagnosed with a disfiguring cancer. Comment | Add your own article to our site An enzyme that promotes cancer may prevent it according to new research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A protein that identifies aggressiveness appears in two forms, according to CancerWise, a publication of the C

Money To The Wind

By Terri Rimmer Ronnie used to pay for everything with plastic, get a high off of his weekends in Shreveport, and stroll through life without a care in the world – or so it seemed. Today he has been unemployed for months, is trying to get on disability, and has to sell junk he finds just to put gas in his car. “Most of my money I lost gambling,” he told his friend Elaine recently to which she gasped. Not most of his money – all of it. When one woman dated him briefly she thought he was rich the way he flashed his credit cards around all the time, paying for everything at expensive restaurants, movies; etc. Until she saw his house and how it was falling apart at the seams. “I should be ashamed of myself living like this,” he said and she silently agreed though she knew he was in the throes of a gambling addiction that he was in denial about. Gone are the days when Ronnie would travel to the casinos out of town to gamble and come back a lot of times with a lot of money, excited to the co