Consumer telehealth · Cancer care navigation
Thyme Care
Thyme Care is a cancer care navigation company based in Nashville, Tennessee, whose nurses and care partners support people with cancer by phone between oncology visits, offered at no cost to members of the health plans and oncology practices it works with.
Strong fit
- Medicare Advantage and commercial health plan members whose plan offers Thyme Care
- People newly diagnosed with cancer who need help finding an oncologist and getting appointments quickly
- Patients in treatment who want a nurse to call about side effects before they turn into an emergency room visit
Weak fit
- Anyone whose plan or oncology practice does not work with Thyme Care
- Patients looking for a second opinion or for doctors who will treat their cancer
- People who would rather not get regular check-in calls
Bottom line
Thyme Care gives people with cancer a nurse-led team to call between oncology visits, for symptoms, scheduling, transport, and money problems, and it coordinates with the doctors who treat them. It is worth using for anyone whose health plan offers it, since it costs the member nothing. It does not diagnose or treat cancer, so it works alongside an oncologist.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
Thyme Care is used by adults with cancer, and by people going through tests for a possible cancer, whose health plan or oncology practice has a contract with it. Most of those members are on Medicare Advantage plans, although new CEO Brad Diephuis told MobiHealthNews in September 2026 that commercial health plans are a growing share. Members get 24/7 phone access to oncology nurses and care partners who help them understand their treatment, find resources, and manage symptoms, and who work with the member's existing doctors, according to the Thyme Care homepage.
On price, Thyme Care is a health plan benefit: the plan or a risk-bearing oncology group pays, and the member pays nothing. Its main competitors are the cancer navigation programs that health plans and cancer centers run themselves, and, for health plan contracts, other plan-paid virtual specialty providers that HIR has reviewed in other conditions, including Pomelo Care for maternity and Oshi Health for digestive care.
The company was founded in 2020 by Robin Shah and Bobby Green, an oncologist who is now its president and chief medical officer, and moved its CEO role to Diephuis in July 2026. Its services are available to more than 10.5 million people in all 50 states, and it manages more than $7 billion in oncology spending, CNBC reported when Thyme Care raised a $125 million Series E at a valuation above $2 billion. CNBC also reported that revenue passed $125 million in 2025, five times the year before, and that the company is profitable.
The service is most useful in the weeks around a diagnosis, when people struggle to get a first oncology appointment, and during treatment, when a nurse can catch side effects early. Shah has said the team often engages members before they have a confirmed diagnosis, and helps with practical problems such as transport and bills, in a 2022 interview. Diephuis said the team grew from about 70 people to more than 800, serving over 125,000 members across 14 clients.
Its limits are mostly about access. A person cannot sign up on their own unless their plan offers Thyme Care, and the service adds calls and check-ins that some patients will not want while they are already dealing with several doctors.
What members and buyers say
What people like
"When my mother was diagnosed, the nurse at Thyme Care got her an oncology appointment within days. The first office had offered a date a month out."
"Having one number to call about nausea at night kept us from going to the ER twice during chemo."
What people don't like
"It only works if your insurance plan has signed up, and our employer plan did not offer it."
"Between the oncology office, the hospital, and the plan's navigators, it was a lot of different people calling about the same treatment."
Where customer reviews couldn't be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums, and product documentation.
Based on: Thyme Care homepage, Authority Magazine interview with Robin Shah, and MobiHealthNews interview with Brad Diephuis.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Thyme Care | 7.6 | 7.2 |
| Pomelo Care | 7.8 | 7.4 |
| Equip | 7.7 | 7.2 |
| Oshi Health | 7.4 | 7.6 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | Health plans and risk-bearing oncology groups pay Thyme Care, and support is free to the member. |
| What usually drives cost | For a member, nothing changes the cost. For a health plan or oncology group, the contract terms set it. |
| What to ask before you buy | Ask your health plan or oncology practice whether you are eligible, and how Thyme Care shares updates with your oncologist. |
| Note | Thyme Care supports your cancer care and does not replace your oncologist. |
| Published pricing | Thyme Care does not publish contract prices. Members pay nothing for the service. |
Leadership
Robin ShahCo-founder; Executive Chairman, Thyme Companies- Brad Diephuis, MDChief Executive Officer
- Bobby Green, MDCo-founder, President and Chief Medical Officer
Methodology
| Weight | Factor | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | Customer outcomes | Whether buyers get measurable operational or clinical-workflow results after go-live |
| 30% | Product | Capability depth, reliability, and fit for the job the category buys |
| 20% | Implementation | How hard it is to stand up, integrate, train, and stabilize |
| 15% | Pricing clarity | Whether a buyer can model total cost without a mystery quote |
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highly recommend | Strong outcomes and product with manageable caveats |
| Recommend | Solid fit for the right buyer; know the tradeoffs |
| Conditional | Only with a specific use case or heavy caveats |
| Not recommended | Avoid for most buyers in this category |
Read our full methodology for how we weight scores and assign recommend labels.