Prime Highlights
- The partnership embeds Carrum’s Centers of Excellence network into Included Health’s Alternative Health Plan for more predictable specialty care costs.
- The collaboration targets high-cost, high-variability treatments such as surgeries, cancer care and substance use disorder treatment.
Key Facts
- Carrum Health provides employers with bundled-price access to top treatment centers nationwide, with zero out-of-pocket costs for employees.
- Included Health announced plans in July to acquire Firefly Health to expand its health plan alternatives for employers.
Background
Carrum Health, providing value-based Centers of Excellence for employers, joins hands with Included Health, a company that provides services for virtual care and health navigation. Carrum Health will integrate its specialty care network into the Alternative Health Plan of Included Health.
The deal is expected to bring together plan design, navigation, and value-based care through one process. It happens against a backdrop of increasing healthcare expenses for employers. According to the Business Group on Health, the country recently saw its highest three-year stretch of healthcare cost growth in over a decade. The integration is expected to offer greater cost predictability through bundled rates, outcomes accountability and simplified contracting.
Carrum’s chief health officer said the collaboration would help members access high-quality care sooner, with clearer guidance and costs, while giving employers a more practical way to manage high-cost medical needs.
The move follows Included Health’s launch of an alternative health plan design for employers earlier this year, as well as its planned acquisition of Firefly Health, announced in July, aimed at scaling health plan alternatives for employers.
The Carrum-Included partnership will target treatment areas with high cost variability, including surgeries, cancer care and substance use disorder treatment. Included Health will identify specialty care needs through primary care visits, navigation touchpoints and claims data, referring patients to Carrum before transitioning them back for ongoing support after treatment.
Carrum’s chief commercial officer said the partnership offers employers a single solution to manage both primary and specialty care, reducing the number of benefits solutions employers must coordinate.
