Carrum Health Brings Bundled Cancer Care Offerings to West Coast Through Alliance with City of Hope
Centers of Excellence platform guides breast cancer patients to top-performing providers, improving outcomes and decreasing healthcare costs
Carrum Health, the first digital health company connecting employers and employees to Centers of Excellence (COEs) through a technology-powered value-based care platform, extended the reach of its bundled cancer care through an alliance with City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States. First launched on the East Coast last year, Carrum Health is now offering its fixed price comprehensive bundle for first-time, non-metastatic breast cancer treatment, including a two-year warranty on care, at City of Hope facilities throughout Southern California. This includes more than 35 convenient locations including its newly opened City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center.
Cancer care has become increasingly expensive. Costs attributable to cancer are expected to rise as much as 30% between 2015 and 2030. For employers, cancer coverage is among the top three spend categories, accounting for as much as 15% of their overall annual healthcare spend. Contributing to these costs are cancer drug prices that have increased 25% in the years after their launches and a rise in the complexity of diagnoses as a result of delayed screenings during the pandemic.
“Cancer treatments haven’t historically been included in bundled payments because of their length of treatment and complexity of cases. But we know that they are top of mind for self-insured employers trying to tackle rising healthcare costs and access the best quality of care for their employees,” said Sach Jain, CEO and founder of Carrum Health. “Carrum Health eases these concerns with the only value-based bundled payment programs for oncology. Since launching the industry’s first comprehensive cancer care bundle last year, we’ve seen great demand from employers looking to offer their employees access to top cancer specialists closer to home. We are proud to work with City of Hope to make this a reality.”
City of Hope was recently recognized as the seventh “Best Hospital” for cancer in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23 Best Hospitals annual rankings. This marks the 16th consecutive year it has been distinguished as one of the nation’s elite cancer hospitals. City of Hope brings together an interdisciplinary team of specialists who closely collaborate to tailor each patient’s care from start to finish. As a National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center, City of Hope is recognized as a cancer care organization that “meets rigorous standards for transdisciplinary, state-of-the-art research focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.”
“Being told you have cancer is a disorienting experience; people deserve to receive care that is coordinated and compassionate,” said Harlan Levine, M.D., president of Strategy and Business Ventures, City of Hope. “City of Hope prides itself at being at the forefront of innovation — not only in cancer treatment, but also in adopting new payment models and in providing patients with greater access to its unique clinical services. We always want to be part of innovative health care delivery models like Carrum Health’s that facilitate access to leading-edge care and research, improve patient experience and outcomes, and reduce health disparity.”
With Carrum Health’s bundled cancer care package patients with non-metastatic breast cancer may be eligible to receive up to two years of treatment at City of Hope, including excision surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, care for treatment-related complications, and interdisciplinary check-ins and follow-ups.
With the Carrum Health cancer care offering, diagnosis and treatment services are bundled into a single, upfront payment, benefiting both employers and patients. This approach gives employers full transparency into the cost of care and can save them on each case by ensuring patients get the most appropriate care, compared to traditional fee-for-service billing, all while directing employees to City of Hope cancer specialists who have passed Carrum Health’s rigorous quality evaluation. Access to these providers gives patients peace of mind that they are getting the best possible care, with little to no out-of-pocket costs.
