Carrum Health Presses Pause on All Elective Procedures Effective Immediately

In Support of U.S. Surgeon General's Request That All Hospitals Stop Elective Procedures, Carrum Health Is Postponing All Scheduled Procedures Until After April 30, 2020

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Carrum Health

Mar 16, 2020, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carrum Health, the first digital health company connecting employers and employees directly with Centers of Excellence (COEs) providers through its bundled payment platform, today announced it is standing with the U.S. Surgeon General by stopping all elective procedures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and free up hospital resources.

On Saturday, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted to America: "Hospital & healthcare systems, PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve!"

"We all have a social responsibility to do what's best for public health and to take a stand for what's right," said Carrum Health Co-founder and CEO Sach Jain. "Right now, the most important thing we can do is protect the welfare of patients, doctors, nurses and the system itself. By postponing procedures, we're doing what we can to ensure the safety of patients and give our clinical partners the resources and support they need to care for the sick."

Although taking a financial hit is risky for any company, on Friday Carrum began issuing letters to its team and clients alerting them that all elective procedures through April 30 will be postponed. More than 100 self-insured employers, ranging in size from 2,000 employees and dependents to more than 180,000, currently use the Carrum Health platform. These include public service organizations throughout the states of California, Maine and Connecticut, as well as leading Fortune 500 companies like US Foods. Carrum has also issued letters to its COE partners, which include leading hospitals and facilities like Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, Rush Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Stanford Health Care and Scripps.

"The time to step up and do something is now," said Jain. "We must safeguard the most vulnerable through social distancing and create space for clinicians to care for the sick. We're in uncharted territory and our community and health systems need to come first. It's absolutely critical."

How Carrum Health Works
Committed to pushing the industry towards value-based care, Carrum is the only digital platform that directly connects employers to top surgeons for common procedures at the nation's best hospitals, often at no cost to the patient. Through Carrum, employers can take advantage of bundled payments for several of the highest-cost medical spend areas, including musculoskeletal, bariatrics, neurosurgery and cardiovascular specialties. Carrum negotiates these bundled payments with COEs, ensuring that patients do not receive surprise bills for their procedures, common with the traditional fee-for-service payment model.

About Carrum Health
Carrum Health was founded in 2014 with a mission to "bring common sense to healthcare" through a value-based healthcare model that benefits providers, employers, and their employees. Headquartered in San Francisco, Carrum's award-winning Centers of Excellence (COE) technology connects self-insured employers with providers under payment arrangements to better manage healthcare costs. By aligning provider incentives with quality performance, Carrum drives improvements in patient experience and health outcomes. Customers include large Fortune 500 companies and public sector organizations. For more information, visit carrumhealth.com.

SOURCE Carrum Health