Bundled payments get a boost in Maine and Connecticut with employee programs

New bundled-payment arrangements by Maine and Connecticut for their state employee health plans could accelerate the current sluggish growth of that value-based model in the private sector.

Carrum Health has said that Maine now offers state employees, early retirees and dependents access to the company’s center-of-excellence program, which pairs patients with selected providers for more than 100 musculoskeletal, bariatric and cardiovascular procedures. Connecticut similarly will offer Carrum’s network to members of its state employee benefit plan starting sometime next year.

Maine patients initially have access to those services at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston and Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute in Hartford. A Maine health system soon will join Carrum’s network, said Sach Jain, CEO of the San Francisco-based company. Patients also can receive services at any center in Carrum’s U.S. network, including in Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; San Diego; San Francisco; and Seattle.