Sidecar Health has formed a partnership with Carrum Health to bring Carrum’s specialty care network onto its platform, giving members access to more than 1,200 Centers of Excellence (COE) providers for surgical, cancer, and substance use treatment. According to the companies, 90% of Americans live within 50 miles of a Carrum provider. Carrum, a Fierce 15 of 2025 honoree, has spent the past decade building a value-based COE model that bundles payments, ensures price transparency, and provides dedicated care navigation. Its approach has been independently validated to reduce unnecessary procedures by up to 30%, cut readmissions by 80%, and lower employer costs by as much as 45% per surgical episode, while also offering warranties on surgery and cancer care.
The collaboration marks Sidecar Health’s first COE partnership and extends its hallmark model of upfront pricing and cost transparency to complex specialty care. Members will benefit from bundled prices instead of fragmented bills, faster access to top-tier providers without prior authorizations, and guaranteed financial outcomes. Sidecar, also a Fierce 15 honoree, is working to disrupt employer-sponsored health insurance with a unique approach that lets members see provider prices upfront, compare options, and share in savings when they choose lower-cost care.
Executives from both companies emphasized their shared vision of transforming healthcare by empowering patients, rewarding quality, and controlling costs. “This partnership offers Sidecar Health members another tool to help find high-quality providers for complex procedures,” said Sidecar CEO Patrick Quigley, highlighting the benefits of transparency and confidence in care decisions. Carrum Health’s chief growth officer, Brent Nicholson, called the deal “a signal to the market that there is a better way to pay for and deliver healthcare.”
For Carrum, the partnership opens new opportunities beyond its traditional base of large self-funded employers, while for Sidecar members it addresses growing demand for accessible, affordable specialty care. With employer healthcare costs expected to rise another 8% this year - and specialty care already accounting for nearly half of that spend - the tie-up underscores the increasing role of COEs in controlling costs and improving outcomes.
Click here to read the original news story.