Approximately one in six working adults in the U.S. suffers from a substance use disorder, and nearly 10% of American employees suffer from a cannabis or stimulant use disorder.
Recognizing this, Carrum Health has expanded its substance use disorder treatment program to include cannabis, sedatives and stimulants, the company announced Wednesday. Previously it only covered opioids and alcohol. The company offers a value-based specialty care Centers of Excellence solution for self-insured employers.
Carrum’s support for the use of cannabis, sedatives and stimulants is based on his framework for the use of opioids and alcohol. When a member seeks support, they begin with an intake process with a licensed counselor, who then connects them with the appropriate provider for care, which may include inpatient detox, residential treatment, intensive outpatient care, or partial hospitalization. Carrum’s network of substance use providers includes Hazelden Betty Ford, Recovery Centers of America and The Meadows Behavioral Healthcare.
Providers have value-based agreements, where they are paid based on achieving outcomes such as sobriety or reduction in substance use.
“It’s usually the high-quality providers who are willing to say, ‘Yes, I’m willing to adopt a different payment model, where I don’t have to deal with the pain of being charged and asked to discharge patients earlier than I think is prudent, and I’m willing to take risks in return.’ That’s a big deal,” said Christoph Dankert, chief network officer at Carrum Health. “If you’re a substance treatment provider and if a patient has to come back for treatment because it didn’t quite work, most of this is on you. It’s a big step, and I think this wouldn’t work if there weren’t providers who were so committed to their clinical mission.”
Carrum Health started with alcohol and opioids, as these substances account for the majority of people affected by substance use disorders. The company decided to expand its program after hearing a need from its customers.
“We want to serve every patient who comes to us with a substance use problem,” Dankert said. “It was very painful for us when we had patients [who] I finally decided to take the next step and say, ‘I have a problem with cannabis,’ and we can’t help them. It breaks your heart. We basically said we want our processes to run smoothly, to have everything figured out for alcohol and opioids. And once we reached that milestone, we said, ‘Okay, now we’re ready.'”
Carrum’s expansion comes amid a 35% increase in THC potency since legalization and a 20% year-over-year increase in stimulant prescriptions. At the same time, cocaine and methamphetamine are becoming more lethal due to frequent contamination with fentanyl.
To track the success of this expansion, Carrum will follow several key metrics, according to Dankert. This includes how many patients come to the company for support, the substance they have a problem with, how quickly treatment begins, and how effective that treatment is.
By launching the expanded program, Carrum ultimately aims to be able to care for “any patient who comes in with a substance use problem,” Dankert said.
“Now that we have this complete coverage, it is also possible [about]How to reach those patients who have not yet made the commitment to move forward? How do you encourage those people? How do you educate those people about those benefits? “I think that’s the next logical step,” he said.
Carrum also recently announced that it has doubled the number of lives covered on its platform to 6.7 million people, an increase of 3.6 million people from last year.
Other specialty care companies include Lantern and Transcarent.
Photo: Nataliia Nesterenko, Getty Images