Scripps Health belongs to a growing specialty-care network that connects employers and covered patients with designated providers for selected procedures and treatment programs, positioning one of San Diego’s largest health systems at the center of a broader shift in how employers purchase high-cost specialty care.

Carrum Health is advancing its model, which it describes as a value-based Centers of Excellence network. In practical terms, that means employers contract for access to selected hospitals and specialists through bundled arrangements intended to emphasize cost predictability and clinical performance.

For San Diego, the local significance is straightforward. A Carrum provider-locations document lists Scripps Health in San Diego as one of the company’s Centers of Excellence sites. Separately, HealthTrust reported that several Scripps spine surgeons participate in centers-of-excellence programs sponsored by Carrum Health and the Pacific Business Group on Health.

Taken together, these documents confirm that Scripps belongs to Carrum’s network and that its physicians participate in related programs, placing the health system at the center of the conversation about centers of excellence.

That matters because arrangements like these may affect where some employer-covered patients receive specialty care, particularly for complex or expensive treatment episodes. Instead of relying solely on traditional referral patterns, employers and benefit managers may increasingly encourage patients to use designated hospitals and surgeons.

The trend appears to be gaining momentum nationally. Fierce Healthcare reported in 2025 that Carrum was expanding both its Centers of Excellence network and the specialty services available through it, including gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecologic surgery, pain management, and urology. Carrum later said its network had grown to more than 1,000 locations nationwide.

For San Diego physicians and hospital leaders, Scripps’ presence in that network is a sign that the region is already part of a changing specialty-care landscape — one in which clinical reputation still matters, but so do employer relationships, network designation, and the ability to demonstrate value in a more structured way.