Will Gordon, senior advisor at Manatt Health and former CMMI Chief Informatics Officer, explains CARA (a voluntary component of the ACO REACH/LEAD model starting in 2027) and why it matters for value-based care in specialties.

He outlines three converging themes: episode-based bundles—especially surgical/orthopedic—have shown savings (often from post-acute care); ACOs have struggled to operationalize bundles due to contracting, attribution, and reconciliation complexity; and specialists have largely remained outside value-based care.

CARA aims to bridge these gaps by letting ACOs and specialists set up CMS-facilitated episode-based risk arrangements via a web-based portal, using predefined episodes or a customizable “max flex” option, while specialists continue billing fee-for-service and CMS performs retrospective reconciliation against target prices.

The discussion also covers operational platform constraints, market-driven episode design, and the flow of funds in retrospective bundles.

For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

Conor Green of Truehelm (formerly TT Capital Partners) joins to discuss the firm’s rebrand, its healthcare-only growth equity/growth buyout strategy, and current market dynamics. He outlines Truehelm's focus on founder-owned, tech-enabled services businesses selling to hospitals, health plans, employers, and life sciences, often bootstrapped and “skipping venture."

Conor and HTN cover today’s valuation dislocation amid AI uncertainty, slower deal processes and re-trading, niche investing themes in rev cycle and employer/payer services, and an exit market logjam from peak-era buys that may clear as return expectations reset.

For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

Andrea Ippolito joins Health Tech NErds to discuss SimpliFed’s $10.8M Series A and how the company is expanding from virtual breastfeeding and baby-feeding support into a broader virtual OB model.

She explains SimpliFed’s insurance-covered care model across commercial, Medicaid, and TRICARE; its go-to-market strategy through health plans plus provider enrollment and integrations with OB/GYN workflows via an AI-enabled, interoperable maternal health operating system and native EMR.

The conversation covers the “unbundling” of global maternity payments back toward fee-for-service, the trade-offs across access, quality, and cost, and why investing more in prenatal and postpartum care can reduce costly interventions. Ito outlines SimpliFed’s care team (IBCLCs, some NPs), studies on outcomes and cost reduction, and growth plans to support 5% of US births by 2026.

For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe