Marathon Health partners with employers and unions to provide advanced primary care, mental health services, and occupational health through onsite, near-site, and virtual health centers. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Marathon Health’s former CEO, turned board member, Dr. Jeff Wells, to learn more.
Core Products
What are Marathon Health’s core products and services? Dr. Wells said:
“Marathon Health enables millions of Americans to live their healthiest lives while helping employers stabilize costs—a simple equation with powerful results. Our core service, advanced primary care (APC), focuses on preventive, proactive, and holistic patient care, unlike the traditional fee-for-service approach.”
“With Marathon, APC is made readily accessible to employers and their employees, through flexible channels—dedicated or shared, onsite or nearsite, 95+ open access centers nationwide, and of course, virtual care. Our model is proactive, tech-enabled, and focused on population health: providers who prioritize relationships with patients, value of care, and outcomes over volume.”
“With same- or next-day access and at little to no cost, Marathon’s health centers and APC model serve as a home for up to 90% of members’ physical and mental health needs, including occupational health, chronic condition and lifestyle management, mental health, musculoskeletal care, medication dispensing, specialty care navigation, and more.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Dr. Wells shared:
“I am a primary care physician by training. My time directly caring for patients and running the State of Indiana’s Medicaid program validated what I already believed to be a longstanding truth—the vast majority of people across the U.S. simply do not have access to the right primary care. This means patients end up being served in high-cost settings, like emergency rooms or urgent care centers. Even worse, this lack of access to personalized and preventive-focused care is precisely why America spends more on healthcare than nearly all other countries, and yet has some of the poorest health outcomes.
As a physician, I saw this cycle play out repeatedly with my patients. For example, heart disease that progressed unchecked because they couldn’t see a primary care doctor regularly. These patients weren’t getting sick because they lacked insurance or didn’t care about their health—they were getting sick because they couldn’t access the kind of continuous, relationship-based care that actually keeps people healthy.
What Americans need is expanded access to APC—and by that, I mean something fundamentally different from the rushed 15-minute visits that are standard in our current system. We built Marathon Health more than 20 years ago precisely for this purpose—to ensure more Americans have access to the kind of primary care that can meet up to 90% of their needs regardless of where they live.”
Advance Primary Care Differentiation
What makes Advanced Primary Care different from other seemingly similar models of care available today? Dr. Wells explained:
“As a primary care physician, I can tell you that APC is fundamentally different from the traditional healthcare model—and that difference matters enormously for patient outcomes.
Time and access: Our patients get same-day or next-day appointments when they need them. We schedule longer visits—30 to 45 minutes, not the industry-standard 15—which means Marathon providers can listen with care and address what’s really going on. When a patient calls or messages with a concern, they can get support in real time, not wait weeks or get shuffled to urgent care.”
Proactive prevention: Instead of waiting for patients to show up sick, we identify and manage health risks before they spiral into expensive emergencies. That means earlier cancer detection, catching pre-diabetes before it becomes diabetes, and addressing depression before it leads to a crisis. Prevention isn’t just better for patients—it keeps care out of high-cost settings, and avoids unnecessary care altogether.
Whole-person care: At Marathon, we don’t just treat symptoms. Our providers address the underlying factors affecting patients’ health—their chronic conditions, yes, but also their lifestyle, their stress, their living situation, and their ability to afford medications. Health doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and effective care can’t either.”
Continuity: Our providers are empowered to build real relationships with their patients and their care teams. They know a patients’ history, their family dynamics, what motivates them, and the unique barriers they face. A trusted relationship between a provider and a patient, built in a safe and open environment, is transformative on so many levels.
Here’s what matters just as much: APC aligns with how providers truly want to practice. Every physician I know went into medicine to build meaningful patient relationships, to help people make lasting behavior changes, and to use healthcare resources responsibly. But the current system makes that nearly impossible.
At Marathon Health, our providers get more time with patients, have more opportunities to promote healthy habits, and are able to team with other providers who share a singular mission—enabling patients to live their healthiest lives. It’s a return to what drew them to medicine to begin with.”
Partnerships With Marathon Health
What types of employers realize the most value by partnering with Marathon Health? Dr. Wells pointed out:
“We partner with self-insured employers who are ready to reimagine healthcare for their workforce—with a particular focus on public sector organizations. Our clients span business services, consumer goods, education, energy and utilities, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and labor organizations.
These employers recognize a fundamental truth: traditional health plan coverage alone doesn’t adequately support employee health and well-being. They’re building something better—a proactive, integrated approach to workforce health that puts prevention first and treats the whole person.
This means addressing not just episodic illness, but the full spectrum of health needs: managing high-cost chronic conditions, providing timely mental health support, and catching problems early through preventive screenings and lifestyle strategies. It’s healthcare that meets people where they are—physically, mentally, and emotionally—rather than waiting for them to get sick enough to seek help.
Our most successful partnerships are with organizations that understand healthcare is an investment in their people, not just a cost to manage.”
Evolution Of The Approach
How has the company’s approach to Advanced Primary Care evolved since launching? Dr. Wells noted:
“Since Marathon Health’s inception, we’ve adapted our model to serve the changing landscape of employer-sponsored healthcare. Our foundation was built on delivering onsite APC—to eliminate access barriers and meet employees where they work, enabling convenient care during the workday.
The modern workforce, however, demands a more sophisticated approach. Today’s employees are geographically dispersed across urban centers, suburbs, and underserved rural communities—many facing significant barriers to quality preventive medicine. We recognized that a single-site solution could no longer adequately serve this distributed and diverse population.
In response, we now offer a wide range of shared access models as well as robust virtual care capabilities—each anchored in the same evidence-based APC principles. This flexible infrastructure helps ensure unfettered access to high-quality preventive care, regardless of where employees live or work, or how they prefer to engage with their care team.
Beyond our core primary care services, we’ve strategically expanded our clinical offerings to address the full spectrum of workforce health needs. Marathon now integrates mental health, physical therapy, pharmacy services, lifestyle programs, and occupational health—all delivered through the same coordinated, patient-centered approach. This comprehensive care model allows us to manage the complex, interconnected health needs of today’s workforce, improving outcomes and reducing downstream healthcare costs.”
Why Marathon Health Is Ideal
Why is Marathon Health a desirable place for providers to practice? Dr. Wells affirmed:
“Primary care providers choose this specialty because they are fundamentally driven by mission and service. At Marathon Health, our model and culture don’t just acknowledge this calling—we celebrate it. We remove the barriers that prevent providers from doing what drew them to medicine in the first place: building deep, longitudinal patient relationships and meaningfully improving health outcomes over time.
This commitment is possible because Marathon is clinically led at every level. I practiced as a primary care provider myself, and Dr. Nirav Vakharia, our chief operating officer, brings the same clinical lens to operations. We don’t just value our providers’ work—we live it. We understand the real-world complexity of patient care, particularly in an APC model that demands more time, more nuance, more empathy, and more trust than traditional fee-for-service allows.
Our providers know their leadership understands the realities they face daily. This transparency and candor empower care teams to practice at the top of their license and deliver high-quality, relationship-based care. It’s also why we retain 90% of our providers year over year—because providers stay where they feel supported, trusted, and able to practice medicine the way it should be practiced.”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share a specific customer and patient success story? Dr. Wells highlighted:
“A 50-year-old male Iron Worker on the West Coast visited Marathon Health with an acute complaint. Following successful treatment and given his positive experience, he returned for his first annual physical in years.
After disclosing concerning symptoms during the visit, a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was ordered and revealed moderately elevated levels. His Marathon providers referred him to urology, where a biopsy identified stage I prostate cancer. Fortunately, within six months of his initial labs, the patient underwent treatment and had no evidence of disease on follow-up.
This case exemplifies how an APC model—prioritizing continuity, thoroughness, and patient-centered communication—enables early detection and timely intervention. The patient’s trust in the care team, built through initial acute care management, facilitated appropriate preventive screening that likely altered his health trajectory.
Our model also consistently demonstrates both improved health metrics and cost reduction. As part of our partnership with Briggs & Stratton, they adopted our Total Worker Health strategy across eight production facilities. The manufacturing leader integrated advanced primary care at onsite health centers with physical therapy and occupational health, informed by a deep analysis of workforce data. The program prepares their new employees for physically demanding jobs, intervenes before issues become injuries, and makes facilities safer places to work–leading to $1.5+ million in savings from a reduction in injuries, presenteeism, lost time, and employee turnover.”
Helping Patients In Rural Areas
How does your company specifically help patients living in rural areas? Dr. Wells reflected:
“A significant portion of Marathon Health’s client base consists of employers in rural communities—and we approach this work differently. Our providers live and work in or near these communities. They understand the local culture, the economic realities, and the social drivers of health that shape their patients’ lives in ways that can’t be captured on a chart.
This matters clinically. Trust is built faster when your physician knows the community hospital, understands transportation barriers, and recognizes the real challenges patients face in accessing specialty care or affording medications. That local presence creates the foundation for genuine relationships.
But we also recognize that even in rural areas, not every patient can access onsite care. Geography, shift work, and family obligations create barriers. That’s why our model integrates virtual APC seamlessly with onsite and nearsite offerings—not as a lesser alternative, but as a robust care delivery method.
Regardless of modality, the care itself remains unchanged: relationship-based, longitudinal, and focused on the whole patient. Whether a patient sees their provider face-to-face or on screen, they receive the same depth of attention, the same continuity, and the same commitment to addressing root causes. That consistency is what defines quality APC, and it’s what our patients deserve no matter where they live or how they connect with us.”
Offsetting Rising Costs
With healthcare costs set to rise for employers and employees in 2026, how can Marathon Health help offset these rising costs? Dr. Wells emphasized:
“We don’t just talk about bending the healthcare cost curve—we’ve done it, repeatedly, with measurable results. Marathon Health’s APC model has a proven track record of reducing total healthcare expenditures for employers, not through rationing or restricting access, but through intelligent, clinically-driven care.
The model works because it prioritizes what keeps people healthy. But there’s another critical element that sets us apart: we empower our providers to guide patients toward specialty care that delivers the highest clinical value—not simply the highest price tag. When a Marathon provider refers a patient to a specialist, that decision is informed not only by clinical necessity but by a rigorous assessment of quality and cost-effectiveness. Patients can trust that they won’t be sent to a specialist unnecessarily, or to one whose outcomes don’t justify their fees.
A comprehensive approach to health management doesn’t just improve employee health—it fundamentally alters the financial trajectory. Insurance claims decline. Premium growth stabilizes. And the return on investment is undeniable.
Employers who partner with Marathon Health found the program paid for itself in just one year, on average. Also, engaged members save an average of $93 per member per month ($113 PMPM for those with chronic conditions)—driven by fewer inpatient admissions, urgent care visits, and ED episodes.
Just as importantly, Marathon’s services are offered at no or low cost, eliminating the financial friction that prevents patients from seeking care early, when intervention is simplest and most effective. This is what happens when clinical excellence and fiscal responsibility are aligned. Better care costs less upfront, and everyone benefits.”
Goals
What can employers and providers expect from Marathon Health? Dr. Wells concluded:
“In 2026, our strategic focus centers on several key areas designed to better serve the employers and workforces we partner with, and—critically—the providers who care for these populations.
For our providers at the point of care, we are deepening our investment in the tools, technologies, and support systems they need to guide patients through comprehensive preventive care journeys. This is not ancillary to our mission—it is foundational. The evidence is clear and the logic irrefutable: supported, fulfilled providers deliver better care.
For the employers and employees we serve, we are expanding our clinical network to broaden access to onsite, nearsite, and virtual APC across the country. But expansion alone is insufficient. We are simultaneously investing in technologies that enhance both care delivery and transparency—asynchronous care capabilities that meet patients where they are, and advanced data and analytics platforms that allow us to measure what matters.
This dual commitment—to our providers and to the populations they serve—is what will define our growth and impact in the year ahead.”
