More than one year after Indianapolis-based Marathon Health and Denver-based Everside Health merged, the primary care providers completed their integration in late March.
Operating as Marathon Health, the merger brought together more than 750 health centers across 41 states and virtual care across the U.S. Marathon Health now covers more than 3 million people, up from 2.5 million at the beginning of the merger.
Becker’s connected with Jeff Wells, MD, CEO of Marathon Health, to discuss the opportunities in integrating two like-minded primary care providers, along with the critical role of clinician and technology input and the need to focus on healthcare through a value-based approach.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What were the biggest challenges in completing the merger integration? How did you overcome them?
Dr. Jeff Wells: We knew going into the merger that despite how closely aligned our organizations were in mission and values, there was still a mountain of work that had to be done, and quickly, to create a cohesive company. The biggest challenge was tackling this work in a way that didn’t impact the experiences of our clients, clinicians, and patients. Part of that was making sure that the integration didn’t drag on — executing with speed without sacrificing quality. For example, migrating nearly 370 health centers and 1,300 providers to our Ignite tech platform without disrupting patient care.
The dedication and hard work of our Marathon Health teammates, and the confidence and collaboration of our client partners, are what allowed us to complete the merger in a year in the manner we envisioned. The best process, including around change management, only goes so far — it’s the people on the ground who made success possible with how they showed up.
It was not without its bumps along the way, and we learned many valuable lessons. At the same time, we maintained or improved key metrics, such as client and provider retention, which reflects the quality of these relationships.
Q: How did unifying under a single technology platform improve patient outcomes and clinician collaboration?
JW: Beyond moving toward the single tech platform, we wanted to get the individuals doing the work — our provider and medical assistant teams — engaged early to inform us how to move forward with our platform integration, and the ultimate experience and utility of our systems.
They had the best understanding of what needed to happen, and of the exam room implications of the decisions being made. We wanted the platform to work for them, not against them.
Technology should support care team collaboration broadly, to enable continuity and convenience with in-person and telehealth visits and with all that occurs along the patient journey. Importantly, it should support relationship building vs. distract from it. Our tech helps our providers build the kind of transformative relationships that improve the patient experience and create better outcomes and health.
Q: With the merger complete, how do you see Marathon Health shaping the future of employer-sponsored care over the next three to five years?
JW: Only about 45% of U.S. adults had a strong primary care relationship before COVID. Provider supply and population health impact are still falling. It’s hard to ignore the signs pointing to primary care as a dying field. The current reimbursement environment is set up to fail the workforce, fail patients and fail providers who are asked to see 20, 30, even 40 people a day, let alone the admin burden involved. This won’t be fixed without a shift from a fee-for-service to a value-based approach.
That’s where we see organizations like ours being the answer to the problem over the next few years and beyond. Our approach is built to attract the best clinical talent in the industry and set them up to do their best work. We’re able to control the workload for our providers and staff to make sure they aren’t working during “pajama time” and are able to keep themselves rested and healthy to bring their best to the exam room each day. When providers are empowered, when their workload and decision making is supported by a value-based paradigm, the patient’s experience is fundamentally better. More so, the conditions are there for a long-term, trusted relationship — this unlocks limitless potential for the change that can occur, the results that can be achieved.
Q: How did your leadership approach evolve during the integration process? What lessons will you carry forward as Marathon Health continues to grow?
JW: If you rely solely on the leadership of one person, it’s not going to go well. Same goes for a rigid approach that can’t nimbly adjust for the on-the-ground realities. With the integration, we relied on leaders at every level of our organization to keep us moving forward, on the best path, with our near- and long-term goals in mind.
This isn’t possible without a strong investment in culture, vision and in learning from our frontline teammates. They helped us make sure our change management strategy was relevant, helpful, and enabled our people to be their best. We aren’t perfect — there’s still plenty to be done and to improve — but we were and are continually progressing, learning and becoming a better version of Marathon Health.
