Reprinted with permission from the August 12, 2025 issue of BenefitsPRO. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Walk the aisles of any workplace and chances are you’ll meet dozens of people quietly managing not one, but several chronic conditions. This is our new reality. The prevalence of employees living with multiple chronic conditions is not a distant concern for tomorrow; it’s the defining health crisis of now.
More than half of U.S. adults now live with two or more chronic conditions, a staggering statistic that’s driving health care costs sky-high and overwhelming both patients and providers. Employees with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) incur persistent health care costs up to 10 times higher than those without chronic conditions, according research published in The American Journal of Managed Care, creating a significant burden on the health care system. What does this mean for employers? It means the stakes have never been higher for improved health, productivity, and the bottom line.
As a clinical pharmacist, I’ve seen first-hand how our care models fail to meet the needs of individuals with MCC. Physicians and other providers often address health issues and conditions in isolation, focused on their singular area of specialty or pressed by time and volume-based metrics, potentially overlooking the intricate interactions between chronic illnesses and their treatments.
This narrow approach misses opportunities to adequately address key lifestyle factors, like diet, physical activity, and stress management, that improve overall health. As a result, many patients are stuck in a hamster wheel of care, reliant on medications and supplemental treatments while struggling to make and keep meaningful lifestyle changes that will not only improve their health, but quality of life. In fact, according to the CDC and The American College of Lifestyle Medicine, over two-thirds of provider visits result in a prescription, when at least 80% of chronic disease can be addressed by lifestyle medicine.
This is evident not only in the data, but also in the heartfelt stories of employees who feel overlooked and unsupported, even with an abundance of condition and wellness programs in place. At the pharmacy counter, patients are balancing a half-dozen pill bottles, unsure which are truly necessary and unable to spend time getting to the right questions.
The current health marketplace is saturated with single-condition-focused programs. With over 400 mental health solutions, 100+ musculoskeletal programs, and countless others targeting weight, sleep, cardiovascular issues, nutrition, and more, the condition management space is overflowing with offerings that promise results yet operate in disease-specific silos.
This fragmentation is mirrored in the health care system. General practitioners, once the backbone of general care, and internal medicine doctors focused on complex integrated care, are rapidly declining. To support volume, their comprehensive oversight has been partially replaced by advanced practice providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants and an overwhelming number of condition-specific specialists, who play vital roles but cannot replicate the leadership, time, and care that MCC patients need.
The result is a system that treats health in fragments, addressing symptoms and conditions piece by piece. Patients have no choice but to navigate a broken system with too many touchpoints and too little time with their providers to support health versus managing conditions.
Improving health outcomes for people with MCC means shifting our perspective beyond the checklist of diagnoses to seeing people with interconnected needs. It requires whole-person care that combines clinical, behavioral, and lifestyle interventions tailored to the unique realities of multi-chronic life.
Diabetes influences mental health. Hypertension drugs can impact sleep. Musculoskeletal pain impacts blood pressure. Stress and food choices impact gut health. Women’s health issues relegated to management by gynecologists influence drug selection for many conditions managed by primary care and specialists. The list of connections goes on and on.
Effective care goes beyond treating the symptom at hand, and connects the dots between health problems, environment, lifestyle, and social needs, with customized plans that meet people where they are and help them take steady steps toward sustainable progress. Rigorous evidence supports this shift. Integrated care models reduce duplicative therapies, cut hospital readmissions, and lower costs. Studies have consistently shown that addressing health from a whole-person perspective yields better long-term outcomes.
Employers must act now to reduce costs and improve outcomes by partnering with vendors who focus on the MCC population. By adopting a multi-chronic lens and prioritizing integrated, whole-person care—including physical, behavioral, and social health—organizations can empower employees to take charge of their health. This doesn’t just lower medical spend and boost productivity; it transforms workplaces into healthier, more engaged communities. It’s time to move beyond managing chronic disease in fragments and embrace a more connective, supportive blueprint for healthier people, workplaces, and futures.
Leslie Helou, PharmD, SVP | Health Outcomes Strategy | MOBE
Leslie is an accomplished clinical business leader providing strategic direction to ensure the MOBE program drives positive and equitable health outcomes for our participants. She led the development of a Comprehensive Medication Management service, integrated with lifestyle and behavioral change, to promote sustainable outcomes and value for our clients. With prior experience at Upsher-Smith in research, patient advocacy, medical affairs, and portfolio strategy, she championed patient-centric pharmaceutical development, fostering collaboration for better patient outcomes.
