More and more Americans are living with chronic conditions. A study noted that 76 percent of U.S. adults live with at least one chronic condition, while more than half live with multiple.

When quality care is hard to access, these conditions often go unmanaged—leading to avoidable complications, higher costs, and a lower quality of life. Access to care shouldn't depend on geography. Yet for many employees in rural or underserved areas, it still does.

In a podcast series titled The Business Case for Advanced Primary Care, Dr. Nirav Vakharia from Marathon Health sits down with BenefitsPRO contributor Michael Krieger to discuss:

• The rising prevalence of chronic conditions and the effect on healthcare cost and utilization

• How organizations are leveraging advanced primary care to close access gaps, manage chronic disease more effectively, and improve long-term outcomes

• The role of technology—like virtual primary care, remote monitoring, asynchronous touchpoints—in expanding access and enabling stronger patient-provider relationships

• What benefits leaders and advisors can do to help reduce costs while still delivering quality care to their people