Marathon Health and Lantern today announced a partnership to help employers and labor organizations reduce one of the largest and fastest-growing cost drivers: specialty care spend. The integrated approach connects Marathon’s advanced primary care model — with member guidance at its core — to Lantern’s specialty care platform for better quality at lower costs, multiplying the impact of both on savings and outcomes.
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The partnership is built on a shared belief that the highest-value care isn’t simply better surgery — it’s supporting the most appropriate treatment, including avoiding unnecessary procedures. Marathon and Lantern create a trusted referral bridge between the primary care provider who knows the member and a specialty network of excellence vetted for high quality and experience standards.
With the partnership, Marathon clients that do not currently offer the Lantern Specialty Care benefit can purchase it directly through Marathon to ease the contracting process — and take advantage of the strong, tested integration.
“Having worked in the specialty and acute care world where the downstream costs and consequences of fragmented care are most visible, I can tell you that primary care is the highest leverage point we have,” said Chris Pricco, CEO of Marathon Health. “When you integrate it with specialty care, you don’t just reduce cost. You change the trajectory of someone’s health. That’s what we’ve built for employers, and we’re honored to partner with Lantern to accelerate that impact.”
Integrated Pilot Program Proves Measurable Outcomes and Financial Impact
An early adopter pilot, focused on orthopedic and other surgeries, demonstrated measurable improvements to engagement and adherence when compared to Lantern referrals from other sources:
- Trusted provider channel supports care navigation: Those in the pilot saw a 37%-100% increase in referrals to Lantern
- Better care navigation improves care adherence and outcomes: Referrals from Marathon drove 47% increase in completed or avoided surgery
- More completed or avoided surgeries lead to more savings: Employers saw 53% average savings compared to network rates for necessary procedures
For Colorado Employer Benefit Trust (CEBT), a pilot participant, the value was immediate. “CEBT has long invested in both primary care and high-value specialty care solutions, but knowing where to start is often one of the most challenging parts of navigating benefits for members,” said Joe Deba, Director with CEBT’s Trust Administrator. “This pilot demonstrated how better coordination across our existing benefits ecosystem partners can help more members access the right care, improve adherence, and create measurable value. Marathon Health brings so much value to CEBT’s members beyond its high-quality care and has embraced its role to help members navigate the complex healthcare system and better understand which benefits are most relevant to them, including Lantern.”
Leveraging Primary Care as the Front Door to Specialty Care
Primary care and centers of excellence often operate in silos. As employers and labor organizations increasingly invest in both, the gaps create fragmented care for patients. Patients want a more connected experience: 54% of patients believe their health would improve if their providers helped them navigate the system, according to the American Academy of Physician Associates.
This partnership aims to create continuity in a patient’s care journey. Through the integration, Marathon providers identify members who need to see a specialist and initiate referrals through established clinical workflows. Lantern Care Advocates reach out to the member and guide them through specialist selection, care coordination, and recovery support, with clinical information shared with Marathon for ongoing support and closed-loop post-surgical coordination.
The solution builds on Marathon’s specialty care navigation capabilities, which include in-clinic specialty eConsults and data-driven, high-value referrals supported end-to-end. This expansion reflects Marathon’s broader vision: to quarterback the employer’s benefits ecosystem — working with employers’ unique partners and building scalable integrations, like this solution with Lantern.
“Benefit programs succeed or fail based on member engagement,” said John Zutter, CEO of Lantern. “In this model, improved coordination means members are more likely to receive the high-quality care at a fraction of the cost — and that gives employers confidence that their healthcare dollars are being spent wisely.”
The integrated solution will be available to shared Marathon and Lantern customers this year. Marathon clients will have the opportunity to contract with Lantern through Marathon. Marathon and Lantern are initially focused on orthopedic surgery — a top two cost driver for employers.
About Marathon Health
Marathon Health is a leading advanced primary care provider, partnering with employer and union plan sponsors to improve health for millions of Americans. With nationwide onsite, nearsite, and network health centers, and virtual primary care, Marathon delivers a value-based model that enhances the healthcare experience for members and providers, while driving meaningful cost savings for plan sponsors. Marathon is proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work®, reflecting the company’s commitment to building an inclusive, high-trust culture where all employees can thrive. Learn more at marathon.health
About Lantern
Lantern is the leading Specialty Care Platform built to simplify and elevate the most complex care journeys through a unified, value-driven approach. Lantern supports 12 million members and over 1,000 employers nationwide to deliver high-quality surgical, infusion, and cancer care. Lantern’s Network of Excellence is the nation’s leading specialty care network built on direct contracts and bundled payments with top-tier specialists and facilities. Lantern’s distributed network is the most locally accessible in the industry, leading to higher utilization and a 4% overall annual reduction in healthcare costs observed across Lantern’s book of business. For more information, visit lanterncare.com. Lantern Specialty Care is the trade name of Employer Direct Healthcare, LLC.
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