Advanced Primary Care: A Smarter Strategy for Reducing MSK Costs and Improving Employee Health
Rising MSK costs and delayed care are straining workforces and budgets alike. Learn how employer-sponsored advanced primary care, when aligned with occupational health and powered by digital tools, can proactively reduce claims and improve employee function.
June 20, 2025
8 min. read
Access to quality care is becoming more difficult, costs are rising across the board, and provider capacity is stretched thin—especially in musculoskeletal (MSK) care, which accounts for the highest category of healthcare spending in the U.S.1 MSK conditions are also the leading cause of disability worldwide, driving lost productivity, absenteeism, and escalating costs for employers.
Yet many employees are steered toward invasive procedures that may not improve outcomes or are referred to physical therapy too late. Despite strong evidence that early physical therapy leads to faster recovery, fewer interventions, and lower total cost of care, only 15 percent of MSK patients receive it in a timely way.2
Employer-sponsored advanced primary care (APC) offers a smarter, upstream strategy. By emphasizing prevention, early intervention, and coordinated support, APC helps employers manage MSK conditions more effectively, improve employee health, and reduce long-term claims.
In this article, we’ll explore the value of employer-sponsored APC for addressing chronic MSK issues, how it complements occupational health services, and how digital tools can support scalable, proactive MSK management across both models of care.
What is employer-sponsored advanced primary care?
Employer-sponsored advanced primary care is a proactive healthcare model that focuses on early detection, personalized treatment pathways, and coordinated care delivery, particularly for high-cost, high-impact conditions like musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders.
Offered through employer-sponsored health plans or near-site clinics, APC focuses on non-occupational health concerns that can still have a significant impact on productivity, absenteeism, and healthcare costs. These include chronic back pain, repetitive strain injuries, and degenerative joint conditions—issues that often escalate without timely, preventive support.
Key features of advanced primary care management include:3
Preventive screenings and early intervention for high-risk conditions
Near-site and on-site clinics for easy access to care
Care coordination across physical, behavioral, and occupational domains
Health analytics to guide data-driven decisions
Digital tools that support remote monitoring, home exercise programs, and patient engagement
For MSK care, this model shifts the focus from late-stage intervention to early, upstream support, helping employers reduce unnecessary imaging or surgery, improve function, and control long-term costs.
Complementary models: Aligning APC with occupational health
Musculoskeletal issues often span both personal and professional domains, making it important for employers to consider how advanced primary care and occupational health can work in tandem.
Occupational health providers are responsible for diagnosing and managing workplace injuries, such as those sustained while lifting, operating machinery, or performing repetitive motions. These cases are typically covered through workers’ compensation and include regulatory requirements for OSHA compliance, injury documentation, and return-to-work protocols.
In contrast, APC providers focus on non-occupational health issues that still impact an employee’s ability to work, including chronic low back pain, arthritis, and general mobility limitations. These are typically managed through group health benefits and are often under-addressed until they disrupt function.
When these two care models are aligned, employers benefit from:
Better continuity of care, with providers able to see the full health picture
Faster identification of risk factors, such as early signs of strain or degeneration
More efficient return-to-work plans that support both recovery and prevention
Smarter, coordinated prevention strategies that address root causes
Together, occupational health and APC offer a more holistic, proactive approach to workforce well-being, helping reduce overall healthcare costs, minimize injury-related absences, and keep employees functioning at their best.
Why MSK management matters
Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading cause of disability worldwide and account for over 30 percent of workplace injuries.⁴ For employers, they’re a major driver of lost productivity, absenteeism, and rising healthcare costs—whether the condition stems from job-related strain or long-standing chronic pain.
Unfortunately, many prevention efforts rely on one-size-fits-all programs that lack clinical oversight or long-term engagement. And traditional care models are often reactive, delaying therapy until pain has already disrupted an employee’s ability to work.
Advanced primary care offers a more proactive alternative. By addressing MSK issues early and tailoring care to each employee’s needs and risk factors, APC helps prevent escalation, reduce claims, and support sustained function.
A real-world example: OAC’s job-specific MSK prevention program
A compelling example of MSK management comes from Occupational Accountable Care (OAC), a Medbridge partner delivering integrated solutions to improve employee health and safety. While not an advanced primary care provider, OAC demonstrates how early, job-specific MSK strategies can significantly reduce claims and improve workplace health.
The challenge
Musculoskeletal injuries are a costly, recurring issue for many of the employers OAC serves. Generic wellness efforts weren’t enough to curb claims or address the physical demands of high-risk roles. OAC needed a smarter, job-specific strategy to proactively prevent injuries while maintaining strict OSHA compliance.
The solution
OAC leveraged the Medbridge Care Platform to build and scale a customized MSK prevention program. Occupational and physical therapists conducted role-specific job analyses and then delivered targeted exercise regimens to integrate seamlessly into the workday. The program was deployed digitally and in print, making it easy to implement across multiple sites and shifts.
“To stay in compliance with OSHA, you've really got to have your ducks in a row, and for us, Medbridge is key to that.”
— Dale Bugay, Jr., Director of Operations, OAC
The impact
The results were immediate and measurable. OAC helped its employer partners reduce MSK claims, improve employee participation in prevention, and save an average of over $250 per employee. Their program now reaches thousands of employees across multiple worksites and continues to expand.
See the full story
Want to know exactly how they did it? Learn how OAC reduce MSK costs by 86 percent, cut injury claims by 82 percent, and improve workforce health across more than 3,000 employees.
Scaling advanced primary care with digital tools
For advanced primary care to succeed, care delivery must be accessible, efficient, and tailored—all of which can be supported through Medbridge Care, a digital platform built for musculoskeletal and movement-based care.
Medbridge Care combines smart home exercise programs, virtual triage, patient education, and real-time progress tracking to improve access, boost engagement, and reduce costs. When paired with on-site or near-site care options, it helps ensure that MSK support is available wherever employees are, whether at home, in the clinic, or on the job site.
Built for providers managing low- to moderate-acuity MSK conditions, Medbridge Care empowers clinical and employer teams to:
Deliver personalized, job-specific exercise programs
Triage patients using integrated motion assessments
Engage employees through education, nudges, and mobile alerts
Track progress with patient-reported outcomes (PROMs), surveys, and outcomes analytics
For employers, the Employer and Worksite Health solution offers a white-labeled MSK strategy that lowers healthcare costs, enhances member engagement, and improves population-level outcomes. Designed with operational efficiency in mind, it helps organizations increase access to care, reduce unnecessary interventions, and deliver measurable ROI.
Key capabilities that enable APC success
With over 70 million programs assigned, 8,000+ evidence-based exercises, and a 4.8-star rating from 50,000+ patients, Medbridge Care helps organizations scale advanced primary care with confidence and measurable results. Here’s how:
1. Tailored prevention programs
Customized workplace and home exercise regimens are aligned with job roles, injury risk profiles, and organizational goals, ensuring that care is proactive, not reactive.
2. Scalable deployment
Whether via mobile app, print, or kiosk-based access, Medbridge makes it easy to implement consistent care across departments, shifts, and locations, without disrupting workflows.
3. Regulatory alignment
Programs are developed with OSHA guidelines in mind, supporting employer efforts to prevent injury, reduce claims, and stay compliant, without disrupting daily operations.
4. Measurable outcomes
Built-in analytics, surveys, motion assessments, and remote therapeutic monitoring tools help teams track participation, pain reduction, program adherence, and ROI in real time.
The future of employer health is proactive, scalable MSK care
In a landscape of rising healthcare costs and workforce strain, advanced primary care offers employers a smarter way forward. One that treats employee health as a strategic asset rather than a reactive cost center.
When integrated with occupational health efforts, advanced primary care can help organizations reduce musculoskeletal claims through early intervention, boost employee engagement with accessible, job-specific support, and deliver measurable ROI through coordinated, tech-enabled care.
OAC’s injury prevention initiative illustrates what’s possible when proactive MSK strategies are implemented at scale, whether through occupational health or advanced primary care. With tools like Medbridge Care, employers can confidently deliver consistent, compliant, and personalized MSK support across all worksites and care models.
References
Meet the Author
