In manufacturing environments, chronic conditions can be a quiet driver of costs for years. For HR leaders working with large manufacturers, managing yearly claims costs can feel like a moving target. Per member per year (PMPY) costs rise year after year, even when plan design tightens. Diabetes and hypertension are often the usual suspects, contributing to lost productivity and high claims costs. The good news is onsite primary care clinics offer a solution for manufacturing companies to address the root cause of these diseases, lowering claims costs for good and contributing to a healthier, happier, more productive workforce.
Manufacturing employees face unique vulnerabilities when it comes to chronic conditions. Physically demanding roles, repetitive motions, rotating shifts, and irregular schedules disrupt sleep patterns and healthy routines. Add in limited flexibility to attend traditional doctor appointments during standard business hours, and you have a perfect storm for delayed care.
Research on manufacturing workers shows that one-third had at least one chronic disease, and conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and depression were associated with increased workplace injury risk. Many employees put off routine visits until symptoms become impossible to ignore. By then, conditions that could have been managed with medication adjustments have escalated into costly complications, emergency room visits, or specialty care referrals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90% of the nation's $4.9 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
Wellness programs and traditional disease management programs can produce short-term wins, but they often fail to sustain long-term results. Wellness challenges generate initial engagement, employees hit their incentive targets, and then participation drops off. Traditional disease management programs struggle with similar issues. Employees receive calls from nurses they've never met, discussing conditions that require trust and continuity. Engagement rates decline over time as the relationship feels transactional rather than therapeutic.
Meanwhile, cost-shifting strategies like higher deductibles may slow premium growth, but they don't improve A1C levels or bring down blood pressure. They shift the financial burden without addressing the clinical drivers underneath.
Chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension require consistent, longitudinal care with regular touchpoints, medication adjustments, trend monitoring, and ongoing patient education. Research shows that patients with higher continuity of care had better management of chronic diseases, fewer hospitalizations, and lower overall healthcare costs.
Onsite clinics remove the access barrier entirely. Employees can walk in during breaks, before shifts, or after clocking out. Same day or next day appointments become the norm. More importantly, employees see the same provider or care team visit after visit. That continuity builds trust, which is essential for managing conditions that require behavior change and medication adherence.
When employees have easy access to primary care, small problems get addressed before they become big ones. A blood pressure reading that's trending upward gets caught early. Medication non-adherence, one of the biggest drivers of poor outcomes, can be addressed through real conversations about side effects, costs, or confusion. Follow-up appointments are easy to schedule, so providers can check in on how a new medication is working and make adjustments quickly.
Onsite clinics also give HR leaders visibility into population health trends while protecting individual privacy. You can see whether your hypertensive population is improving, whether diabetes management is on track, and how clinic utilization correlates with claims costs. This makes PMPY more predictable instead of reacting to claims reports that are six months old.
When chronic condition management works, the results show up in both health metrics and balance sheets. Employers typically see lower PMPY trends among populations actively engaged with onsite clinics. Diabetes and hypertension markers improve as patients receive consistent care. Downstream claims like hospitalizations, ER visits, and specialty referrals decline as conditions stabilize. Employee satisfaction with healthcare improves when care is convenient, personal, and effective.
Chronic conditions will always be a significant cost driver in healthcare, but they don't have to be an unmanageable one. For manufacturing workforces, the answer isn't more cost shifting or one time wellness campaigns. It's fixing the foundation: primary care access. When employees can see a provider who knows them and who can intervene before complications arise, PMPY follows. Onsite primary care clinics give your employees the consistent, accessible care they need to manage chronic conditions before they drive your costs higher.
References:
Bazemore, A., Petterson, S., Peterson, L. E., Bruno, R., Chung, Y., & Phillips, R. L. (2018). Higher primary care physician continuity is associated with lower costs and hospitalizations. Annals of Family Medicine, 16(6), 492-497. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2308
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, August 14). Fast facts: Health and economic costs of chronic conditions. https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
Integrated Benefits Institute. (2017). Poor health costs US employers $530 billion and 1.4 billion work days of absence and impaired performance. https://news.ibiweb.org/poor-health-costs-us-employers-530-billion-and-1-4-billion-work-days-of-absence-and-impaired-performance
Kubo, J., Goldstein, B. A., Cantley, L. F., Tessier-Sherman, B., Galusha, D., Slade, M. D., Chu, I. M., & Cullen, M. R. (2014). Contribution of health status and prevalent chronic disease to individual risk for workplace injury in the manufacturing environment. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 71(3), 159-166. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2013-101653