As primary care demand accelerates, Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health System is betting on a future in which access does not come from more clinicians or exam rooms alone, but from rethinking the basics of how visits happen.
The system is piloting virtual shared medical visits as part of a broader push to expand primary care access in 2026. The effort comes as health systems nationwide face rising demand for the specialty, driven in part by an aging population and a growing number of patients managing chronic conditions.
Inova’s primary care strategy is increasingly centered on creating capacity through new care models, technology and scheduling refinements, rather than simply adding headcount, according to Craig Cheifetz, MD, president of Inova’s primary care service line and vice president of corporate health services.
“A lot of our strategic priorities around primary care pertain to access, not just hiring,” he told Becker’s. “Nobody’s going to be able to keep up with the speed of what’s needed in healthcare — and especially primary care — by just trying to physically open offices and hire more people.”
Shared medical visits are one approach Inova is piloting. Each shared medical visit lasts about 90 minutes and includes one to two dozen patients in the same session. The model is designed for follow-up visits for patients with chronic, stable conditions, such as hypertension, menopause, type 2 diabetes or osteoporosis.
During the visit, a physician or advanced practice provider moves one by one through each patient’s care, while other participants listen and learn from the discussion. Dr. Cheifetz emphasized that shared visits are not lectures or classes, but a clinical appointment that preserves individual patient attention within a shared setting. Participation is voluntary, and patients who prefer one-on-one visits continue to receive traditional appointments.
While the model is still in its infancy, early indicators suggest it’s helping increase primary care capacity. The pilot program launched in June and, to date, Inova providers have conducted about 12 shared appointments. The first phase of the pilot saved about three provider hours per shared medical visit, time that can be redirected to additional 15- or 30-minute patient appointments.
“The value here for access is significant,” Dr. Cheifetz said.
Like many systems, Inova has turned to ambient documentation to reduce after-hours documentation. The system has cut “pajama time” from up to two hours per night to about 25 minutes for roughly 350 primary care physicians using Abridge’s platform for individual appointments, according to Dr. Cheifetz.
The system is also using the same technology in a more novel way — capturing patient notes during shared medical visits, where documentation demands can multiply quickly. Inova is one of the first health systems in the nation to use Abridge’s platform for shared visits.
“It’s very hard for a human to go and talk to 10 people, and then go document them all separately,” Matt Kull, Inova’s chief information and digital officer, told Becker’s. “So we asked, ‘Can we use this technology that we’ve already deployed to take that cognitive burden off clinicians trying to remember what the last nine people that they spoke to said?’ And it turns out that this is an exemplary use case for the reuse or orchestration of these agentic agents.”
The system worked with Abridge to add a capability to the platform that allows providers to quickly switch between patient records during shared visits without disrupting ambient documentation workflows. Inova leaders said the technology has reliably captured individual patient voices during group visits, with only minor edits required.
As a result, shared visits involving as many as 20 patients are now operationally feasible, Mr. Kull said.
From a technology perspective, the use case demonstrates how ambient AI can not only make traditional visits more efficient, but support new care models.
“It’s a privilege to build a platform that not only meets clinicians where they are but inspires new ways to deliver care,” Abridge CEO and co-founder Shiv Rao, MD, told Becker’s. “Inova’s use of Abridge for group visits highlights just how adaptable and people-centered this technology can be.”
Even in its early stages, Inova’s pilot is already showing benefits for both patient and clinician experience.
“It’s been a roaring success with our patients because more of them are getting access,” Mr. Kull said. “It’s been an incredible success with our providers because it is lowering cognitive burden and fatigue when they’re trying to see this many patients.”
Inova is now training a physician or APP in all 28 of its primary care offices to scale the shared visits model. The system is also evaluating its potential use in specialty care for chronic follow-up visits.
Beyond shared medical visits and organic growth of its primary care footprint, Inova is embracing other innovative care models in 2026, Dr. Cheifetz said.
The health system already operates several walk-in primary care clinics for patients to quickly be seen for acute conditions, separate from urgent care facilities and emergency departments. By summer 2026, Inova plans to launch an after-hours virtual clinic where a nurse practitioner or other provider can respond to patient calls in the evenings. The system will also unveil new Advanced Primary Care Management programs in 2026, including models focused on older adult populations, Dr. Cheifetz said.
This month, Inova also rolled out a real-time scheduling dashboard that allows schedulers — both centrally and at individual practices — to view appointment availability across all primary care providers and locations, including same-day and near-term openings. Dr. Cheifetz said the tool is intended to make it easier to schedule follow-up care after hospital, emergency department or urgent care visits, particularly when a patient’s own primary care physician is fully booked.
Together, the initiatives reflect Inova’s broader push to redesign primary care delivery to create capacity and improve access without relying solely on workforce growth.
“The key is thinking smarter and not necessarily expanding harder,” Dr. Cheifetz said.
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