Florida Needs to Reimagine Primary Care Delivery

Shared medical visits and team-based care models can improve outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce provider burnout.

Feb. 22, 2026 at 10:03am

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As a future nurse practitioner, the author argues that Florida must rethink how primary care is delivered, moving away from the traditional one-patient-at-a-time, 10-to 15-minute visit model. The current system is unsustainable, leading to provider burnout, staff turnover, and patients feeling unseen. Shared medical visits and team-based care models offer a better approach, allowing for extended appointment times, peer support, education, and meaningful discussion while still addressing individual medical needs.

Why it matters

Florida's growing and aging population makes the current primary care model even less sustainable. Parts of the state, including the Big Bend region, already face primary care access constraints, and even in Tallahassee, patients often experience long waits and limited appointment availability. Transitioning to shared medical visits and team-based care can improve clinical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce provider burnout.

The details

The traditional one-patient-at-a-time, 10-to 15-minute visit model was never designed for the realities facing primary care today. Chronic diseases, mental health conditions, obesity, diabetes, and multimorbidity require education, behavior change, coordination, and follow-up, which cannot be adequately addressed by checking boxes and rushing from room to room. Current practice and insurance policies often leave primary care providers with little choice, as reimbursement structures reward volume and documentation rather than value, forcing clinics to overload schedules simply to remain financially viable.

  • The author has over a decade of experience as an LPN and RN in primary care.
  • The author is currently a future Doctor of Nursing Practice–Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP) at Florida State University.

The players

Rebekah D. Slack

A future Doctor of Nursing Practice–Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP) at Florida State University, with 12 years of combined experience as an LPN and RN in primary care.

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What they’re saying

“Evidence shows that shared medical visits can improve clinical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce provider burnout.”

— Rebekah D. Slack, Future Doctor of Nursing Practice–Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP)

“When primary care is allowed to function as intended—preventive, relational, and team-based—patients benefit, providers stay engaged, and the healthcare system becomes more efficient over time.”

— Rebekah D. Slack, Future Doctor of Nursing Practice–Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP)

What’s next

The author suggests that for shared medical visits and team-based care models to succeed more broadly in Florida, practice and insurance policies must evolve alongside them. This includes insurance policies that fully recognize nurse practitioners as primary care providers and reimburse them equitably for the same evidence-based care, as well as reimbursement structures that reflect the real work of primary care, including education, coordination, and prevention.

The takeaway

Florida has an opportunity to lead by supporting care models that emphasize time, outcomes, and sustainability over volume. Shared medical visits and redesigned primary care workflows are practical responses to a system that has outgrown its original design, and progress requires the willingness to let go of models that no longer work and to invest in those that do.