In this article the authors argue that during the 15-minute visit, primary care physicians cannot provide acute, chronic, and preventive care while building meaningful relationships with their patients and managing multiple diagnoses according to a host of evidence-based guidelines.

It proposes a teamlet (little team) model where the patient encounter involves 2 caregivers: a clinician (physician, nurse-practitioner, or physician’s assistant); and a health coach and that the 15-minute visit is expanded to include previsit, visit, post-visit, and between-visit care.