InovaCares Clinic Opens New Herndon Office

Inova Health System opened the doors to its new InovaCares and Juniper clinic locations in Herndon on Thursday, Jan. 5 after moving from its Reston location.

The clinics, now located at 1175 Herndon Parkway in suites 500 and 850, were previously located in the Inova building located at 11901 Baron Cameron Ave. in Reston.

The InovaCares Clinic provides a full range of pediatric primary care and serves children who are uninsured or on Medicaid, said Geoff Delizzio, director of physician outpatient practices. He said the location has about 1,000 patients they actively manage and they expect to see more than 7,000 visits at the location in 2012.

The clinic moved to the Herndon location to be closer to its patients in the heart of western Fairfax County and close to Loudoun County, Delizzio said. Additionally, the clinic is close to public transportation to make it easier for patients to get there, he said.

Delizzio said one of the goals of the clinic is not only to treat ill patients, but make sure they proactively manage their care to keep them healthy in the long run. The Herndon location is a satellite location for the Falls Church clinic, and between the two locations 8,000 children receive care, he said.

The Herndon location is using new technology from partner Verizon Business, with its telemedicine visits, where patients in the Herndon office can see and receive care from doctors at Inova’s other locations, and eventually across the globe, Delizzio said. If a service isn’t available at the Herndon location, staff there can use the technology to reach a doctor elsewhere, rather than send the patient away, he said.

Steve Matrino, senior account manager with Verizon who works with Inova, said the pilot of the telemedicine program was successful and patients rated the service excellent. He said the goal for telemedicine is for doctors to be able to collaborate and treat patients from wherever they are in the world.

The clinic has also started using shared visits, Delizzio said. For example, about eight to ten patients and their parents can come in for a well baby visit together, he said. Over an hour-long visit they are able to have their checkups done but also spend the entire time asking questions of their doctor, he said.

Often, the groups end up turning into a mini support group, Delizzio said. He said the visits are effective, educational, the parents enjoy them and they help reduce costs. He said in the future patients can expect to see more medical care come to them rather than them traveling to it.

The Juniper Clinic also held a grand opening, just down the hall from the InovaCares Clinic. Juniper serves patients with HIV/AIDS, mental illness and substance abuse, offering clinic services, educational training for patients with HIV/AIDS, and collaborates with a research study program.

For more information on the InovaCares Clinics, click here. For more information on the Inova Juniper Clinics, click here.