Empanelment

Overview

What is Empanelment?

Empanelment is the process to link patients to a General PCP as their slice of the UW Medicine population. It is the responsibility of the PCP and primary care team to manage population health for these patients.

Why is empanelment important?

As UW Medicine shifts form sickness to wellness care and from volume to value, the purpose of empanelment is to link patients to a General PCP as their slice of the UW Medicine population. It is the responsibility of the PCP and primary care team to manage population health for these patients, in partnership with other members of the patients’ health care team. Establishing care with a single, UW Medicine PCP ensures every patients’ individual, unique health care needs are actively monitored in a way that considers patterns of care, and equally as important, the patients’ experiences. Empanelment is the foundation for population health management, and the key to continuity of care through health maintenance. The goal of focusing on a population of patients is to ensure that every patient receiving primary care within UW Medicine gets optimal care and evidence-based screening and prevention, whether she or he regularly comes in for visits or not.

What is Panel Maintenance?

Panel maintenance is the process of ensuring accuracy of panels for PCPs that includes provider validation and approval, removal of patients who are deceased or have not been seen in the last 3 years in primary care (unless otherwise determined by PCP), and empaneling unassigned patients who choose to engage in primary care at UW Medicine. Panel maintenance is a coordinated effort to re-engage patients to connect with their PCP or clinical care team to ensure good preventive health maintenance. Patients are re-engaged through outreach by mail, eCare and phone calls to see their primary care team when needed. Panel maintenance involves driving down the un-empanelment rate and inviting patients, who are willing, to PCP and clinic medical home panels. Meanwhile, it is important to assure accuracy of PCP assignment, as well as the management of provider capacity.

The routine and regular review and updating of panel assignments ensures panel accuracy, and makes panel management activities more effective, especially when using a team based approach. Empanelment, panel maintenance and team based panel management are key competencies to ensure participation in value based contracts.