This implementation guide from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative describes how medical homes can improve the empanelment of patient into medical homes by establishing responsibility for the relationship between the patient and the medical home’s primary care team within a practice. The guide defines empanelment as “a deliberate attempt to identify the group of patients for whom a physician or team is responsible” and includes practical guides to determine the size of a panel, to schedule patients using provider panels, and to implement other supportive work flow processes.
The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative is funded by The Commonwealth Fund and eight other funders, with technical assistance from Qualis Health and the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at the Group Health Research Institute. The initiative is working with five regional coordinating centers, which are each supporting the implementation of patient-centered medical homes in over a dozen safety net clinics.
Additional resources on this change concept are available from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative.
Ignatius Bau 