What term refers to patients under treatment in a primary care system?

Primary Care Patient Terminology

The term "panel" is the most commonly used term to refer to patients under treatment in a primary care system. 1

Understanding Primary Care Patient Terminology

The terminology used to refer to patients in primary care settings varies somewhat across different healthcare systems and contexts, but several key terms are consistently used:

Primary Patient Designations

1. Patient Panel

   • This is the predominant term used in primary care literature to refer to the group of patients assigned to or under the care of a primary care provider or team 1
   • In the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society statement, this terminology is specifically used when discussing primary care patient populations

2. Caseload

   • Often used interchangeably with "panel" but sometimes with slightly different connotations
   • More commonly used when discussing the workload or number of patients managed by a specific provider 2
   • Particularly common in nursing literature when referring to nurse practitioner patient assignments 2

3. Defined Population

   • Used in integrated primary care contexts to refer to the group of patients served by a primary care team 1
   • The term appears in the definition of integrated primary care as "care that results from a practice team of primary care and behavioral health clinicians, working together with patients and families, using a systematic and cost-effective approach to provide patient-centered care for a defined population" 1

Related Terminology

• Empanelment: The process of assigning patients to specific providers or care teams
• Patient Registry: A system for tracking patients with specific conditions within a primary care practice 3
• Target Population: Used when discussing specific disease management approaches within primary care 1

Practical Applications in Primary Care

The terminology used has implications for how care is organized and delivered:

Panel Size and Management

• Panel size varies considerably between providers and settings, with nurse practitioners typically seeing 9-15 patients per day in community-based primary care 2
• Patient characteristics (age, gender) and health conditions (multiple chronic conditions) influence appropriate panel/caseload size 2

Quality of Care Considerations

• Interestingly, research shows that the quality of care for cardiovascular disorders in primary care is not significantly affected by panel size or caseload volume, unlike hospital settings where volume-outcome relationships are more evident 4
• However, practices with larger list sizes and higher caseloads tend to achieve higher scores on indicators requiring referral for further investigation 4

Regional and System Variations

Different healthcare systems may use slightly different terminology:

• In the UK, the term "list size" is often used alongside "panel" 4
• In some European countries, primary care is provided by family doctors/general practitioners, while in other systems, specialists may work in community-based facilities 1
• The Mexican clinical practice guidelines refer specifically to the "primary healthcare setting" when discussing obesity management 1

Documentation and Management Systems

Modern primary care increasingly uses systematic approaches to manage patient panels:

• Web-based clinical support tools called "caseload registries" help behavioral health clinicians track patients and their clinical progress in integrated primary care settings 3
• Population health frameworks can be used to categorize patients into registers (family health, chronic sick/disability, older adults, acute care) to better manage community nursing caseloads 5

Understanding the terminology used to refer to patients in primary care is essential for effective communication among healthcare professionals and for the organization and delivery of high-quality primary care services.