> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.welkinhealth.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.welkinhealth.com/designer/security/defining-regions-and-territories.md).

# Defining Regions and Territories

## Overview

Regions and territories allow you to organize your patient population and care team geographically or operationally. They are used to control data access through Security Policies – for example, ensuring care team members can only see patients in their assigned region.

***

## Regions vs. Territories

* **Region** – a broad organizational grouping (e.g., "West Coast", "Northeast", "Texas").
* **Territory** – a more granular subdivision within a region (e.g., cities, counties, service areas).

Your organization can use either regions alone, or a combination of regions and territories, depending on your operational structure.

***

## Configuring Regions

1. In the Designer, navigate to **Regions & Territories**.
2. Click **+ Add Region**.
3. Enter a **Name** for the region.
4. Optionally add a **Description**.
5. Save.

### Adding Territories to a Region

1. Open a region.
2. Click **+ Add Territory**.
3. Enter the territory name.
4. Save.

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## Assigning Users to Regions

Users are assigned to regions/territories in the Admin Portal:

1. Go to **Users** and open a user's profile.
2. Under **Accesses, Policies, Roles, Territories**, click the edit icon for the relevant environment.
3. Assign the user to the appropriate region(s) and territory(ies).
4. Save.

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## Assigning Patients to Regions

Patients are assigned to a region/territory either:

* At patient creation (via a region/territory field in the patient profile)
* Via an Automation that sets the region based on patient attributes

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## Using Regions in Security Policies

Once regions are defined and assigned, reference them in Security Policies to restrict data access by region. See [Configuring Security Policies](/designer/security/configuring-security-policies.md) for details.

***

## Publishing

Region and territory configuration created in the Designer must be published to take effect.


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