# Key concepts Before working in Welkin, it helps to understand the core building blocks of the platform. This page explains the five most important concepts and how they relate to each other. *** ## The big picture Everything in Welkin revolves around a **Patient**. A patient is enrolled in a **Program**, cared for by a **Care Team**, seen in **Encounters**, and assessed through **Assessments**. Automations and communications tie these together. ``` Patient ├── enrolled in → Program (with Phases) ├── assigned to → Care Team (Workers in Roles) ├── scheduled for → Encounters (in the Calendar) ├── assessed via → Assessments (structured data collection) └── reached via → Communications (SMS, secure email, inbox) ``` *** ## 1. Patients A **Patient** is the central record in Welkin. Every piece of activity – encounters, assessments, communications, documents – is associated with a patient. A patient record contains: * **Demographics** – name, date of birth, contact information, and custom fields * **Program enrollment** – which care programs the patient is currently in and at what phase * **Care Team** – the workers assigned to care for this patient * **Encounter history** – all past and upcoming scheduled interactions * **Assessments** – completed and in-progress data collection forms * **Communications** – the full history of messages sent and received * **Documents** – generated or uploaded files * **Tasks** – to-do items assigned to care team members for this patient Patients can be created manually by care team members or administrators, or created automatically via the API (for example, through an integration with an EHR or enrollment system). *** ## 2. Programs and Phases A **Program** is a structured care pathway – the defined sequence of steps and activities that a patient goes through as part of their care. Programs are made up of **Phases**, which represent distinct stages in the care journey. A patient moves through phases as they progress. **Example – Chronic Disease Management Program:** ``` Phase 1: Intake & Assessment → Patient enrolled, demographics captured, initial assessment completed Phase 2: Active Care → Weekly check-ins, ongoing assessments, care plan in place Phase 3: Maintenance → Monthly check-ins, patient managing independently Phase 4: Graduated → Care program completed ``` **Key things to know:** * A patient can be enrolled in multiple programs simultaneously * Enrollment in a phase can be triggered manually or automatically via Automations * Each phase can have its own configuration, tasks, and associated assessments * Admins define programs; care teams manage patient enrollment *** ## 3. Care Teams A **Care Team** is the group of users assigned to care for a specific patient. Every patient has a care team, and every member of that team has a defined **Role** (e.g., Care Manager, Nurse, Health Coach, Supervisor). The care team model serves two purposes: 1. **Access control** – only care team members can view the patient record when patient access is set to "own patients only" 2. **Coordination** – care team members know who else is involved in a patient's care and can coordinate accordingly **Key things to know:** * A patient can have multiple care team members, each with a different role * A worker can be on the care teams of many patients (their caseload) * Supervisors with broader access can see patients without being on their individual care teams * Care team assignments can be managed manually or via Automations *** ## 4. Encounters An **Encounter** is any scheduled or documented interaction between a care team member and a patient. Think of it as a record of a visit, call, or session. Encounters are managed through the Welkin **Calendar** and have a lifecycle: ``` Scheduled → In Progress → Completed ↘ Cancelled / No Show ``` An encounter record captures: * **Date, time, and duration** – with full timezone support * **Type** – the kind of interaction (phone call, in-person visit, telehealth, etc.) * **Status** – scheduled, completed, cancelled, no-show * **Notes** – documentation from the encounter * **Linked assessments** – assessments completed during the encounter **Key things to know:** * Encounters can be scheduled by any care team member with calendar access * The calendar supports Outlook and Google Calendar integration for two-way sync * Encounter status can be updated directly from the calendar view * Automations can be triggered by encounter events (e.g., send a reminder before an encounter, send a follow-up after completion) *** ## 5. Assessments An **Assessment** is a structured data collection tool – a form or questionnaire used to capture clinical or operational information about a patient at a point in time. Assessments are built by administrators using the Assessment Builder and are then completed by care team members (or patients, if patient-facing functionality is enabled) during a patient interaction. **Assessment features:** * **Multiple field types** – text, number, date, dropdown, multi-select, boolean, and more * **Scoring** – assign numeric values to responses; Welkin calculates a total or average score automatically * **Conditional logic** – show or hide fields based on previous answers * **Question Groups** – group related questions together; groups can be repeated multiple times within a single assessment completion (e.g., capturing the same fields for multiple medications) * **N/A marking** – mark items as not applicable to exclude them from score calculations * **History** – all completed assessments are saved to the patient record with timestamps **Common uses:** * Clinical screening tools (PHQ-9, GAD-7, HRA) * Intake forms * Care plan documentation * Outcome measurement at regular intervals * Social determinants of health screening *** ## How these concepts connect Here's a realistic example of how a new patient flows through the platform: 1. **Patient created** – demographics entered, or imported via API from enrollment system 2. **Enrolled in program** – placed in the "Intake" phase of a care program 3. **Care team assigned** – a care manager is added to the patient's care team 4. **Intake assessment completed** – care manager fills out the screening form; a score is calculated 5. **Automation fires** – because the score is above a threshold, the patient is automatically moved to "Active Care" phase and a follow-up task is created 6. **Encounter scheduled** – care manager books a 30-minute call using the calendar 7. **Message sent** – automated appointment reminder sent via SMS the day before 8. **Encounter completed** – care manager marks the encounter as complete and documents notes 9. **Assessment completed** – during the encounter, a follow-up assessment is completed 10. **Program progresses** – after several months, the care manager manually advances the patient to "Maintenance" phase This cycle repeats, with Automations handling the routine coordination so care teams can focus on the patients. *** ## Next step Now that you understand the platform's building blocks, walk through the [First Patient Workflow](/getting-started/first-patient-workflow.md) to see them in action. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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