CCNC Update: October 2012
In the News
CCNC’s New Board holds first meeting. The new CCNC Board of Directors met for the first time on October 12. The meeting included a discussion on board operations, a review of CCNC’s strategic priorities and briefings from CCNC staff. Michelle Brooks, Community Care Plan of Eastern Carolina, was elected to serve as chair. Dr. Richard Hudspeth was elected vice chair. North Carolina Hospital Association President Bill Pully will serve as treasurer and chair a Finance and Audit Committee created by the Board at the meeting. Finance and Audit Committee members are: Peter D. Hans, UNC Board of Governors/ Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough; and Lydia Newman, Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear. Other Committee assignments are expected at the November BOD meeting. The Board plans to meet on the second Monday of each month (meeting days may vary on holidays).
NC-HIP Launches. Last week saw the launch of the NC Community Health Information Portal (NC-HIP), a web-based application designed to provide new insights from large public and private databases. Collaborating on the project are CCNC, Health Landscapes, Inc., the NC Institute for Public Health and the Robert Graham Center of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The project is federally funded through the Community Care of Southern Piedmont Beacon Community. For more details, check out the news release.
Awards
Fred Brason nationally recognized as community leader. Congratulations to Fred Brason of Project Lazarus and the Chronic Pain Initiative on being named one of ten winners nationally of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2012 Community Health Leaders Award. The award recognizes Fred’s work with Project Lazarus in Wilkes County that reduced overdose deaths by 69 percent. Congrats to Fred on this singular achievement. For more information on the RWJF award, go here.
Coverage of Chronic Pain wins journalism award. Correspondent Bob Buckley of High Point’s Fox 8 has won the Health-Medicine Award from Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolina (RTDNAC) for a December, 2011 piece on CCNC’s Chronic Pain Initiative (CPI). The piece featured community efforts in Mt. Airy, NC and excellent interviews with CCNC’s Fred Brason and CPI coordinator Peter Rives of Northwest Community Care. Additional information on the award is available on the RTDNAC site. You can view last December’s Fox 8 piece here.
Publications
CCNC, Appalachian State University support medical practices seeking PCMH recognition. The latest issue of the Journal of Medical Practice Management includes an article by Dr. R.W. “Chip” Watkins on how medical practices seeking PCMH recognition can find value in partnerships with universities and colleges. Dr. Watkins describes the PCMH program at Appalachian State and how ASU Health Care Management students became a valuable resource for area physicians and office managers seeking PCMH recognition. Thanks to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (BCBSNCF) for the grant that provided support to start this program. Posted with permission from The Journal of Medical Practice Management, Volume 28, Number 2, pages 134-136, Copyright 2012, Greenbranch Publishing, PO Box 208, Phoenix, MD, 21131 (800) 933-3711, www.greenbranch.com. For a free sample issue of the JMPM, please send an email to info@greenbranch.com.
Other News
Adult Care Home effort underway. CCNC has formed a workgroup to facilitate the development of a medical home model for Adult Care Home residents in North Carolina. The workgroup will develop best practices for the Adult Care Homes (ACH) setting. Partners on the project include NC Division of Medical Assistance (DMA), representatives of Adult Care Homes, the NC Long Term Care Association. Melanie Whitener of DMA conducted a webinar this week for staff and administrators of ACHs.
PCMH numbers continue to climb. Congratulations to the medical practices below upon their recognition by NCQA as Patient-centered Medical Homes (PCMH). Kudos to the staff of AccessCare and Northern Piedmont Community Care for facilitating the effort. As of September 2012, North Carolina has 431 recognized PCMH practices. See the PCHM Central page for a graph of the rapid growth of PCMH-recognized practices.
Congrats to: Ashe Medical Associates; Ashe Pediatrics; Henry T. Clay Jr.; Elk River Medical Associates; Mountain Laurel Internal Medicine; Appalachian Adult and Pediatric Medicine;Watauga Internal Medicine; Blowing Rock Medical Clinic; NC Pediatric Associates – Oxford; and NC Pediatric Associates – Henderson.
New PCMH video available. NCQA and Merck have produced a handy 22-minute overview video on the PCMH recognition process. This can be helpful for medical practices preparing staff for the application process and provide general audiences with an overview of how PCMH works. Please see the link on CCNC’s PCMH Central page.
Davidson Medical Homes. An article in the Davidson County Dispatch chronicles efforts of Northwest Community Care to partner with local hospitals and providers on medical homes in Davidson County.