On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s (BCBSNC) Board of Trustees announced that Patrick Conway, MD, MSc will be the insurer’s new President and CEO. Dr. Conway currently serves as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality, and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). He will join BCBSNC as President and CEO-elect on October 1. Current President and CEO Brad Wilson will remain CEO during the transition.
Dr. Conway joined CMS in 2011 as the agency’s Chief Medical Officer and currently serves as the most senior, non-political executive at CMS. He has worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations. He is recognized as one of the driving forces behind the national movement to value-based care, with health care payments tied to quality and innovation.
Prior to joining CMS, Dr. Conway oversaw clinical operations and research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as Director of Hospital Medicine, with a focus on improving patient outcomes across the entire multi-billion dollar health system. He also served at McKinsey & Company as a private sector consultant for health care clients early in his career. He is a practicing pediatric hospitalist and a former White House Fellow and Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2014.
He completed his pediatrics residency at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and graduate with High Honors from Baylor College of Medicine and summa cum laude from Texas A&M University.
“At this important time in health care and health insurance transformation, Dr. Conway brings a unique background and perspective to our company and state,” said current President and CEO Brad Wilson in a press release announcing Dr. Conway’s appointment. “I look forward to working with him, and introducing him and his family to the great state of North Carolina.”
The NCMS also extends a warm welcome to Dr. Conway!
