The NCMS and NCMS Foundation are dedicated to…

Finding practice management solutions for NCMS members

  • The NCMS works on issues surrounding payer-provider relations and payment reform and most recently has been tracking the implementation of Medicaid Transformation. Check out the recent compilation of Medicaid Transformation resources.
  • The NCMS joined with NCMS partner Recovery Platform to respond to quickly evolving practice management needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing a free telehealth solution called Presence.

Offering help in a crisis

  • The NCMS quickly recognized the desperate need for PPE after the coronavirus outbreak, advocating for and receiving a grant from the NC General Assembly for $5 million to provide free PPE to independent practices.
  • Understanding the financial impact this pandemic has had on health care practices, the NCMS again approached the NCGA seeking assistance for our members; legislators responded by providing a $25 million grant to the NCMS Foundation to get relief funds to independent practices. We continue to fight for telehealth payment parity beyond this crisis as well as increased broadband access throughout the state.

Addressing public health issues and social determinants of health through Healthy NC Initiatives

  • Aware of North Carolina’s low ranking in health care outcomes for mothers and infants, the NCMS hosted several Maternal and Infant Health Summits, bringing health care and community leaders together to address this important issue.
  • The NCMS developed several innovative programs such as Project OBOT and Our Community Health Initiative (OCHI) to address opioid use disorder and social determinants of health respectively.

Convening groups around exploring innovative models of health care

  • The NCMS helped form the Toward Accountable Care Consortium (TAC), a collaboration of more than 42 medical society and health care organization members, which sought to create educational resources for health care providers interested in forming their own ACOs. That initiative led to the formation of the NC Population Health Collaborative and the NC ACO Council, which both offer educational meetings centered around new developments aimed at improving health in North Carolina.

Developing leadership skills within health care teams

Improving access to care

  • The NCMS oversees the Community Practitioner Program (CPP), which recently celebrated its 30th year. CPP places primary care physicians, PAs and NPs into underserved and economically distressed areas of the state in return for educational loan repayment. Since the program’s inception, over 430 primary care providers have been placed in 85 counties within North Carolina, providing over $425 million in care for under- and uninsured patients.

Advocating on behalf of NCMS members on regulatory issues