New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina entered into an agreement last month to launch the state’s first accountable care alliance.

The accountable care alliance will enhance care and provide greater value for health care consumers in southeastern North Carolina, administrators of the organizations said.

The collaboration brings together a leading hospital system, independent multi-specialty clinics and an insurer to better meet the health care needs of patients, NHRMC spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said.

The alliance is based on an accountable care organization (ACO), a model that BCBSNC and health care providers have adopted and launched across North Carolina to provide coordinated care for patients.

In recent months, the hospital, Wilmington Health and BCBSNC – as well as Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center – have pursued ACOs in response to the Affordable Care Act and changes to the health care industry.

The alliance, like the ACO model, will establish a payment structure that focuses on providing high-quality care while reining in medical costs, Balzotti said.

“The alliance serves patients across their health care experience – from a wellness visit, during surgery, to an unforeseen trip to the emergency room,” Balzotti said.

She said NHRMC, BCBSNC and Wilmington Health would work as a team to coordinate care, align resources “and share information that helps streamline processes and improve the overall patient experience.”

The partnership is intended to encourage providers to work together to reveal gaps in care such as skipped prescriptions or missed disease screenings that may lead to preventable ER visits. The alliance’s collaborative approach should help to avoid duplicate tests and services, while focusing on the patient to ensure they receive the most effective care based on best practices, Balzotti said.

She said that over the next several months, the structure of the alliance would take shape to focus on four key areas: quality of care, patient satisfaction, access to care and affordability.

Patients don’t need to enroll in the alliance. Current and new BCBSNC customers who are patients of NHRMC and/or Wilmington Health will automatically see benefit from enhanced coordination of their care, Balzotti said.

“The physicians in Southeastern N.C. are highly skilled and actively involved in shaping the future of health care. This collaboration is one more step toward our goal of continuous quality improvement,” Jack Barto, NHRMC president and CEO, said in a news release.

“With this physician-led model, we hope to improve the communication and coordination among NHRMC, BCBSNC and other providers in this region, all with a focus on continuing to provide high-quality patient care,” Wilmington Health CEO Jeff James said.

Novant dedicates healing, respite courtyard
Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center recently dedicated a healing and respite courtyard located on the hospital campus.

The hospital’s foundation and volunteers donated the courtyard. The dedication took place Sept. 19. 

“We are excited about the impact the healing and respite courtyard will have on our patients by providing a tranquil outdoor space to reduce the stress created at times by a medical environment,” hospital president Shelbourn Stevens said in a news release.  

The courtyard is adorned with a variety of plants and trees, along with seven arbor structures for shade. The courtyard was designed by Site Solutions of Charlotte and built by Carolina Creations of Shallotte.

Novant Health Urology Partners opens office
Novant Health Urology Partners recently introduced a new office on the Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center campus.

Community members toured the office at 584 Hospital Drive, Suite D, Bolivia, and met the practice’s new physician, Lydia Laboccetta, at a Sept. 19 open house.

After several years of education and experience in theater, Laboccetta made the jump to the medical world, attending Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. She then completed her urology residency at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

Laboccetta works closely with John J. Smith III, who launched the practice in 2012 when it was known as Brunswick Urology Partners.

Smith is transitioning his full-time practice back to Winston-Salem but will continue to see patients in the Brunswick location on a limited basis and remain on the medical staff at Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center.

Cancer Care Expo to take place at UNCW
The annual Carolina Cancer Care Expo & Symposium will be held Oct. 11 and 12 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Registration for the symposium is open to all medical personnel. Local radiation oncologist Patrick Maguire is one of the scheduled speakers. Maguire, author of “When Cancer Hits Home,” will address diagnosis, treatment and survivorship of the cancer patient.

The symposium will be 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 11, with registration and breakfast 7-8 a.m. The symposium is at the UNCW Burney Center. The expo, on Oct. 12 at the UNCW Warwick Center, is an all-day event.

Registration information is available at www.seahec.net.

Doctors join area practices
University Physicians, a service of South East Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC), recently announced the addition of physician Lucas Faulkenberry to its internal medicine division and William M. (Skip) Johnstone Jr. to its OB/GYN division.

Faulkenberry graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and did his residency at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Johnstone graduated from Duke University and did his residency at the University Medical Center of Eastern Carolina, East Carolina University School of Medicine.

Britt Zimmerman also recently joined the practice at Atlantic Urology, which is part of the NHRMC Physician Group.

Zimmerman is board certified and fellowship trained in urology.

Zimmerman, former chief of urology at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, received his degree from West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. He did his residency at the Henry Ford Hospital System and fellowship in urological trauma and reconstruction at the Detroit Medical Center.

Physician Heather Favorito has joined the staff at Wilmington Health Rheumatology, seeing patients for non-surgical treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.

Favorito received her medical degree from Saint George’s University in Grenada, West Indies and did her internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. Favorito is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology.

Her husband, endocrinologist Michael Favorito, also recently joined Wilmington Health.