A primary care practice affiliated with New Hanover Regional Medical Center is one of only three practices chosen to participate in the State Health Plan’s pilot of a health care initiative, the N.C. State Treasurer’s Office announced this week.

The other health care practices piloting the initiative are CaroMont Health in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties and Eagle Physicians and Associates in Guilford County, according to the release.

The New Hanover Medical Group, affiliated with NHRMC Physician Group, will serve State Health Plan (SHP) members in New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties in the pilot program, NHRMC officials said in a separate release Thursday.

The self-insured SHP provides health coverage to more than 680,000 teachers and state employees and is a division of the State Treasurer’s Department.

The two-year trial Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program, which began May 1, is designed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of patient care, improve patient outcomes and manage costs for SHP members, the release stated. Those members who are enrolled in the pilot-participant health care systems will be part of the initiative.

“Public private partnerships like the one between the State Health Plan and these local health care providers help us to better achieve our goal,” Cowell said in the SHP release.

“We have worked hard to get ready for this program and are very excited to have been selected based on our excellent track record for serving State Plan patients in our region,” Jeffrey Warhaftig, of New Hanover Medical Group, said in the NHRMC release.

In the pilot, SHP members will receive coordinated care within their practice, with the primary care physician at the center, said Scott Money of Active Health Management in High Point. Active Health Management is the pilot program’s population health management vendor, providing all care management and wellness services for SHP members.

“The pilot is designed to find some lessons learned, and how to evolve to a stronger quality of care so you can have more direct interaction between the patient and the physician,” Money said Friday. He added that the primary care physician then directs other care providers so that information is shared and the patient is not given conflicting directives or medications, and there is adequate follow-up with patients in their home environments.