November 17, 2011, The Board of Directors of Mid-Carolina Physician Organization hosted a seminar for MCPO physician members and their guests at The Carolina Hotel in the Village of Pinehurst. The key note speaker, L. Allen Dobson Jr., M.D., gave an excellent presentation.

L. Allen Dobson, Jr. MD, FAAFP is a native of North Carolina and is currently the President and CEO of Community Care of NC, Vice President of Clinical Practice Development at Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte and a Visiting Scholar at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. He received his undergraduate education at North Carolina State University.  He attended medical school at Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University and completed his residency in family medicine at East Carolina University. Dr. Dobson has been actively involved in health policy on the state and national level. He was an early leader and developer of the nationally recognized “Community Care of North Carolina” program. This program received the 2007 Annie E Casey award for Innovations in Government, presented by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  He has previously held the position of Assistant Secretary of Health for the NC Department of Health and Human Services where he was responsible for the health divisions of the department as well as serving as the state Medicaid Director.  Dr Dobson holds a faculty appointment of professor of family medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The November 17th event was an opportunity for Specialists and Primary Care Physicians to gain more information about healthcare reform, improving quality and lowering costs. There was a discussion of issues and concerns after Dr. Dobson's presentation.

Objectives...At the conclusion of this program, participants would be able to:

• Describe the concepts of accountable care organizations (ACOs)
• Discuss the concepts of bundling and medical home
• Determine how to participate successfully in reform models

Mr. Steve Keene, with North Carolina Medical Society, discussed Tort Reform Law and gave a video presentation of current information.

Event Co-Chairmen were David Cowherd, MD, MCPO Corporation Secretary, practicing with Pinehurst Medical Clinic; and Robert Fleury, MD, Vice President of MCPO, who's practice is Carolina Behavioral Care.