NC Medical Society Foundation Convenes 2026 Community Practitioner Program Annual Meeting
Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and health care leaders from across North Carolina gathered at the North Carolina Medical Society office on September 18 for the 2026 Community Practitioner Program (CPP) Annual Meeting, a full-day session covering everything from Medicaid policy to behavioral health integration to suicide prevention training.
The meeting, hosted by the NC Medical Society Foundation (NCMSF), opened with remarks from Executive Director Franklin Walker and closed roughly five hours later with his summary of the day’s key commitments. In between, six sessions touched on the clinical, financial, and legislative forces shaping care for the state’s rural and underserved communities — the population CPP exists to serve.
A Program Built on Scale
Walker’s opening overview put the day’s work in context. Now in its 36th year, CPP has had 557 participants drawn from 149 different professional schools, reaching 279 unique communities across 96 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The Foundation reported that more than $1.4 million is currently committed to the program, part of $16 million in cumulative grants that Walker said has generated $740 million in free and reduced-cost care over the program’s history.
Understanding NC Medicaid’s Structure
Katie McKay and Dr. Michael Utecht of Carolina Complete Health Network led a session mapping how federal Medicaid policy reaches North Carolina patients. The presentation traced the chain of accountability from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services down through NC Medicaid, contracted health plans, and provider networks to beneficiaries themselves.
The session also reviewed how the state got to its current managed-care model. What began as a predominantly fee-for-service system anchored by Community Care of North Carolina shifted after the legislature passed Session Law 2015-245, which directed the transition to managed care. Standard Plans launched in mid-2021 alongside Medicaid expansion; Tailored Plans for members with significant behavioral health, intellectual/developmental disability, or traumatic brain injury needs followed in December 2023; and a statewide Children and Families Specialty Plan for Medicaid-enrolled youth involved with child welfare was added in December 2025. The presenters closed by distinguishing today’s plan types — Standard Plans, Tailored Plans, the Children and Families Specialty Plan, and the fee-for-service Medicaid Direct pathway serving distinct populations under a capitated payment structure overseen jointly by the state and CMS.
QPR Gatekeeper Training
The meeting’s longest single block was a certified Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training led by Dr. Rebecca Mathews of UNC Greensboro, built around the QPR Institute’s Question-Persuade-Refer model. The training walked attendees through recognizing verbal, behavioral, and situational warning signs; practicing how to ask directly about suicidal intent; and connecting someone in crisis to help — including through role-play exercises and group discussion. Attendees who completed the full session became certified QPR Gatekeepers, able to bring the training back to their own practices and communities.
Legislative Update
Ashley Rodriquez, the Medical Society’s Chief Legal Officer, used the lunch session to brief attendees on the 2026 legislative landscape. She reviewed a competitive primary season — including the U.S. Senate race between former Governor Roy Cooper and former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, and a string of incumbent losses, most notably President Pro Tempore Phil Berger’s primary defeat to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page — as signs of shifting dynamics within the General Assembly. She also highlighted the growing number of clinicians serving as legislators and outlined NCMS’s 2026 advocacy priorities: Medicaid reform, utilization management, artificial intelligence, and the state budget, with particular attention to Medicaid funding, rural health care, workforce, and loan repayment. Rodriquez closed by inviting attendees to get more involved with the Society through committees, its PAC, and its advocacy communications.
A New Practice Transformation Program
The afternoon’s centerpiece was the launch of the TRAC & CPP Value-Based Care Practice Transformation Program, introduced by Kristen Spaduzzi and Dr. Lisa Shock of NCMSF alongside Dr. Katie Kaney of VOX and Allison Gardner of Baxter Healthcare. The team framed the initiative as a free, six-week guided on-ramp to value-based care: practices name one internal champion, attend a kickoff webinar and a one-on-one session, share their VBC contract metrics, and pilot one or two quick-win initiatives — with the Foundation handling segmentation, materials, training, and data analysis. By the end of the six weeks, participating practices are meant to complete a capability assessment, a documented picture of their VBC contracts and measures, and a sustainment plan of monthly check-ins and quarterly reviews.
Two concrete tools accompany the program. The first is the VOX+WPI Health Hub platform, offered to CPP practices at no cost, which the presenters said has driven substantial gains in coordinator capacity and call-volume reduction in VOX’s existing deployments, alongside high reported patient engagement and satisfaction. The second is a Retina Vue retinal camera, also provided free, aimed at closing the diabetic eye-exam gap — a core HEDIS, ACO, and Star measure where rural completion rates lag. The presenters walked through illustrative revenue modeling showing how a 100-patient diabetic panel’s annual imaging and gap-incentive revenue could grow as screening rates rise from 50% to 80%, while cautioning that those figures are illustrative and plan-dependent. Practices were encouraged to contact the Foundation for interest in participation as there is opportunity to work with additional groups.Â
Practice Highlight and Behavioral Health Integration
Ocracoke Healthcare FQHC was recognized as the day’s practice highlight. The practices three locations: Engelhard, Manteo and Ocracoke, make up the interdisciplinary teaching hub created by NCMSF in 2023, where UNC-CH medical students and Campbell PA students receive ambulatory clinical training. Ocracoke is also the initial participant in the CPP Value-Based Care Practice Transformation Program and their CEO, Jamie Carter, shared their early learnings and experiences within the accelerator program. They are excited about working with VOX and they are looking forward to improving their health outcomes in their community. Â
The closing clinical session, led by Dr. Adam Zolotor and Chris Weathington of NC AHEC, focused on behavioral health integration in primary care, with particular emphasis on the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). The presenters described CoCM’s team structure — primary care provider, behavioral health care manager, psychiatric consultant, and patient registry — and its evidence base of more than 80 randomized controlled trials. They reviewed how North Carolina supports adoption of the model, including Medicaid reimbursement at 120% of 2022 Medicare rates for CoCM billing codes, no-cost practice coaching through NC AHEC’s nine regional centers, and a $5 million state-funded capacity-building grant program administered through Community Care of North Carolina, offering awards up to $50,000 per clinic site to help practices launch or expand the model.
Looking Ahead
Franklin Walker closed the day with brief remarks, previewing a planned follow-up session where VOX will present a full walkthrough and live demonstration of the Health Hub platform for interested practices. The throughline across the day’s sessions — from Medicaid policy to behavioral health integration to practice transformation support — was a consistent message: as North Carolina’s payment landscape shifts further toward value-based and outcomes-driven contracts, the Foundation is positioning CPP practices, particularly those in rural and underserved communities, to make that transition with hands-on, largely no-cost support.