Devdutta G. Sangvai, MD, MBA, FAAFP, was inaugurated Friday, October 25, 2013, as the North Carolina Medical Society’s (NCMS) 160^th president before an assembly of former NCMS presidents, the society’s Board of Directors, visiting dignitaries, colleagues and his family and friends. He was sworn in at the Society’s Annual Meeting at the Raleigh Marriott City Center by Michael P. Moulton, MD, of Wilmington, who served as NCMS president for the last year.

Dr. Sangvai is the Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Duke University Health System, and Medical Director for DukeWELL, a program aimed at improving the value, quality and ease of care to help Duke patients better manage their chronic diseases. He also is on the faculty at Duke as an assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center in the departments of Community and Family Medicine.

In his remarks at the inauguration, Dr. Sangvai recalled the NCMS’ rich history dating back to its founding in 1849.

“I think we can take a great deal of pride in knowing that we defined many of the important events that shaped medicine in North Carolina,” he said, enumerating several ways over the last 164 years that the NCMS has been a major force in shaping health policy and advocating for the profession. “And so it is in that same spirit of doing the right thing and knowing where to focus efforts, I look forward to the next year and the next several years with a great deal of optimism.”

Beside his participation in the NCMS Foundation’s Leadership College — he is the first Leadership College alumnus to serve as NCMS President — Dr. Sangvai has a long history of involvement with organized medicine. At the NCMS, he has served as Secretary-Treasurer on the Board of Directors as well as the Young Physicians Section chair. His committee work includes service on the Finance and Membership Committees. He also has been chair of the Durham Orange County Medical Society and highly involved at the national level with the AMA.

Board certified as a Diplomate in family medicine, Dr. Sangvai holds a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from Ohio State University. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio at the University of Toledo. He also has an MBA with a concentration on Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

In his inaugural speech, Dr. Sangvai gave a broad view of how he envisions the coming year:

“We will be there continuing to advocate for our state’s most vulnerable citizens insuring that the ability to access health care is not based on any other measure other than doing the right thing. We will continue the fight to ensure that our courts are used in a sensible fashion. We will be there charting a course for physician-led accountable care. And we will be there as we think through what it means to really have leadership in medicine,” he said.

The following day at the House of Delegates he outlined more specifics for his year as president, keeping the NCMS Strategic Plan as the roadmap. Among the priorities he sees are:

Medicaid reform – he reiterated the central role that physicians need to play in making it a viable and better system.

Accountable Care – he highlighted the work NCMS has already spearheaded in the Toward Accountable Care Consortium and Initiative and development of the NC ACO Collaborative.

Leadership – Dr. Sangvai recalled his own experience in the NCMS Foundation Leadership College and how it was a catalyst for his involvement as a leader in NCMS.

Ability to forge partnerships with other organizations – he urged care in deciding when NCMS should take the leadership role and when to let another organization take the lead.

Advocacy – continuing the strong presence we have both at the state and national levels.

Focus on membership – he pointed out that members are the NCMS’ greatest asset. Dr. Sangvai emphasized the importance of gathering data on our membership and that through our critical mass of members we are able to gather proprietary information on the medical profession and trends in health care.

Dr. Sangvai concluded by expressing his desire to visit and learn from as many people as possible during his tenure as president.