Patrick Healy, MD, an internist and vice president of clinical improvement at Novant Health in Winston Salem, received the distinguished T. Reginald Harris Memorial Award at the NCMS 2012 Annual Meeting. This year marks the 14th anniversary that the award, a plaque, and a monetary prize of $2,500 have been given by The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) in honor of the life and memory of T. Reginald Harris, MD, one of its founding members. During the event, Dr. Healy donated the monetary prize to the Community Care Center of Forsyth County, Inc.
His nominator, Diana Best, senior vice president of Novant Health Clinical Improvement, described Dr. Healy as a “true servant leader in his community,” . . . a physician who, since arriving in Winston Salem, “has poured his life into creating a community that cares for people, whether in crisis or those with chronic health conditions. His commitment to improving the quality of health care evolves from his private practice as an internist, to leading health care improvement teams, and actively participating in community initiatives.”
“Dr. Healy leads the physicians and employees of Novant by setting high standards for safe and quality care,” Best said. “Dr. Healy drives the mission at the hospital and more importantly, he drives the mission in the community as well. One of the most notable efforts is the State Employees Credit Union (SECU) hospitality home for families who have a loved one in a health care crisis.”
Dr. Healy’s work on the Board of SECU helped to raise $7 million, enabling the hospitality house to be built, maintain operations, and to open debt-free.
Additionally, from 1996 to the early 2000s, Dr. Healy led a multidisciplinary team of health care providers to improve the care and health of patients with diabetes as they came in contact with Novant Health. Adapting process indicators from the diabetes control and complications trial and introducing disease management to the physicians of Novant Medical Group, he led the way to design and implementation. Today, through the use of evidence-based guidelines, 271 of 295 (92 percent) Novant Medical Group physicians are recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for providing excellent care to diabetic patients.
The processes developed by his team serve as the model for disease management of other populations, including patients in the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration. Over the past two years, he and his peers developed a process for screening hospitalized patients for diabetes and alerting their primary care physician. Between September 2010 and March 2012, more than 3,000 people previously undiagnosed with type 2 diabetes were diagnosed with diabetes. The process will continue in Novant’s acute care facilities. He is striving to standardize glycemic management across all Novant facilities.
Dr. Healy is a 2009 recipient of the Patients’ Choice Award. He has also held several executive roles with the Forsyth-Stokes-Davie County Medical Society and the Forsyth Medical Center. He has served on various committees with the North Carolina Medical Society, and is a member of the American College of Physicians. For more information about the Harris Memorial Award, visit the CCME’s website at www.thecarolinascenter.org/default.aspx?pageid=54.
Congratulations Dr. Healy!
