Kudos to long time NCMS member, Leadership College alumnus and current Leadership College Clinical Quality track participant Chip Watkins, MD, of Boone, who spoke and participated in a panel discussion as part of the White House Rural Council’s Opportunities for Public-Private Collaborations in Rural Health Care Meeting in Washington, DC. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke, as did representatives from a variety of rural health and health care quality initiatives and philanthropic organizations. The subject of the meeting was “Expanding and Disseminating the Rural Health Evidence Base.” Dr. Watkins presented on the collaboration between CCNC/AccessCare and Appalachian State University, which sends junior and senior Health Management students into the field to assist rural practices in attaining PCMH recognition and BQPP status as part of CMS’s Multipayer Demonstration. The CCNC/AccessCare team recently was recognized for their work by winning the national “Innovations in Rural Health Award” by the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation.