Since its inception almost 17 years ago, the growth and success of North Carolina Physicians Health Program can be attributed to the efforts of key organizations working closely together to provide quality health care to the citizens of North Carolina.

One organization whose cooperation has been vital to the success of NCPHP is the North Carolina Hospital Association. Recognizing early on that teamwork was essential to the achievement of our common goal, NCHA appointed two of its members to the NCPHP Board of Directors, to assist in the further development of NCPHP policies and resources in response to hospital's needs. NCHA also endorsed a voluntary annual donation to NCPHP by its member institutions based on bed count. North Carolina's hospitals have responded quite well to this challenge, with more than 70% making contributions annually.

William A. Pully, President of the NC Hospital Association, firmly believe, “Hospital's‚ support for NCPHP is another investment in their communities. Obviously, this investment can have a near term return through the variety of services NCPHP provides physicians. Beyond those, and of a more lasting nature, is the effect NCPHP's success has on the quality of medical practice that touches the lives of our hospitals‚ patients. Like health screenings and outpatient clinics for the underinsured, NCPHP's benefits may not be glaringly or immediately recognizable, but over time, they help hospitals improve their communities' health.”

Over the past 11 years, NCPHP has expanded its services to meet the requirements of the state's hospitals. Hospital administration and chiefs of staff have become a large referral source for NCPHP. While NCPHP's major focus remains the evaluation and rehabilitation of the physician or physician assistant with a chemical dependency problem (90% success rate), hospitals are increasingly referring cases associated with disruptive behavior, psychiatric illness, and boundary issues. By aiding in these areas, NCPHP can reduce hospital's exposure and liability costs. And, by rehabilitating impaired practitioners, hospitals can avoid the additional expense of recruiting new physicians.

“The role of NCPHP has become an increasingly important resource to hospitals. With changes in employment laws, workplace behaviors that may have been tolerated 10 years ago are considered intolerable today,” says J. Anthony Rose, President of Catawba Memorial Hospital in Hickory. NCPHP offers hospitals and their medical staff leadership valuable assistance if accessed immediately after a problem is identified. Through interaction and mediation, they can assist hospitals in avoiding expensive legal interventions.”

“Additionally,” Mr. Rose continued, “NCPHP can assist hospitals in changing policies and developing resources for staff to help them deal with inappropriate physician behavior. By working together, we may succeed at not only changing a negative behavior, but also potentially saving a career.”

North Carolina Physicians Health Program provides hospitals with an educational support system (i.e., newsletter, brochures, lectures to medical staff, meetings with medical staff coordinators, samples of bylaws for dealing with impairment situations, etc.) for their use in handling physician health issues.

NCPHP looks forward to a successful ongoing partnership with the hospitals of North Carolina, and sincerely thanks them for their continued support. As a direct result of our combined efforts, NCPHP is recognized as one of the top physician health programs in the country.

Taken from Metamorphosis newsletter
Spring/Summer 2000 issue