Patrick Conway, M.D.

President & CEO
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

Patrick Conway, MD joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina as president and CEO-elect on October 1, 2017. He officially became president and CEO effective December 5, 2017. Conway succeeded Brad Wilson as CEO at the end of 2017.

Conway most recently served as deputy administrator for innovation and quality at the federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”). In this role, he also held the position of director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”). As the most senior non-political leader at CMS, he worked in both republican and democratic administrations and is considered one of the driving forces behind the national movement to value-based care, with healthcare payments tied to quality and innovation.

At Blue Cross of North Carolina, Conway is continuing that commitment to delivering the best health outcomes and best service experience at the lowest cost for customers. The company is a leader in improving North Carolina’s healthcare system, making healthcare more affordable and working with doctors, hospitals and others to improve quality and value. Blue Cross of North Carolina strives to be a model health plan and health solutions company.

Conway joined CMS in 2011 as the agency’s chief medical officer and served as principal deputy administrator and acting administrator. A respected leader, innovator and clinician, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (“NAM”) in 2014. Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement.

Conway is a practicing pediatric hospitalist and was selected as a master of hospital medicine from the Society of Hospital Medicine. Before joining CMS, he oversaw clinical operations and quality improvement at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, with a focus on improving patient outcomes across the entire multi-billion dollar health system.

Conway completed his pediatrics residency at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital Boston, graduated with high honors from Baylor College of Medicine and graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M University.

Additional honors include:

• Presidential Rank Award, Distinguished Executive (president’s highest executive honor)
• Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service
• White House Fellow
• Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar