Medboard Matters Podcast
Determining if care was safe and appropriate is the key thing NCMB has to do when patients complain about the quality of medical care. But what is the Board really looking at when it does this? Host Jean Fisher Brinkley is joined by Deputy General Counsel for the Board, Patrick Balestrieri who outlines the processes the Board uses when it must decide on whether the care rendered in a case it is considering was within accepted standards of care.
Posted May 7, 2026 |
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MedBoard Matters Podcast episode on Health Literacy: Knowledge is the best medicine
Podcast Transcript
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Hosts and Guests
Jean Fisher Brinkley
Communications Director, North Carolina Medical Board
Jean Fisher Brinkley is NCMB’s Communications Director, a role that involves developing and overseeing production of communications materials and strategies needed to enhance public and professional awareness and understanding of the Board and its mission. She joined NCMB in 2008, after an 11-year career in newspaper journalism, most of it dedicated to reporting on medicine, health policy and the business aspects of health care.
Brinkley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Raleigh with her husband and two daughters.
You can reach Jean at podcast@ncmedboard.org
Patrick Balestrieri
Deputy General Counsel, North Carolina Medical Board
In 1993, Mr. Balestrieri began practicing music focused entertainment law in New York City and had a combined transactional and litigation practice. In 1995, Mr. Balestrieri took a position as in-house litigation counsel for an insurance company and defended medical malpractice actions in all boroughs of New York City. Mr. Balestrieri came back to North Carolina in 2001 and focused his practice on professional liability cases. In 2008, Mr. Balestrieri joined the Medical Board as a staff attorney, where he was responsible for prosecuting disciplinary cases against physicians and physician assistants as well as advising the Medical Board on various legal issues and making recommendations on investigation and licensing cases. In 2023, Mr. Balestrieri became a Deputy General Counsel at the Medical Board, joined the Quality of Care Team and focuses his practice on the expert review process related to quality of care cases that the Medical Board investigates.
