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WHEELING -- Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Arkansas, is scheduled to speak today at The Health Plan's first Health Care Symposium at Oglebay Park.
His address is titled, "What Politicians Don't Know About Health Care (And It's Making America Sick)." Huckabee is set to be the final speaker for the two-day event.
The symposium has drawn about 200 invited guests from throughout the region and across the nation. Participants represent The Health Plan's self-funded clients (including insurance brokers and agents), key national vendors and network partners.
Jim Pennington, president and CEO of The Health Plan, said, "We are pleased with the response we've had, with the number of people and organizations, and the broad width (of geographic representation)."
He said the invited health care facilities included WVU Medicine, Marshall University, Wheeling Hospital, Ohio Valley Medical Center, Cabell Huntington Hospital and the Charleston Area Medical Center.
The symposium opened Tuesday afternoon and was set to conclude this morning.
Speakers are covering a range of topics relevant to health care professionals, including health care legislation, technology, education, data and quality of care.
Dr. Travis Stork, host of the talk show, "The Doctors," and a board-certified emergency medicine physician, gave a presentation focused on health and wellness. To address the regulatory component of health care, Pennington said attorney Ashley Gillihan from Atlanta spoke on the top 10 compliance "hot spots" for health plans.
Jonah Houts, vice president of government affairs for ExpressScripts, one of The Health Plan's vendors, talked about the cost of pharmaceutical products and public policy challenges.
Dr. Daniel Kraft, executive director of Exponential Medicine, planned to speak today on "The Future of Health and Medicine: Where Can Technology Take Us."
"Technology is extremely big in the market," Pennington said. "Technology has changed so much."
Albert Wright Jr., president and CEO of WVU Health System, was to talk today on "The New Health Care Delivery System in America."
Pennington said Wright's presentation was expected to focus on "the dynamics that health care systems are going to be going through.
"They are going to be paid based upon quality of service, not volume of service," he said.
Pennington hopes the symposium will become an annual event.
"Health care changes a lot," he said. "There is a lot to talk about every year. We want to make sure our partners are well informed in the industry.
"We get folks into the area," he said, citing another facet of the offering. "They are staying at Oglebay and they get to use one of our great facilities in Wheeling."
Participants had opportunities to visit The Health Plan's new headquarters in downtown Wheeling.
"It's good exposure for all involved," Pennington said. "That's important."