On Friday, April 20, The Valley Economic Alliance hosted HealthX at Adventist Health Glendale. The health and wellness conference was lined up with presentations and demonstrations covering everything from the economic future of healthcare to Kinesiology taping.
Mayor Zareh Sinanyan welcomed HealthX back to Glendale stating, “Three major Hospitals in Glendale employ over 4,500 people. And that doesn’t include the dozens of smaller practices of healthcare professionals that call Glendale their home. The point is: healthcare thrives in Glendale. Which is why it’s not surprising to see the future of healthcare here in this room. I mean, look around. We have policy drivers, tech innovators, and, people who save lives on a day-to-day basis. That is astounding.”
Santiago Munoz from UCLA Health opened the presentations by discussing the chaos in the Health Care Market. The result of good healthcare for consumers will result in payment struggles for hospitals overtime. The fact is, the more people are covered by public insurance the less hospitals collect. In order to continue providing the best care, hospitals must shift from a volume based to a value based system of care. This means investing in the best doctors to treat the right type of patients at the right level of care. This along with the development of community partnerships will enable hospitals to better manage care.
Following Mr. Munoz’s presentation, Yelena Verba from Concord Career College demonstrated PT Taping. The therapeutic taping method was developed in the 70s and works by lifting the skin which stimulates the somatosensory system decreasing pain, facilitating lymphatic drainage, and decreasing inflammation. This method also promotes healing, circulation, and stability in the applied areas.
Dr. Harry Balian of Adventist Health spoke of the benefits of the Transaortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). TAVR is a less invasive procedure to the standard Aortic Valve Replacement procedure and its mortality rate is less than its counterpart. Adventist Health has had great success with TAVR. They have found that patients in need of TAVR are under recognized and underrated because they have not been properly diagnosed.
Dr. Nimmi Kapoor from Cedar Sinai Medical Center closed the presentations, speaking of the benefits of 3D Mammography. As opposed to 2D Mammography, 3D scans through the breast making it easier to spot cancer. She also spoke of the benefits of Genetic Testing. While many are cautious of genetic testing, Dr. Kapoor urged not to be scared, but to be aware. There are many benefits of knowing more about your genes so one can action and control of some of the risks.
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