2026 Healthcare Sessions Conference: Day One
Opening day of the 2026 Nashville Healthcare Sessions brought healthcare leaders from across the country together for candid conversations about an industry navigating significant change – and an increasingly urgent need to translate that change into action.
Across the afternoon, discussions moved from the forces influencing healthcare’s operating environment to the decisions leaders are making in response. Panelists examined mounting affordability and policy pressures, the evolution of health system operating models, the continued shift of care beyond the hospital and new approaches to putting health information to work for patients and providers. While the challenges varied, a consistent theme emerged: the next chapter of healthcare transformation will depend less on any single breakthrough and more on disciplined execution, strong partnerships and a willingness to rethink longstanding models of care.
We anticipate another day of thoughtful dialogue and collaboration as Sessions continues tomorrow for day two.
Healthcare Sessions: Day 1
In case you couldn’t attend today’s Sessions, we’ve got you covered!
Below is a recap of key highlights and discussions from today. View the photos.
State of the Industry: The Operating Reality of Healthcare in 2026
A fireside chat with Nancy-Ann DeParle, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Consonance Capital Partners, and Jed Brody, Managing Director; Head of Healthcare, Americas, Barclays
Healthcare leaders are navigating an environment in which the pace of policy, technology and economic change increasingly leaves little time to absorb one disruption before confronting the next. The conversation underscored affordability as a defining pressure for today’s industry, alongside looming questions around Medicare, evolving regulatory scrutiny and the continued challenge of improving quality while controlling costs. Against that backdrop, leaders were encouraged to remain clear-eyed about external change without allowing uncertainty to create paralysis, staying focused on business fundamentals, strengthening communication with policymakers and taking a deliberate approach to emerging technologies. AI continues to have significant potential to reduce administrative burden and support the healthcare workforce, but its adoption must be grounded in thoughtful strategy, with healthcare organizations helping lead how the technology is implemented rather than viewing it as a near-term cure-all.
“Pay attention to your fundamentals. And…don’t get too distracted by the shiny new object.” – Nancy-Ann DeParle, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Consonance Capital Partners
Strengthening the System: How Health Systems Are Adapting for What’s Next
A panel discussion with David Dill, Chairman and CEO, Lifepoint Health, Erin Satterwhite, CEO, Optum Insight Provider, Optum, Dr. Aashish Shah, SVP & Chief Medical Officer, HealthTrust Performance Group, Fahad Tahir, President and CEO, Ascension Saint Thomas, Seema Verma, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences
As health systems confront persistent margin, workforce and reimbursement pressures, panelists emphasized that transformation requires more than adding new technology or services – it requires rethinking how organizations operate. Leaders discussed creating more integrated regional care networks, moving beyond disconnected assets and legacy workarounds and building data strategies that connect clinical, operational and financial decision-making across the enterprise. Technology and AI can accelerate that work, but panelists agreed that strong culture, leadership and operational execution remain foundational. Partnership models are evolving as well, with health systems looking to fewer, deeper relationships with organizations willing to share accountability for measurable outcomes and help underwrite transformation rather than simply add another expense to the system.
“We’ve got to figure this out together. There is no silver bullet, and we’re going to have to solution it together.” – David Dill, Chairman and CEO, LifePoint Health
Beyond the Hospital: Policy, Access and the Next Site-of-Care Opportunity
A panel discussion featuring Eric Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Surgery Partners, Renee’ Buckingham, President, CenterWell Senior Primary Care, Andrew Hayek, Co-Founder & CEO, Triple Aim Partners, Andy Bressler, Managing Director, Bank of America
The continued movement of care into lower-cost, more convenient settings represents an increasingly important opportunity to address healthcare affordability, access and capacity. Panelists pointed to growing consumer expectations, workforce constraints, greater transparency and payer and policy pressures as forces accelerating the shift. But moving care beyond the hospital is not simply about finding the least expensive setting. It requires ensuring clinical appropriateness while aligning patient, provider and payer incentives around the right setting for each episode of care. With some services offering meaningful savings when delivered outside traditional hospital settings, leaders highlighted outpatient surgery, home-based care, behavioral health and other models as areas of continued opportunity. Technology and better data can further enable that shift by reducing unnecessary variation, informing clinical decisions and helping patients and providers navigate a more distributed care ecosystem.
“I think [site-of-care change] is going to happen, not because the regulators decided, but because healthcare consumers decided what they want the future to look like.” – Renee’ Buckingham, President, CenterWell Senior Primary Care
Connecting the Dots: Advancing Patient Access Through CMS-Aligned Collaboration
A panel discussion with Amy Gleason, Administrator of U.S. DOGE Service and Deputy Administrator and Chief Product Officer of Office of Health Technology & Product, Kristen Valdes, CEO & Founder, bWell Health, Anand Iyer, Chief AI Officer, Welldoc, Alex Drane, CEO & Co-founder of ArchAngels
After decades of digitizing healthcare information, the next challenge is making that information truly portable, accessible and useful for the people delivering and receiving care. Panelists explored a growing collaboration between government, healthcare organizations and technology companies designed to make it easier for patients to securely gather and share their records, while giving providers more complete information at the point of care.
Early efforts within the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem are creating new ways for patients to use verified digital identity and tools such as QR codes to access and share longitudinal health information, while technology can help translate that information into more personalized, actionable insights. The potential extends beyond patient convenience: better data exchange could reduce administrative burden, streamline prior authorization, improve clinical decision-making and enable new outcomes-based care models. The discussion reinforced that technology is most powerful not when it replaces the clinician-patient relationship, but when it removes friction and gives both sides better information with which to make decisions.
“People don’t want just the data; they want the information, knowledge and action from the data.” – Anand Iyer
News Announcements Sponsored by Meditech
NASHVILLE HEALTH CARE COUNCIL | Nashville Mayor Officially Proclaims September 13 – September 19, 2026 Healthcare Sessions Week
The City of Nashville has officially proclaimed September 13 - September 19, 2026 as Healthcare Sessions Week, recognizing the vital role healthcare plays in Nashville and the significance of Healthcare Sessions in bringing the nation’s healthcare ecosystem together here in the Healthcare City. The proclamation comes as the Nashville Health Care Council hosts its fourth annual Healthcare Sessions - and first as an independent organization - bringing healthcare leaders from across the country to Nashville to connect, exchange ideas and advance the industry. Media are invited to join us throughout Healthcare Sessions Week to experience the conversations, leaders and stories shaping Nashville’s healthcare ecosystem. View the official proclamation.
Watch the full news announcement here!
MEDITECH will announce the successful completion of its MEDITECH Expanse rollout across 34 hospitals in HCA Healthcare's Capital and North Florida divisions, as well as ongoing progress with the Expanse implementation across HCA Healthcare.
MEDITECH will expand across 30 new healthcare sites and the completion of the implementation across their first two divisions, which include the Capital Region and Northern Florida, bringing the total number of installed sites to 72 out of over 190 hospitals. More details about the partnership will be announced during Healthcare Sessions.
Watch the full news announcement here!
HEALTHSTREAM | Robert A. Frist, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of HealthStream, to Make Announcement at Healthcare Sessions 2026
Robert A. Frist, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of HealthStream (Nasdaq: HSTM), made an announcement during this dedicated segment on the 6th floor event hall during the noon hour on September 14, 2026, at Healthcare Sessions 2026. Interview opportunities will be available following the announcement.
Watch the full news announcement here!
CUMBERLAND PHARMACEUTICALS | Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Discusses Major Strategic Shift
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals shared an update on its recent strategic transition. The announcement outlined a major shift in strategy and the next stage in the Company’s evolution. CEO A.J. Kazim also spoke to Cumberland's continued investment in and commitment to Nashville's health care and life sciences community.
Watch the full news announcement here!
EVIDENCECARE | EvidenceCare marks 10-years of physician care decisions
This year, EvidenceCare, a physician-founded clinical performance improvement company, marks 10 years of putting evidence into physician workflows nationwide. The company marked the milestone at Nashville Health Care Council (NHCC) Sessions in Nashville this September, where CEO Bo Bartholomew discussed the anniversary and EvidenceCare’s approach to AI heading into what’s next.
Watch the full news announcement here!
RxUtility | RxUtility is publishing its third annual benchmark report, The State of Medication Affordability in 2026 and Predictions for 2027.
Watch the full news announcement here!
