ViVE 2026 Agenda — Sunday Feb 22

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Logistics

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Sessions

Nurse & Clinician Insights Track (Room 408A)

10:00 - 10:40 — The Evolution of Nursing in a Tech-Enabled Future

• Susan Grant, DNP, RN — Chief Clinical Officer, symplr
• Dr. Tonychris Nnaka, PhD, MPH, RN — Assoc. Dean for Research, UNT Health
• Dr. Whitney Staub-Juergens, DNP — COO Transformation Operations, HCA Healthcare
• Dr. Bonnie Clipper, DNP, MBA, RN — Founder Virtual Nursing Academy, Innovation Advantage

10:45 - 11:25 — Reimagining Nursing Workflows: Giving Time Back to Care

• Cheristi Cognetta-Rieke, DNP, MBA, RN — Vice Chair Nursing Enterprise Transformation, Mayo Clinic
• Lisa Gulker, DNP, RN — Chief Nursing Executive, Oracle
• Tracy Breece, MSN, RN — VP Nursing Innovation, AI & Emerging Tech, Advocate Health
• Dr. Stephen Ferrara, DNP, RN — Associate Dean of AI, Columbia University

11:30 - 12:10 — Nursing and Remote Care: Expanding Care Delivery Beyond the Bedside

• Dr. Jane Mericle, DNP, RN — EVP Enterprise Chief Nursing Executive, Nemours Children's Hospital
• Emma Geiser, RN — Founder, Nurse Fern
• Angel Bozard, RN, MSN — CNO, VirtuAlly
• Oriana Beaudet, DNP, RN — VP of Innovation, American Nurses Association

Patient Experience Insights Track (Room 408A)

2:00 - 2:40 — When Standards Serve the Patient

• Matt McGrath — VP Pharmacy Solutions, Experian
• Mindy Smith, RPh, MHA — SVP Government & Professional Affairs, AnewHealth
• John Hill, MBAHCM — COO, NCPDP
• Lisa Bari, MBA, MPH — VP Policy and Partnerships, Innovaccer

2:45 - 3:25 — Combining Automation & Human Expertise to Improve Member Services

• Craig Kierst, MBA — SVP Strategy and Growth, TAG - The Aspen Group
• Koh Kerdsri — CIO, Clever Care Health Plan
• Annette Hill — VP Customer Care & RNI COO, Medical Mutual of Ohio
• Tuhina Kapoor, MBA — Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company

3:30 - 4:10 — Patient-Centered AI: Creating Technology People Trust

• Dr. Chethan Sarabu, MD — Director of Clinical Innovation, Cornell University
• Sneha Dave — Executive Director, Generation Patient
• Michelle Monaco — SVP Product & Engineering, Wheel
• Randall Rutta, MA — CEO, National Health Council

Payer & Provider Insights Track (Room 408B)

1:00 - 1:40 — Modernizing the Payment Experience to Strengthen Provider Performance

• Jason Lafayette — Director of Revenue Cycle, MCR Health
• Kathryn Whalen — SVP, Clover
• Sara Tresch — GM Commercial Business, Optum Financial
• Hong Truong, MPH — Principal, Define Ventures

1:45 - 2:25 — Navigating Healthcare Policy Twists in 2026

• Jared Augenstein, MPH, MA — Senior Managing Director, Manatt Health
• Karen Mandelbaum, JD, MHA — Senior Counsel, Epstein Becker Green
• Nzinga Lowe — CEO, Pygmalion Health
• Julie Barnes — CEO, Maverick Health Policy

2:30 - 3:10 — Rural Health in Crisis: The Race to Save Access

• Dr. Brian Hoerneman, MD — President & CEO, Sanford Health Marshfield
• Gulshan Mehta — Chief Digital and Information Officer, Blanchard Valley Health System
• Joe Dunn — Chief Policy Officer, NACHC
• Katie Adams — Associate Editor, MedCity News

Partner Program

11:00 - 12:30 — Building Better RCM Automation Workshop (Room 152)

11:30 - 1:00 — Community Health Centers 101 Workshop (Room 151)

1:30 - 3:00 — Digital Health Startup Innovation: From Concept to Commercialization Workshop (Room 152)

2:30 - 5:30 — Clinician Innovator Series (Room 151)

• Dr. Nisha Mehta, MD — Founder, Physician Side Gigs
• Dr. Chethan Sarabu, MD — Director of Clinical Innovation, Cornell University
• Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky, MD — CMIO, VP Digital Health Innovations, American Medical Association

3:30 - 5:00 — Venture as a Moonshot: Investing in Systems That Scale With Communities (Room 152)

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Evening

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DaisyAI Relevance

High priority sessions:

• 10:45 — Reimagining Nursing Workflows — Tracy Breece (Advocate Health) is on the strategy.md target list (Katie Barr's org). Stephen Ferrara from Columbia is worth meeting. This is directly our domain — AI for nursing workflows.
• 2:45 — Combining Automation & Human Expertise for Member Services — Clever Care Health Plan CIO + Medical Mutual of Ohio VP. Two payer executives. Member services automation is adjacent to UR.
• 1:00 — Modernizing the Payment Experience — Hong Truong from Define Ventures is on this panel. We already have a relationship with Define (Chuka). Worth attending for the connection.

Worth attending:

• 10:00 — Evolution of Nursing in a Tech-Enabled Future — HCA Healthcare COO on panel. Nursing transformation context.
• 3:30 — Patient-Centered AI — General AI trust panel. Good for positioning intel.
• 1:45 — Healthcare Policy Twists in 2026 — Manatt Health + regulatory lawyers. Policy intel.

Evening: Both open receptions (7-9 PM) are prime networking time. This is where casual conversations happen.