ViVE 2026 in Los Angeles convened policymakers, health system executives, payers, technologists, investors, and founders at a pivotal moment for healthcare. Across three days, discussions moved decisively from digital ambition to operational accountability.
As the official Media Partner, PharmaShots presents a comprehensive review of the sessions, speakers, and strategic insights that defined ViVE 2026.
Day 1: Intelligence, Integration, and Institutional Readiness
Opening Remarks
Rich Scarfo, President, HLTH
Russ Branzell, CEO & President, CHIME
Scarfo and Branzell set a tone grounded in urgency and execution. Digital transformation is no longer exploratory; it is core infrastructure. The convergence of AI, interoperability, and cross-sector leadership must now translate into measurable outcomes across care delivery and system performance.
Integrated Diagnostics in the Age of Intelligence
Shez Partovi, Chief Innovation Officer, Philips
Partovi addressed the fragmentation challenge in diagnostics. While a majority of health systems aim to adopt integrated diagnostic models, silos across imaging, pathology, cardiology, and clinical data remain barriers.
He emphasized that enterprise-wide interoperability and AI readiness are essential to transition from data accumulation to unified clinical intelligence. Diagnostics must evolve from departmental tools to integrated ecosystems capable of supporting precision decision-making.
From Impossible to Inevitable: The ARPA-H Vision
Rafid Fadul, Chief Medical Officer, ARPA-H
Rene Quashie, VP, Digital Health, Consumer Technology Association
Fadul outlined ARPA-H’s mandate to accelerate high-impact biomedical breakthroughs through non-traditional, milestone-driven funding models. Quashie highlighted the importance of collaboration between federal agencies and the digital health ecosystem.
ARPA-H’s approach reflects a catalytic model designed to compress innovation timelines and support transformative, rather than incremental, advancements.
Digital Health, AI, and the Future of Access
Abe Sutton, Director, CMMI & Deputy Administrator, CMS
Julie Yoo, General Partner, a16z
Rohit Chandra, Chief Digital Officer, Cleveland Clinic
Sutton discussed CMMI’s ACCESS initiative and its role in aligning digital tools with population health goals. Yoo emphasized investment strategies that support scalable digital infrastructure, while Chandra shared provider-side perspectives on embedding digital workflows into care delivery.
The session underscored a new alignment between policy frameworks, capital deployment, and operational transformation.
How Conversational AI Is Reinventing Healthcare Navigation
Akshay Syal, Instructor of Medicine, UCLA Health
Julie Durham, Chief Digital Officer, UnitedHealth Group
Ryan Terry, Managing Director & GM HCLS, Google Cloud
Durham shared that UnitedHealth Group facilitated over 100 million voice and chatbot interactions in 2025, reflecting growing consumer demand for conversational interfaces.
Syal emphasized clinical implications, while Terry discussed the role of cloud infrastructure in enabling contextual intelligence. Conversational AI is increasingly reducing friction, improving navigation, and supporting internal decision-making.
Organizations at the Frontier: Where AI Meets Human Ambition
Ashok Chennuru, Chief Data/Digital AI Transformation Officer, Elevance Health
Katie Barr, SVP & Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, Advocate Health
Nasim Eftekhari, Chief AI & Analytics Officer, City of Hope
Umesh Rustogi, General Manager, HLS Dragon & Platform, Microsoft
Panelists described the “Frontier Firm” model organizations embedding AI deeply within workflows rather than treating it as a parallel initiative.
Chennuru highlighted enterprise data transformation, Barr addressed clinician-AI collaboration, Eftekhari emphasized analytics-driven oncology care, and Rustogi discussed platform enablement. Governance, human oversight, and measurable outcomes were central themes.
$50 Billion for Rural Health Transformation: Is This the Tipping Point?
Brittany Sachdeva, COO, Cibolo Health
Chris Jones, Former CMS Advisor, Catalyst Policy Group
James Mault, Executive Chairman & Founder, BioIntellisense
Ken Bahk, Co-Founder, Health Equity Innovation Partners
The CMS Rural Health Transformation Program was examined through implementation, policy, and innovation lenses.
Speakers debated whether funding can sustainably shift care from hospital-based models to community and home-based monitoring. Execution capacity, infrastructure readiness, and long-term financing remain critical variables.
The Supply & Demand for Patient Data
Abhi Sindhwani, Chief Growth Officer, Particle Health
Grace Vinton, Patient Advocate, Supreme Communications & HITea with Grace
Joe Ganley, Head of Government & Regulatory Affairs, athenahealth
Mike Cordeiro, Senior Director, Interoperability, MEDITECH
Priyanka Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, HealthEx
The session addressed persistent information blocking and uneven data liquidity.
Vinton emphasized patient agency in directing data. Ganley and Cordeiro highlighted regulatory and vendor responsibilities, while Sindhwani and Agarwal discussed innovation barriers. The consensus: interoperability must move beyond compliance toward operational transparency and accountability.
Throw AI at the Wall and See What Sticks
Abdul Shaikh, Global Leader, Digital Health, AWS
Haider Warraich, Program Manager, ARPA-H
Michael Han, Chief Medical Information Officer, MultiCare
Nasim Afsar, Author, Intelligent Health
Executives agreed that the experimental AI phase is ending. Han stressed governance and workflow alignment, Shaikh addressed scalable infrastructure, and Warraich highlighted accountability in federally supported programs.
AI investments must now demonstrate measurable ROI, explainability, and continuous validation.
Tech-Powered Women’s Health
Chris Curry, Clinical Director of Women’s Health, OURA
Danielle Dang, Senior Medical Director, Maven Clinic
Jody Tropeano Greene, Head of Content, HLTH
Kimberly Wells, VP of Women’s Services, Ascension Health
Oguzhan Atay, Co-Founder & CEO, BillionToOne
Speakers explored how remote monitoring, predictive analytics, and genomics are transforming women’s health. Dang and Wells discussed clinical integration, Curry highlighted wearable-driven longitudinal monitoring, and Atay addressed advanced diagnostics.
The shift toward preventive, continuous care models could significantly reduce long-term cardiovascular and metabolic risk.
Crossing the AI Chasm
Dan Gorenstein, Founder & Executive Editor, Tradeoffs Podcast
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, Co-Founder & CEO, Aledade
Mostashari argued that governance, workflow redesign, and trust not technology are the primary barriers to scaling generative AI.
Crossing the AI chasm requires embedding tools into daily clinical operations with structured oversight and measurable impact.
2026 Best in KLAS Awards
In partnership with KLAS Research, the ceremony honored organizations setting benchmarks in performance, innovation, and service excellence. The awards reinforced that measurable outcomes now define industry leadership.
Day 2: Policy, Prevention, and Precision
Inside ASTP/ONC: What’s Next for Interoperability
Thomas Keane, National Coordinator for Health IT, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Keane outlined the next evolution of federal interoperability standards and public-private collaboration. Trust, security, and seamless information exchange remain foundational priorities as digital health infrastructure expands.
Not Another One-Trick Pony: Building Enduring AI
Jeff Tangney, Co-Founder & CEO, Doximity
Paige Minemyer, Senior Writer, Fierce Health Payer
Shiv Rao, CEO & Co-Founder, Abridge
Tangney and Rao emphasized that early design decisions around clinician trust, privacy, and reliability now differentiate sustainable AI platforms from short-term entrants.
Durability in healthcare AI depends on credibility, transparency, and responsible scale.
Building Trust in AI-Driven Healthcare
Dmitry Shevelenko, CBO, Perplexity AI
Kristen Valdes, Founder & CEO, b.well Connected Health
Speakers discussed citation-based AI, longitudinal data integration, and accountability frameworks. Adoption hinges on explainability, context awareness, and consistent validation across care environments.
The Business Model of Prevention
Jon Lensing, Co-Founder & CEO, OpenLoop Health
Monica Soni, Chief Medical Officer & Chief Deputy Executive, Covered California
Reshma Gupta, Chief of Population Health & Accountable Care, University of California
Ricky Bloomfield, Chief Medical Officer, OURA
Panelists explored how predictive analytics and continuous monitoring can quantify avoided admissions and reduced total cost of care.
Aligning reimbursement structures with preventive outcomes remains the central economic challenge.
CA PHNIX Rising: Public Health Reinvention
Deb Houry, Principal, DH Leadership and Strategy Solutions
Erica S. Pan, State Public Health Officer & Director, California Department of Public Health
Katelyn Jetelina, Founder & CEO, Your Local Epidemiologist
The PHNIX initiative integrates innovation, collaboration, and communication to modernize public health systems. Pan emphasized infrastructure modernization, while Jetelina highlighted the importance of combating misinformation through trusted communication channels.
How CMS Is Modernizing Healthcare
Amy Gleason, Administrator, CMS
Aneesh Chopra, Chair, Arcadia Institute
Gleason outlined CMS’s Health Tech Ecosystem initiative, focused on interoperability and patient-facing digital tools. Chopra emphasized voluntary, standards-based collaboration to accelerate execution and measurable patient benefit.
Precision Medicine Powered by Genomic Data
Carolyn Jasik, Associate Chief Clinical Officer, Verily
James Lu, Co-Founder & CEO, Helix
Rachel Springate, Co-Founding Partner, Muse Capital
Susan Tousi, CEO, DELFI Diagnostics
The conversation centered on translating genomic data into real-time clinical workflows. Jasik and Lu emphasized scalable infrastructure, Tousi highlighted early cancer detection innovation, and Springate addressed capital allocation toward precision platforms.
Representative datasets and operational integration are essential for equitable precision medicine.
Old Data, New Insights
Eli Ben-Joseph, Co-Founder & CEO, Regard
Irem Rami, Partner, Norwest
Joseph Evans, CHIO, Sentara Health
Nikhil Buduma, Co-Founder & CEO, Ambience Healthcare
Suchi Saria, Founder & CEO, Bayesian Health
Predictive AI models are delivering measurable reductions in mortality and readmissions. Evans emphasized workflow integration, while Buduma and Saria highlighted multi-use AI platforms capable of scaling beyond narrow applications.
Hospital System State of the Industry
John Couris, President & CEO, Tampa General Hospital
Kat McDavitt, President & Founder, Innsena
Peter Slavin, CEO, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Health system leaders discussed margin compression, workforce strain, and the need for agility. Digital tools offer operational leverage, but sustainable survival requires experimentation with new care delivery and financing models.
State of the Payer Industry
Ali Khan, CMO, Medicare, Aetna
Kay Judge, CMO, Medicare, Blue Shield of California
Rachel (Rae) Woods, VP & National Spokesperson, Advisory Board
Syed Mohiuddin, Head of Healthcare, Anthropic
Speakers examined regulatory adaptation, interoperability mandates, and tech-enabled transparency. AI and analytics are becoming strategic tools for compliance, engagement, and equity performance.
Advancing Global Health Equity
Janna Guinen, Executive Director, HLTH Foundation
Nathan Cook, Chief Information & Technology Officer, Special Olympics
Special Olympics’ digital initiatives aim to close health disparities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Universal design principles can strengthen system-wide accessibility and equity.
Day 3: ViVE Startup Pitch Competition
Emerging companies delivered concise, high-impact pitches across AI diagnostics, care coordination, survivorship support, and patient engagement.
The competition reinforced that entrepreneurial innovation remains central to healthcare’s next wave of transformation.
Overarching Themes from ViVE 2026
- AI adoption is maturing, defined by governance, trust, and ROI.
- Interoperability is foundational infrastructure.
- Prevention is becoming economically quantifiable.
- Precision medicine requires operational integration and equity.
- Policy and innovation are increasingly aligned.
PharmaShots’ Perspective
ViVE 2026 marked healthcare’s transition into an accountability-driven era. Across sessions, speakers consistently emphasized disciplined execution, measurable outcomes, and responsible scale.
The defining question is no longer what is possible but what can be implemented, sustained, and trusted across the healthcare ecosystem.
As Media Partner, PharmaShots observed an industry entering its most operationally consequential phase yet one shaped by strategic alignment, technological maturity, and institutional responsibility.
Related Post: 2026 | ViVE: Feb 22 – 25 | Los Angeles, CA
