HLTH 2026: Previewing the digital health conference

HLTH is back and once again, the event looks to offer an intriguing snapshot of the evolution of the healthcare industry.

The HLTH conference kicks off at the Venetian Expo Center in Las Vegas Sunday. The digital health conference is expected to draw more than 12,000 attendees, including more than 4,000 healthcare leaders from the C-suite. More than 900 sponsors and exhibitors will be on

Chief Healthcare Executive® will be reporting from HLTH, and look for a host of stories and videos in the coming days. Here’s a quick overview of the event. 

AI all the time

With AI taking an increasing role in the healthcare industry, it makes sense that HLTH will be putting the latest on AI center stage.

The conference features the “AI Zone,” showcasing presentations from AI companies, product demos, and more. But all sorts of companies at the event will be touting AI solutions.

It’ll be telling to see how healthcare organizations are talking about AI, and how health systems are approaching AI solutions. Healthcare leaders increasingly are seeking tangible returns from AI investments, and they’re weary of pitches of products that aren’t aimed at solving problems.

Politics and policy

With the event taking place two weeks after the elections, HLTH also affords an opportunity to gauge reactions to the changes coming in Congress, with Democrats regaining majorities in the House and Senate next year.

Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, is slated to participate in a panel discussion Sunday night on the Democrats’ healthcare agenda.

Democrats have already talked about working to reverse or at least mitigate cuts in Medicaid in the coming years. President Trump remains in the White House for two more years, so the question remains if Democrats can get the president on board with putting more money into Medicaid and federal other health programs.

Transforming care

Some top health system leaders are participating in conversations looking at transforming the way Americans get care.

Dr. Omar Lateef, president and CEO of the Rush University System for Health, is slated to participate on a panel discussion examining the need to focus on keeping patients healthier, rather than simply treating them when they’re sick.

Lateef spoke with Chief Healthcare Executive® ahead of the conference about the discussion and the shift to a system focused on promoting health.

“We spend a lot of money on acute care in this country, and we need to do collectively a better job at preventing acute illness, and that's really something we all agree on,” he says. “But we have to build the infrastructure and align incentives so that we can get that done. Everybody wins.”

Market forces

Amy Perry, president and CEO of Banner Health, is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion looking at the market forces in the industry and looking ahead toward 2027.

In a conversation with Chief Healthcare Executive last week, Perry says health systems are already seeing more uninsured patients with the expiration of tax credits supporting the Affordable Care Act. She fears more patients will lose Medicaid coverage with new eligibility requirements taking effect in January, and the prospect of Medicaid cuts in the coming years.

Perry says Banner Health began seeing a rise in patients without insurance coming to emergency rooms in the third quarter of the year.

““What we have started to see in the third quarter is huge increases in our emergency room visits, which we sort of knew would be expected, given that that is really sort of the only point of access that uninsured people have to healthcare,” she says. “We're talking double-digit variances over the prior year, and we see that growing into the fourth quarter. So we expect that trend to continue and to become more serious in 2027.”

AgeTech collaborative

With an aging population, more health companies are developing tech products aimed at older Americans. AARP has formed a partnership with the HLTH conference, and AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative works to help new companies who are designing products for seniors.

About 20 AgeTech startups are slated to be at the conference. Andy Miller, AARP’s senior vice president of innovation and product development, told Chief Healthcare Executive in a recent interview that the collaborative aims to bring startups, investors and large companies together to help develop solutions for seniors who want to be healthier and retain their independence.

““There was a natural alignment with the two organizations, and you know, just one conversation led to another,” Miller said of the partnership with HLTH. “And we thought there was a really interesting opportunity to come together and do something that's, you know, a little bigger, a little more inspiring, a little more engaging for the folks that are coming, and so that's what led to this collaboration.”

Focus on imaging

Diagnostics have gained more attention at the HLTH conference in recent years. This year, HLTH’s diagnostic zone is doubling in size.

Eliad Josephson, a subject matter expert on diagnostics for HLTH Inc., says the conference brings diagnostic companies together with other leaders across the wider healthcare ecosystem.

“I'm very much interested in how diagnostics supplies to the ecosystem, and that's what HLTH knows how to do, bring together the entire ecosystem, where you can talk to people that regularly are not at the other conferences, and that is a key benefit,” he says.