Fall 2026 Conference Archive
October 14–16
Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
NAACOS conferences are the only events organized exclusively by ACOs.
Schedule: Wednesday (pre-conference workshops): 1:00–5:00 pm ET
Thursday (Main Meeting): 7:30 am–6:30 pm ET
Friday (Main Meeting): 7:30 am–3:00 pm ET
CONFERENCE SLIDES
Thursday, October 15
| 7:00 am | Registration Open Exhibits Open |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | Arcadia Sponsored Breakfast From Reactive Reconciliation to Proactive Financial Management: Building a More Sustainable VBC Enterprise Speakers: Mike Badome, Arcadia and Julie Grantz, Ochsner Health Network |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | Innovaccer Sponsored Breakfast Using AI to Drive ACO Performance: Expand What You Can See, Multiply What Your Team Can Do Speakers: Nathan Amouck, Curana Health; James Barr, Atlantic; Craig Caroll, Ascension; Amy Stevens, Innovaccer |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | Navina Sponsored Breakfast Prospective Risk at the Point of Care: Achieving Peak ACO Performance with AI Speakers: Ryan Graham, Privia Health; Dana McCalley, Navina; Mary Beth Turner, TriValley Primary Care |
| 8:30 – 10:30 am | Opening Plenary Welcome NAACOS CEO: Emily Brower Panel: The New Enterprise: Designing for Long-term Value in an Era of Disruption Chair: Jenny Reed, Southwestern Health Resources Speakers: Jessica Bartell, Risant Health; Patricia Henwood, Jefferson Health; Dan Liljenquist, Intermountain Health; Chris Stanley, Populance Health CMS Speaker Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (invited) Emily Brower, NAACOS |
| 10:30 – 11:00 am | Coffee Break Sponsored by Keebler Health Exhibits Open |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | New Players, New Possibilities: Engaging High-Cost Practices and Serving High-Needs Beneficiaries through the LEAD Model Chair: Tori Bratcher, Trinity Health Speakers: Jeremiah Reuter, Wellvana; Will Robinson, HarmonyCares; Jake Woods, PSW |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Own the Risk, Own the Reward: Reclaiming Independence in an Accountable Care Economy Chair: Stephen Nuckolls, Coastal Carolina Quality Care Speakers: Paul Carlan, Valley Medical; Natalie McGann, TriValley Primary Care; Brandon Webb, OneHealth Nebraska |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Driving Value in Episodic Care: Practical Strategies for CJR-X and TEAM Chair: Mike Barbati, Advocate Health Speakers: Kasey Montgomery, Navvis; Thomas Tsai, American College Surgeons/Mass General Brigham; Sacha Wolf, CMMI |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Community Care Strategies to Support Duals and Other Complex Populations Chair: Alan Balch, Patient Advocate Foundation Speakers: William Bleser, Administration for Community Living; Jessica Downes, Envoy Integrated Health ACO; Rebecca Kirch, National Patient Advocate Foundation |
| 12:30 – 1:30 pm | Lunch Plenary Program NAACOS Excellence Awards Celebrate the organizations and leaders driving innovation and success in accountable care. The NAACOS Excellence Awards recognize outstanding achievements that are improving quality, advancing value-based care, and delivering better outcomes for patients. Clif Gaus Advocacy Award Named in honor of NAACOS founder Clif Gaus, this award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to advancing accountable care through policy, advocacy, and service to the field. The DC Update Get the latest insights from Washington on the policies, regulations, and political developments shaping accountable care. This fast-paced session covers what ACO leaders need to know about CMS, Congress, and the evolving healthcare landscape. |
| 1:30 – 2:00 pm | Break Exhibits Open |
| 2:00 – 3:30 pm | Another Can of Alphabet Soup: A Conversation with CMS Leaders on New Models Chair: Aisha Pittman, NAACOS Speakers: Gary Bacher, Nisha Bhat, Taressa Fraze, Jake Quinton, Lucy Sola, and Meredith Yinger, CMS |
| 2:00 – 3:30 pm | Optimizing Network Design around Accessibility and Value Chair: Jordan Hall, Primary Care Alliance, LLC Speakers: Travis Broome, Aledade; David Klebonis, Palm Beach ACO; Pauline Lapin, Formerly CMS/Consultant |
| 2:00 – 3:30 pm | Transitions of Care: Who’s Driving the Bus? Chair: Andrea Charmley, West Michigan ACO Speakers: Trancy Escobar, Mass General Brigham; Nicole Masci, Tandigm Health; Michelle McGeachie, Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network |
| 2:00 – 3:30 pm | Integrating Behavioral Health into Your Accountable Care Strategy Chair: Jen Moore, MaineHealth ACO Speakers: Emily Benedetto, Cambridge Health Alliance; Patrick Kneeland; Manika Kosaraju, Oak Street Health; Antonette Mentor, Montefiore ACO |
| 3:30 – 4:00 pm | Break Exhibits Open |
| 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Affinity Group – Operations and Executives Facilitators: Andrea Cauthen, Better Health Group; Wilson Gabbard, Advocate Health |
| 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Affinity Group – Data and Analytics Facilitators: Jennifer Gasperini, Advocate Health; Eduardo Osorio, West Michigan ACO |
| 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Affinity Group – Clinical and Performance Improvement Facilitators: Ramsey Abdallah, Northwell Health ACO; Natalie McGann, Trivalley Primary Care |
| 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Affinity Group – Compliance and Legal Facilitators: Andrea Chamley, West Michigan ACO; Jami Paulson, ACO Collaborative, LLC |
| 5:30 – 6:30 pm …………………………………. | Reception sponsored by Navina Exhibits Open |
Friday, October 16
| 7:00 am | Registration Open Exhibits Open |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | MDinteractive Sponsored Breakfast Navigating ACO Quality Reporting: How to Choose the Right Path and Invest for the Digital Future Speakers: Paulo Andre, Jackie George, Cherie Haydock, Beth Holtz and Julie Kim, MDinteractive |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | DecisionRx Sponsored Breakfast Reducing Cost of Care by Over 30% through Pharmacist-led Medication Therapy Optimization and Pharmacogenomic Testing Speakers: Travis Morgan, DecisionRx; Joseph Levey and Chintan Pandya, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |
| 7:30 – 8:15 am | PointClickCare Sponsored Breakfast Post-Acute Is the Lever: What ACO and Hospital Risk Models Both Require From Care Management Speakers: Andrew Borgia, PointClickCare and Dianne Duncan, AdventHealth |
| 8:30 – 9:30 am | Plenary Welcome – Jen Moore, MaineHealth Accountable Care and NAACOS Board Chair CMS Speaker Abe Sutton, Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and Deputy Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (invited) Melanie Matthews, CEO, PSW and NAACOS Past-Chair of the Board |
| 9:30 – 10:00 am | Break Exhibits Open |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | The Next Decision Point: MSSP, LEAD, and the Financial Road Ahead Chair: Soumya Mamidala, Honest Health Speaker: Noah Champagne, Milliman; Eric Cragun, Intermountain Health Proactive Care Services; Luis Padilla, National Association of Community Health Centers |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | Accelerating Accountable Chronic Care through Specialist Engagement Chair: Gene Quinn, Envoy Integrated Health ACO Speakers: Sheetal Kircher, Northwestern; Aaron Kusano, Envoy Integrated Health ACO; Jay Powers, MaineHealth ACO |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | Aligning Around the Patient: Payer and Provider Partnerships in Action Chair: Andrea Osborne, On Belay Health System Speakers: Philip Eaves, Ascension Seton Health Alliance; Zack Myers, Scan Health; Mike Ruiz, Vytalize Health |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | ACCESS Granted: Unlocking Partnerships to Advance Chronic Care Chair: Andrew Albano, Atlantic ACO Speakers: Amanda Benites, Prisma Health; Lisa Dombro, ilumed; Jacob Shiff, CMS |
| 11:00 – 11:30 am | Break Exhibits Open |
| 11:30 – 1:00 pm | Inside View of Excellence Awardees’ Success: How Top Performers Deliver Value and Growth Chair: Mark Gwynne, UNC Health Alliance Speakers/Winners will be announced at the conference |
| 11:30 – 1:00 pm | From Funding to Impact: Leveraging the Rural Health Transformation Program to Advance Accountable Care Chair: Tamara Thomas, Aledade Speakers: Kate Sapra, Office of Rural Health Transformation, CMS; Leslie Southworth, Montana Primary Care Association; Eric Stader, High Point Family Medicine |
| 11:30 – 1:00 pm | Bridging the Gap: Align Your ACO’s Strategies for Quality Reporting and Quality Improvement Chair: Ashish Parikh, Summit Health/VillageMD Speakers: Burke Burnett, NCQA; Mary Beth Conroy, IPRO; Wilson Gabbard, Advocate Health; Liz Palena Hall, CMS |
| 11:30 – 1:00 pm | Right Patient. Right Care. Right Time: Rethinking Identification and Triage in Accountable Care Co-Chairs: Varun Kumar, HarmonyCares Medical Group and Ana Sofia Warner, Boston Medical Center Speaker: Tom Kim, Sound Accountable Care |
| 1:00 – 2:30 pm …………………………………. | Lunch Plenary New Models Forge New Allies: How Enablers are Evolving Health System Partnerships to Advance Accountable Care Chair: Josh Berlin, ro3 Speakers: Robert Bessler, Honest Health; Susan Diamond, Wellvana; Michael Kopko, Pearl Health; Doug Wenners, Mosaic Health |