THMA 2026 Healthcare Operations and Administration Conferences

Executive Convening is The Health Management Academy’s in-person Forum platform that brings health system C-suite leaders together with a curated group of industry executives in small, peer-focused communities. Each Forum meets in 2.5-day, retreat-style events supported by year-round research, briefings, and debriefs that help members translate conversations into commercial and strategic action.

Most healthcare meetings focus on presentations; ours focus on conversations. Sessions are built around live problem-solving, case-based discussions, and the operational realities executives are navigating right now. The environment is intentionally intimate, with a strict 1:1 ratio of health systems to industry organizations, so participants can have honest dialogue, compare approaches, and build relationships that continue long after the meeting ends.

The agenda changes every cycle because it’s shaped directly by members, but recurring themes include operational efficiency, workforce models, supply chain resiliency, ASC and ambulatory strategy, financial headwinds, technology adoption, payer dynamics, regulatory volatility, and value-based performance. Across all events, the shared thread is how leaders are balancing day-to-day operational pressures with the need to build more resilient, future-ready systems.

Each event brings together senior operational leaders from the country’s leading health systems, including COOs, regional presidents, strategy chiefs, supply chain officers, access and throughput executives, VBC operators, and emerging successors. Select industry partners also participate. They’re chosen based on their ability to bring real expertise into the room, contribute thoughtfully to peer discussions, and collaborate on solutions that make sense for both sides of the table.

Themes vary by role, but many concerns are shared across the community. COOs are navigating margin pressure, length-of-stay bottlenecks, ASC strategy, and the ripple effects of tariffs, Medicaid changes, and 340B uncertainty. Supply chain leaders are managing volatility, sustainability expectations, vendor transparency, and system-wide standardization. Value-Based Strategy teams are rethinking organizational structure, strengthening payer relationships, and navigating increasingly complex CMS and MA models. Collectively, executives are balancing urgent needs, like workforce shortages and throughput, with longer-term transformation efforts.

Executives repeatedly tell us they don’t often have access to peers who understand the complexity of running a health system at scale. These events offer space to compare approaches, test ideas, learn from those who’ve executed similar strategies, and pressure-test thinking in a trusted environment. Members also appreciate the frank conversations that rarely happen in more public settings.

Industry participants gain a clear understanding of health system priorities, the challenges leaders are trying to solve, and how decision-makers are weighing investments. Instead of cold outreach or guesswork, they’re able to form relationships through shared learning and to position their solutions within real operational and strategic context. Many describe these Forums as the most efficient, high-signal way to accelerate pipelines and deepen partnerships with health system leadership.

Participation is selective. Companies are invited based on the value they add to the peer community, their ability to contribute meaningful thought leadership, and their interest in building long-term, executive-level relationships rather than pursuing transactional engagements. Our goal is to maintain an environment where every participant benefits from the dialogue.

Agendas are designed directly with members. We pull insights from ongoing conversations, Forum debriefs, quarterly Market Pulse data, and real-time trends emerging across health systems. Members influence everything, from session framing to the key questions addressed, ensuring that conversations stay relevant, actionable, and grounded in what executives actually need.

Most attendees leave with practical lessons from peers, a clearer sense of how others are tackling similar problems, and new partnerships they can continue exploring. Many systems, especially those in strategy, supply chain, and operations, take ideas from one Forum and begin implementing them before the next. For industry members, the value often shows up in faster sales cycles, better-aligned messaging, and deeper relationships with decision-makers.

Yes. Conversations usually balance the urgent (regulatory shifts, tariff disruptions, labor shortages, payer behavior, throughput crises) with the strategic (organizational redesign, ASC expansion, digital and AI integration, sustainability, enterprise-level VBC models). Leaders consistently tell us that this blend helps them reset their thinking, anticipate what’s next, and stress-test decisions before bringing them back to their organizations.

Very much so. Strategy, digital, finance, clinical operations, and VBC executives all intersect with the operational challenges discussed here. Many systems send cross-functional teams, and several themes, like workforce strain, payer complexity, and technology integration, cut across multiple leadership roles.

Participants don’t just attend a Forum; they join a community. Between events, members receive Market Pulse updates, Executive Edge briefings, CXO surveys, post-Forum debriefs, and access to THMA’s Executive Insights Hub. These resources keep teams informed between convenings and ensure that what happens in the room translates back into action inside their organizations.