2026 Healthcare Summit | Potomac Officers Club
RegisterWHAT
The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Healthcare Summit will bring together leaders across the federal health landscape, representing the Department of Health and Human Services, the Defense Health Agency and Veterans Health Administration and more. While HHS is turning its $2.58 trillion budget toward the Making America Healthy Again initiative, DHA is prioritizing increased readiness and expanding healthcare to the warfighter, and VHA is enhancing access and quality of health services to American veterans. The agencies have made historic investments recently, such as the $50 billion CMS expansion of rural healthcare and $14 billion for integrated healthcare transformation at VHA.
The 2026 Healthcare Summit is the most optimal forum to learn about each agency’s unique contracting priorities in FY27. Find out how the major federal health agencies plan to acquire and utilize digital tools and AI, enhance data privacy, expand access to care, and drive modernization in exclusive panels and Q&A sessions with senior leaders.
Keynote Speakers
Speakers
Dr. Gil Alterovitz
Chief Super Intelligence Officer and Chief Data Officer, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Jose Arrieta
Founder & CEO
Imagineeer
Melissa Austin
Director, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Tim Borchert
CEO
Tria Federal
Ricky Clark
Director, Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Todd Couts
Deputy Director of the Business Services Group
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Lt Col. William Gamble
Trauma Surgeon at Walter Reed and is the NORTHCOM Trauma Medical Director
Joint Trauma System (JTS)
Kristin Heck
Principal Solutions Architect
Abt Global
Derek Herbert
Chief Production Officer Office of the Under Secretary for Benefits
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Sandra McIntyre (Pending Agency Approval)
Program Manager, Joint Operational Medicine Information Systems (pending agency approval)
Program Executive Office, Defense Management Systems (PEO DHMS)
James Perkins (Pending Agency Approval)
Acting Portfolio Acquisition Executive, Medical Digital Solutions
Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS)
Megen Schlesinger
Director of Operations, ODS
Oddball
Scott Straub
Marketing planner
TransUnion
CDR Darshan Thota
Chief Medical Informatics Officer (CMIO)
Joint Trauma System (JTS)
Christopher Wallace (Pending Agency Approval)
Chief of Cybersecurity, Portfolio Acquisition Executive, Medical Digital Solutions
Defense Healthcare Management Systems (DHMS)
Agenda
| 7:00am | 8:00am | Networking Reception |
| 8:00am | 8:15am | Welcome & Opening Remarks |
| 8:15am | 8:45am | Opening Keynote |
| 8:45am | 9:20am | Mid-Morning Keynote |
| 9:20am | 9:50am | Morning Keynote |
| 9:50am | 10:30am | Networking Break |
| 10:30am | 11:30am | Panel A: AI Governance and the Role of Policy Expertise- Kristin Heck (Moderator), CDR Darshan Thota (Panelist), Ricky Clark (Panelist), Christopher Wallace (Panelist) |
| 10:30am | 11:30am | Panel B: Navigating the Healthcare Trilemma: Cost, Quality, and Access to Care - Tim Borchert (Moderator), Dr. Gil Alterovitz (Panelist), Todd Couts (Panelist) |
| 11:30am | 12:30pm | Networking Lunch |
| 11:40am | 12:20pm | Lunch Panel - Jose Arrieta (Moderator) |
| 12:30pm | 1:30pm | Panel A: Balancing Fraud Mitigation and Customer Service Delivery in Todayu2019s World- Scott Straub (Moderator), Derek Herbert (Panelist) |
| 12:30pm | 1:30pm | Panel B: Readiness Over Everything: Combat Support, Care Reattraction, and MHS's FY26 Pivot- Megen Schlesinger (Moderator),Melissa Austin (Panelist), Lt Col. William Gamble (Panelist) |
| 1:30pm | 1:40pm | Networking Break |
| 1:40pm | 2:05pm | Afternoon Keynote: Dr. Matthew J. Memoli |
| 2:05pm | 2:15pm | Closing Comments |
