AAOE 2026 Annual Conference Compendium-AC26 Compendium

AC26 Compendium

Pdf Summary

The AAOE 2026 Annual Conference compendium from Louisville, KY, summarizes 52 sessions on managing orthopedic practices in a rapidly changing environment. Major themes include revenue cycle optimization, AI adoption, workforce retention, patient access, compliance, leadership, growth strategy, and legal risk management.<br /><br />Key clinical and financial updates covered new Medicare skin substitute rules and stricter MIPS reporting requirements, emphasizing documentation, audit readiness, and revenue protection. Several sessions showed how practices can improve reimbursement and reduce denials through better KPIs, prior authorization workflows, appointment-data analysis, and benchmarking.<br /><br />AI was a major focus. Presenters described practical uses for agentic AI, administrative automation, patient scheduling, predictive targeting, documentation support, and strategic planning. The compendium stresses that AI works best when adopted sequentially, integrated deeply with EMRs, governed carefully, and used to augment—not replace—staff.<br /><br />Workforce and culture were another major thread. Sessions addressed servant leadership, remote teams, Gen Z expectations, hiring systems, retention frameworks, and building belonging with clear boundaries. Leaders were encouraged to communicate directly, protect their own well-being, and develop future leaders intentionally.<br /><br />Growth strategies included direct-to-employer contracting, new ancillary revenue streams, service line expansion, workers’ compensation optimization, DME, rheumatology/infusion programs, urgent care/walk-in clinics, and patient-targeting marketing in the AI search era. Many sessions stressed using data to justify new services and to preserve independence amid consolidation pressures.<br /><br />Compliance and legal sessions warned about attorney records requests, cybersecurity threats, Stark/Anti-Kickback risks, payer downcoding, regulatory audits, and state transaction laws. The overall message: practices that combine strong operations, disciplined compliance, thoughtful AI use, and data-driven leadership will be best positioned to thrive in 2026 and beyond.

Keywords

AAOE 2026

orthopedic practice management

revenue cycle optimization

AI adoption

workforce retention

patient access

compliance and legal risk

Medicare MIPS

leadership strategy

growth strategy