AAOE 2026 Women in Orthopedic Practice Management Conference-Conference Compendium

Conference Compendium

Pdf Summary

The AAOE 2026 Women in Orthopedic Practice Management Conference focused on practical leadership, career development, and maintaining patient-centered care amid change.<br /><br />In “Rapid Fire: Real Talk from Women Who Lead,” speakers encouraged leaders to delegate meaningful work with clear guardrails, protect personal boundaries to prevent burnout, mentor emerging professionals, and address organizational risks directly rather than rescuing others or carrying their responsibilities.<br /><br />Rear Admiral June Ryan’s session presented executive presence as a learnable skill, organized around the MISSION framework: reflect your authentic strengths, identify your values, set a course, build confidence through opportunities and risk, treat self-doubt as a chance to improve, lead with grounded optimism, and seek feedback to guide future growth. Her central message was that leadership begins with self-awareness and action.<br /><br />A leadership panel described varied paths to senior roles, emphasizing professional involvement, mentoring and peer networks, honest communication, leading by example, and setting healthy boundaries. Panelists advised aspiring leaders to accept opportunities before feeling fully ready and to learn revenue cycle operations early in practice management.<br /><br />A panel on technology and patient experience stressed that efficiency should remove unnecessary work—not simply increase staff demands. Leaders should communicate openly about change, involve staff in technology decisions, and preserve accessible human support for patients. AI and automation can help with documentation, scheduling, routing, and revenue-cycle tasks, but require appropriate training, workflows, policies, and accuracy checks. Practices should also update productivity measures when automation shifts employees toward more complex work.<br /><br />Across the sessions, the consistent message was that sustainable leadership puts people first: develop others, model the culture you want, use technology thoughtfully, and pair operational innovation with empathy.

Keywords

Orthopedic Practice Management

Women in Leadership

Executive Presence

Mentorship

Burnout Prevention

Patient-Centered Care

Technology Integration

AI Automation

Revenue Cycle Operations

Leadership Development