2026 Woven Innovation Summit

Opening Remarks

"In health care, the breakthroughs that change lives are the ones that actually get adopted. They're the ones that people understand, and they're the ones that they remember and believe in." 

-James Lewis,  Woven Health Collective

Highlights from the Discussion

Despite living longer and extraordinary scientific advances, leading causes of death remain largely unchanged (eg, heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries) and even breakthrough therapies can fall short if clinicians don't understand them, patients don't trust them, or systems can't support delivering them

Four clear shifts reshaping healthcare innovation include:

1. AI is reshaping how innovation happens.

2. Precision medicine is becoming the norm.

3. Data can extend the life of innovation.

4. Design and access matter as much as science.

Keynote

"Data provide context, but it's stories that provide context and compel action." 

-Leana Wen, Practicing physician, health care executive, and public health expert

Highlights from the Discussion

• Real innovation in health care starts with understanding unmet patient needs, then committing to the difficult work of translating science into broader changes, rather than chasing technology and looking for patients to fit it.

• Tackling complex crises like opioids and infant mortality requires early, concrete wins, constant reevaluation of assumptions, and a relentless focus on the most vulnerable populations as the path to improving outcomes for everyone.

The DTP Debate: A New Care Paradigm, or an Unsustainable Model

"The new digital health landscape creates optionality for patients, but also confusion, raising questions not just about whether we can go direct, but when should we, for whom, and under what guardrails." 

Panelists: Ophelia Johnson, E.fi; Michael Botta,  Sesame; Caroline Collins, Emory Healthcare; Laura E. Happe, University of Florida College of Pharmacy;  Charlie Devita, Woven Health Collective

Highlights from the Discussion

• Direct-to-patient (DTP) models are rapidly becoming a mainstream front door for care, expanding access and creating new pricing dynamics, but also adding complexity as patients navigate a maze of benefits, cash‑pay options, and manufacturer channels.

• DTP can either alleviate or worsen fragmentation and safety risks, depending on how well models are integrated with primary care, guardrails, and incentives that keep patient safety, not product sales, at the center.

Threading the Future 

Highlights from the Discussion

This session was as a facilitated discussion that convened industry leaders across the health care ecosystem to discuss and unpack emerging trends shaping the future of care in areas such as:

• Rebuilding trust and health literacy: Explored how to support patients and providers to make scientifically-backed medical decisions across dimensions like health literacy being the key to patient-centered care, misinformation and patient hesitancy, and platform power and ecosystem integration.

• Closing the gap with AI and digital: Discussed how AI and digital health can transform access through key shifts like digital health as a growth engine, policy, pricing, and workforce transformation.

• Disrupting the delivery model: Examined how DTC platforms are reshaping power, trust, and access in U.S. health care through key considerations like trust/adherence, payer–pharma power shift, and telehealth scale/access expansion.

The Future of Diagnostic Pathways: Advancing Tools for Faster Answers

"Technology is no longer the primary bottleneck in diagnostics; the harder problems are adoption, payment, and integration into real‑world workflows and lives." 

Panelists: Leana Wen, Practicing physician, health care executive, and public health expert; Mouris Saghir, Quest Diagnostics; Wilbur Lam, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; Rajesh Aggarwal, Sharecare; Bethany Archambault, Woven Health Collective

Highlights from the Discussion

• We are in an era where diagnostic technology is advancing fast (eg, AI, at‑home testing, point‑of‑care tools), but the real bottlenecks are adoption, payment, and workflow integration, which leave misdiagnosis and under‑diagnosis stubbornly high.

• Democratizing access to tests and AI without coordination and equity can deepen disparities and confusion, so the most promising models tightly connect point‑of‑care and diagnostics back into care teams, prevention, and long‑term partnerships.

Digital Health Connections

Highlights from the Discussion

Woven presented a curated forum where handpicked digital health companies connected with industry leaders in small, conversation-driven sessions. Summit participants were able to spend time learning about digital health organizations’ impact to date and strategize collaborations. Our disruptive organizations included:

Increasing Access

Shortening the Dx Pathway

Improving Adherence