From Monitoring to Connected Health

Join leaders from across the Connected Health & Safety industry for three days of connection, education, collaboration, networking, and forward-looking discussion.

September 14–16, 2026
Nashville, Tennessee

Conference agenda

Explore the sessions, speakers, networking opportunities, Innovation Spotlights, and special events planned for the CHS 2026 Conference. Additional speakers will be announced as they are confirmed.

Monday, September 14

Welcome & Connection Day

Registration & Networking Lounge Opens

CHS Member Wall | Innovation kiosks | New member orientation

President’s Reception

Tuesday, September 15

From Monitoring to Connected Health

Breakfast, Registration & Networking

Speaker

• Geoff Gross, President, Connected Health & Safety Association

From Devices to Data, From Response to Prevention: Building the Connected Health & Safety Movement

An overview of the evolution of the Connected Health & Safety industry, the expansion of CHS, and the convergence of technologies redefining aging in place, home-based care, and independent living.

The Next Decade of Connected Health & Safety

Speaker

• Paul Keckley, Managing Editor, The Keckley Report

For more than two decades, Paul Keckley has been one of healthcare's most respected thought leaders, advising executives, policymakers, providers, payors, and investors on the forces reshaping the industry. Through The Keckley Report—his widely followed weekly healthcare newsletter and analysis—he has become a trusted voice on healthcare economics, policy, market disruption, innovation, and the future of care delivery.

In this opening keynote, Paul will share his perspective on the trends transforming healthcare over the next decade, including demographic shifts, the movement toward home-based care, artificial intelligence, value-based care, consumer engagement, and the convergence of technologies that are redefining how individuals age, receive care, and live independently. His insights will provide a strategic framework for understanding where the Connected Health & Safety industry is headed and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Silver Sponsor: KORE

Speaker

• Dan Cebula, Vice President, Connected Health, KORE

Speaker Bio

Active CHS board member, Dan Cebula serves as the Vice President for Connected Health at KORE Wireless, a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. With over 20 years of experience in the wireless technology sector, Dan has been instrumental in advancing IoT connectivity initiatives, particularly with leading PERS & RPM solutions providers and connected health OEMs. His expertise lies in delivering device and connectivity enablement solutions that simplify deployments and enhance operational efficiencies.

Prior to his current role, Dan held positions at Verizon and Jazz Wireless, the latter of which was acquired by KORE in 2014. He attended the University of Cincinnati, studying Organization Leadership.

Speaking Synopsis

Connected Health Without Borders: Enabling the Future of Healthcare Connectivity with eSIM

As healthcare becomes increasingly connected, reliable and secure cellular connectivity is critical for patient care, remote monitoring, and medical device innovation. This session will introduce who KORE is and our role in enabling global healthcare connectivity, explore the transformative capabilities of eSIM technology, and provide an overview of evolving eSIM standards shaping the connected health ecosystem. Attendees will gain insights into how eSIM simplifies device deployment, improves operational efficiency, and supports scalable healthcare solutions across diverse care environments.

The Future of Home-Based Care: Where Payers and Providers Are Aligning

Moderator

• Geoff Gross, President, Connected Health & Safety Association 

Panelists

• Anna Keith, Vice President, LTSS Product, Centene
• Dan Conroy, Chief Growth Officer, Teladoc Health

Healthcare is rapidly shifting from episodic, facility-based care to continuous, technology-enabled care in the home. This executive discussion explores how health plans and providers are partnering to improve outcomes, expand access, and lower costs through virtual care, remote monitoring, AI, and value-based care delivery models. Attendees will gain insight into how the payer-provider relationship is evolving and what it will take to scale the future of home-based care.

Silver Sponsor: Mytrex

Speaker

• Derek Carter, Product Innovation Manager

Speaker Bio

Derek Carter brings more than 35 years of experience in the medical alert and remote patient monitoring industry. He has held leadership roles in product innovation and business development at Healthcom, VRI, and Mytrex, where he currently serves as Product Innovation Manager. Throughout his career, Derek has worked with healthcare providers, home care organizations, and dealers to develop innovative technologies that improve safety, independence, and quality of care. He is passionate about merging technologies, product innovation, and the future of connected care.

Derek lives in Sullivan, Illinois, with his wife Stephanie, and their son Alex. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, outdoors, traveling, and music.

40 Years of Innovation: From Reactive to Proactive Care

Session Overview

The traditional emergency-response model remains essential, but connected technology is creating opportunities to identify concerns earlier and support more proactive care. Mytrex shares their perspective on the data, technology and security challenges shaping the industry’s next chapter.

The Future of Connected Health & Safety

Moderator

• Aaron Nye, Chief Operating Officer, Connect America

Panelists

• Sheila Krocak, Head of Commercial Growth and Customer Success, Best Buy Health
• Jason Childers, Chief Operating Officer, Merrill Gardens
• Samson Magid, Chief Executive Officer, HealthSnap

Healthcare is entering a new era where emergency response, remote patient monitoring, chronic management, virtual care, AI, digital engagement, and caregiver support are no longer standalone solutions. Together, they are becoming the foundation of a connected ecosystem that enables continuous, proactive care in the home.

This panel brings together leaders from across healthcare, technology, and senior living to discuss how these once-separate markets are converging into a simple Connected Health & Safety platform. Panelists will explore how organizations are leveraging data, connected devices, AI, and human care to improve clinical outcomes, reduce avoidable utilization, strengthen caregiver engagement, and help older adults age safely and independently.

The conversation will also examine what the next five years will look like, the partnerships that will shape the market, and the opportunities for healthcare organizations, technology companies, and providers to build the future of home-based care.

Networking Lunch

Platinum Sponsor: Best Buy Health

Speakers

• Sheila Krocak, Head of Commercial Growth & Customer Success, Best Buy Health
• Jeffrey Rathburn, Head of Product, Technology and Quality, Best Buy Health

Sheila Bio

Sheila Krocak is Head of Commercial Growth, Marketing and Customer Success at Best Buy Health, where she leads the teams responsible for growing and supporting commercial relationships across health plans, senior living operators and other organizations serving older adults. She is focused on helping organizations leverage Best Buy Health's technology and human services to keep older adults safe, connected and supported wherever they call home, while delivering measurable value for customers and identifying new opportunities for growth. With a career spanning innovation, customer engagement and business development, Sheila is passionate about expanding access to solutions that help older adults live more independently and give caregivers greater confidence and support.

Jeffrey Bio

Jeffrey Rathburn is Head of Product, Technology and Quality at Best Buy Health, where he leads the teams responsible for developing and advancing the technology, products and experiences that support Best Buy Health’s mission to empower people to age independently and safely. Jeff brings more than two decades of experience in technology leadership, enterprise architecture and business transformation, including leadership roles across Best Buy spanning enterprise architecture, merchandising technology, international technology and Best Buy Health. Throughout his career, he has focused on connecting technology and business strategy to build scalable solutions, improve customer experiences and enable innovation. Today, Jeff is focused on bringing together product, technology and quality to deliver trusted Age Tech and human-enabled experiences that help seniors and caregivers navigate the evolving needs of aging.

Creating an Age Tech destination for seniors and caregivers

Session Overview

Technology has never been more powerful, yet finding the right solutions designed to empower people to age safely and independently can be complicated. As consumer technology continues to evolve and the demand for Age Tech solutions grows, there is an opportunity to create a trusted destination that helps seniors, caregivers and the organizations that support them discover, adopt and benefit from innovation. Join us as we discuss emerging trends in Age Tech and how Best Buy Health is bridging the gap between cutting-edge consumer technology, critical human support, and the needs of older adults and those who care for them.

The Future of Aging: AI, Caregiving & Independent Living

Moderator

• Eliza Salerno, Chief Operating Officer, Medical Guardian

Panelists

• Amelia Hay, Vice President, Startup, Programming & Investments, AARP Innovation Labs
• Romi Gubes, Chief Executive Officer, Sensi.AI
• Madhavi Vemireddy, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Cleo

As populations age and caregiver shortages continue to grow, technology is becoming an essential partner in helping older adults remain independent while supporting the families who care for them. This discussion explores how AI, caregiver innovation, digital engagement, and new care models are improving quality of life while creating a more connected ecosystem for aging in place.

Silver Sponsor: Cognitive Systems

Speaker

• Taj Manku, CEO, Cognitive Systems

Speaker Bio

Dr. Tajinder “Taj” Manku is an entrepreneur, inventor, engineer, and technology executive with more than three decades of experience developing and commercializing advanced wireless technologies.

Taj has founded and led several technology companies, including Sirific Wireless, which merged with Icera and was later acquired by NVIDIA.

In 2014, he co-founded Cognitive Systems, where he serves as CEO. Under his leadership, Cognitive has established itself as the global leader in Wi-Fi Sensing and Spatial Intelligence, transforming everyday Wi-Fi signals into privacy-preserving insights about movement, activity, sleep, and daily routines.

Today, this technology powers Caregiver by Cognitive, helping families and care providers support older adults in living safely and independently at home for longer. Taj is named on more than 150 granted patents and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Growing PERS Revenue Through Proactive Insights

Description

PERS has long owned the emergency. The bigger opportunity is creating value before an emergency happens.

This session will explore how Caregiver by Cognitive adds a proactive layer to existing PERS offerings, giving families meaningful daily insight into activity, sleep, and changes in routine, without cameras or microphones.

Learn how PERS providers can use proactive insights to differentiate their offering, create a compelling premium service, increase recurring revenue, and deliver greater value to the subscribers and families they already serve.

Networking Break

The Next Generation of Connected Care Technology

Moderator

• Brock Winzeler, President, Becklar Workforce Safety / Personal Health & Safety

Panelists

• Hervé Muller, Vice President and General Manager, North America, Telecom Design
• Kendra Seavey, Chief Executive Officer, care.coach
• Julie Ament Gran, Chief Executive Officer, GrandPad

From AI companions and intelligent engagement to next-generation wearables, ambient sensing, and predictive technologies, innovation is redefining personal safety. This panel explores the emerging technologies that will shape the future of Connected Health & Safety, enabling earlier intervention, greater independence, and more proactive care.

Silver Sponsor: mySeniorCareHub

Speaker

• Anish Desai, mySeniorCareHub
• Affan Iftikhar, mySeniorCareHub
• Moderator to be announced

Anish Desai Bio

Anish Desai is a healthcare technology entrepreneur, innovator, and Founder of mySeniorCareHub, with more than 35 years of experience spanning technology, digital health, product development, and risk management.

His work focuses on using AI, connected health technology, and intelligent monitoring to help older adults live healthier, safer, and more independently. Through mySeniorCareHub, Anish is advancing a connected approach to aging in place that brings together preventive wellness, medication adherence, remote health monitoring, safety solutions, caregivers, families, and healthcare providers.

Anish is passionate about addressing the growing challenges created by an aging population and caregiver shortages by transforming fragmented health and wellness information into meaningful, actionable insights. His mission is to create technology that not only responds when something goes wrong, but helps prevent problems, protect seniors, and connect the loved ones involved in their care.

Session Overview

As the population ages and caregiver shortages continue to grow, MySeniorCareHub is advancing a more intelligent and connected approach to aging in place through its PPC™ Framework: Prevent. Protect. Connect.

This discussion will explore how AI-powered wellness guidance, medication management, remote monitoring, emergency response, fall detection, and connected health devices can help older adults live more safely and independently.

We will also highlight how the AI Wellness Score™ transforms fragmented health and wellness signals into Meaningful Data™, providing timely and actionable information to families, caregivers, home-care agencies, and healthcare providers when it matters most.

Networking

CHS Awards Gala

Country Music Hall of Fame

Wednesday, September 16

Global Collaboration, Growth & Advocacy

Networking Breakfast

The Global View: Aging, Technology & Policy Innovation

Moderator

• Alyson Scurfield, Chief Executive Officer, TEC Services Association (TSA) (UK)

Panelists

• Yaniv Amir, Essence Group
• Hellen Bowey, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Alcove Group
• Mark Hindle, Managing Director, Tunstall Healthcare UK & Ireland

As populations age and workforce pressures increase, health, care and housing systems around the world are looking for new ways to support people to live independently, safely and well for longer.

This international panel discussion will explore how technology, housing and innovative models of care are helping to shift services from reactive responses towards more proactive, preventative, and personalized support.

Using experience from the UK as a starting point, the session will explore the journey towards more integrated approaches to Technology Enabled Care, including practical examples from Wales, the role of connected homes and technology infrastructure, and the growing potential of virtual care.

The discussion will also look beyond the UK to consider how data, emerging technologies and international innovation can help services identify risk earlier, better understand individual and population needs, and deliver more proactive support.

Silver Sponsor: Security Central

Speaker

• Caroline Brown, CEO, Security Central

Speaker Bio

Caroline Brown is CEO of Security Central, a third-generation, family-owned monitoring company serving security, life-safety, and connected health organizations across North America. She leads the company’s strategic growth, innovation, and partner experience while carrying forward a family legacy that began in 1963. Through Security Central’s Monitoring with Momentum philosophy, Caroline is focused on combining technology, operational excellence, and strong relationships to help partners navigate the evolving monitoring and connected health landscape.

The Human Layer of Connected Health: Turning Data Into Action When It Matters Most

Session Overview

As connected health technology becomes more intelligent, the true value is not simply in detecting an event, it is in what happens next. This explores the critical human layer between data and action, and how monitoring partners can transform signals into meaningful, timely responses. Drawing on more than 60 years of monitoring experience, Security Central will share perspectives on combining technology, operational excellence, and human judgment to create better outcomes and greater trust across the connected health ecosystem.

CHS Industry Benchmark Report

State of the Connected Health & Safety Industry

Presenter

• John Brady, President, TRG Associates

Presentation of the annual CHS Industry Survey highlighting market trends, growth opportunities, technology adoption, member insights, and the evolving Connected Health & Safety landscape.

M&A Outlook

Investment, Consolidation & Growth Opportunities

Presenter

• John Mack, Managing Director, Raymond James

An executive overview of investment activity, strategic partnerships, valuation trends, consolidation, and the long-term outlook for the Connected Health & Safety industry.

Special Meeting — Proposed Amendment & Director Election

Speaker

• Eric J. Pritchard, Founding Partner, Pierson Ferdinand

Speaker

• Geoff Gross, President, Connected Health & Safety Association

CHS Strategic Update & Vision 2027

• Membership growth and expansion
• New member councils
• Advocacy roadmap
• Strategic priorities
• 2027 Host City announcement

Agenda subject to change. Additional speakers, moderators, and panelists will be announced as they are confirmed.