HUB26 Healthcare Experience Conference: Rethinking Team Collaboration

Healthcare teams face constant pressure to improve outcomes and adapt. Patient expectations rise, and patient feedback arrives more quickly. In the face of these challenges, leaders need teams that can act with speed and clarity. 

Yet many organizations struggle to turn talent into progress. Ideas move slowly. Teams stay in silos. Risk aversion blocks change. 

NRC Health’s Human Understanding Beyond | HUB26, brings a clear focus to that challenge. The conference takes place in Nashville, Tennessee, September 2-4. It brings together healthcare leaders and innovators who want to build stronger teams and better healthcare experiences. 

One keynote session stands out this year. It offers a new way to think about collaboration and innovation in real work settings. 

Ready to go beyond? Register for HUB26 and reserve your spot today.

Josh Linkner will present Co-Flow: The Harmony of Creative Collaboration. His work draws on his more than 30 years of experience as a business leader and musician.  

He has founded five technology companies and supported over 100 startups; he has also performed in more than 1,000 concerts as a jazz guitarist.  

This mix of experience shapes Linkner’s perspective on teamwork. In both business and music, success depends on how people create together in real time. 

Many healthcare organizations face a gap. Teams have strong individuals, yet their results fall short of what that talent would suggest. Creativity exists. Collaboration exists. But they rarely work in sync.  

Linkner’s concept of co-flow addresses that gap. It describes a state where teams align, engage deeply, and build ideas together. 

This is not theory. It reflects how high-performing groups act under pressure. They listen, adapt, and contribute without waiting for permission. 

Patient experience now shapes how organizations are judged. Scores affect trust, growth, and long-term success. Leaders need teams that can solve problems quickly and think in new ways. 

Many teams fall into familiar patterns: they rely on hierarchy, avoid risk, and protect the status quo. Over time, progress slows. 

Linkner challenges the outdated expectation of many leaders that a single expert can drive change. His HUB26 keynote replaces that belief with the concept of “assembled genius,” which shifts focus to the group.

Under this concept, every team member holds value. Many ideas remain hidden in daily work, and strong leaders create space for those ideas to surface. 

So what changes when teams adopt this mindset? They generate more ideas. They test them more quickly. And they move forward with shared ownership. The result is steady progress, not stalled plans.

This keynote session offers clear, practical outcomes. Attendees will learn how to: 

• Build a culture of collaborative creativity using five core forces 
• Replace the “lone genius” belief with shared innovation 
• Identify untapped creative capacity across teams 
• Use tools that strengthen problem-solving in daily work

Each of these points connects to real challenges in healthcare settings. Leaders can apply these ideas in team meetings, patient experience work, and improvement efforts. 

The focus remains on action—and attendees leave with methods they can test within days, not months. 

A Keynote Built for Healthcare and Patient Experience Leaders 

HUB26 centers on Human Understanding. It brings attention to trust, listening, and connection. These elements shape both team performance and patient experience. 

Linkner’s keynote supports that focus. It shows how strong collaboration creates better communication and faster problem-solving, which in turn affect care delivery at every level. 

Healthcare leaders often manage complex systems with competing priorities. Teams span departments, roles, and locations, and alignment between them isn’t easy. 

This session gives leaders a way to build alignment with intent. It links team behavior to outcomes that matter, including patient satisfaction and employee engagement. 

Linkner’s keynote is one part of a broader experience. HUB26 will offer three days of learning, discussion, and connection. 

Attendees will join peers from across the country to share challenges, test ideas, and learn from real case studies. Sessions focus on patient experience, workforce engagement, healthcare marketing, and measurable improvement. 

Nashville serves as a strong host city for this event. It has a deep healthcare presence and supports open conversation among leaders.  

The event runs from September 2-4, allowing ample time for learning and planning next steps. Many attendees return each year to track their progress and build relationships. 

HUB26 is designed for action, and participants will leave with ideas they can use in the near term. 

Register for HUB26 and Turn Ideas Into Action 

Healthcare leaders need more than theory. They need teams that can act with clarity and confidence; they need practical tools that support daily work. 

Josh Linkner’s keynote connects creative thinking with execution. It shows how teams can produce better ideas and move forward together. HUB26 brings this message together with a full program and a network of peers who share the same goals. 

Registration is now open for the September 2–4 conference in Nashville. Reserve your spot now, and join healthcare leaders who want stronger teams, better patient experiences, and real progress moving forward.