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Nashville is almost here. The 2026 Behavioral Health Tech conference (BHT2026) takes over the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center September 22 to 24, and with five stages of programming, we could talk your ear off about the full lineup. Instead, here are four conversations from this year's agenda we're especially fired up about, plus one very exciting piece of news we just locked in.
We're thrilled to share that our Day 2 lineup just got a major addition. "After the Pledge: Who's on the Hook for Behavioral Health Quality?" now brings the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directly into the room, with Carisa Schweitzer Masek, PharmD; Clive Fields, MD (Healthcare Advisory Committee); and Monty Burks, PhD (Center for Faith) joining Patrick J. Kennedy (Psych Hub & The Kennedy Forum) for a candid look at accountability in behavioral health quality. Marjorie Morrison (Psych Hub) moderates. Catch it September 23 at 8:10 AM on the Grand Ole Opry stage. This is exactly the kind of conversation our community shows up for.
That keynote sits inside a genuinely deep Policy & Advocacy track this year. In "After the Expansion Era" (9/22 @ 12:00 PM), Wisconsin's Sec. Kirsten Johnson and Mississippi's Dr. Daniel Edney join former North Carolina Sec. Kody Kinsley to dig into what states owe behavioral health next.
And in "Partnering for Progress" (9/24 @ 8:55 AM), the National Governors Association brings together state leaders from California, Alabama, and Oklahoma to talk youth mental health technology and policy. If you care about where behavioral health policy is headed, this is where those conversations are actually happening.
Every event claims an AI track these days. Ours has real substance behind it. Sessions like "Consumer-Facing AI in Mental Health: Access vs. Safety vs. Effectiveness" (9/22 @ 1:45 PM) dig into the genuine tradeoffs, not just the promise.
On Day 2, our AI Demos takes over The Ryman Stage from 1:15 to 5:00 PM with rotating 15-minute sponsor demos, so you can see the tools in action between sessions instead of just hearing about them.
Youth mental health shows up across our agenda, and this track is proudly sponsored by our friends at BHT Impact. "Measure What Matters" (9/23 @ 3:15 PM) tackles something every youth behavioral health program wrestles with: building a measurement strategy that actually holds up.
"More Good Days Online" (9/23 @ 9:05 AM) brings New Mexico state leaders together with the Youth-Adult Partnership Committee to co-create real technology safeguards with youth, not just for them.
Round that out with "Youth-Centered Design" (9/23 @ 1:05 PM), a workshop with IDEO.org built on that same idea of designing with young people rather than just for them, and you've got a track built on one shared belief: young people belong in the room where these decisions get made.
Good consumer engagement should feel personal, not procedural. CredibleMind, our proud sponsor of the Consumer Engagement track this year, brings "Precision Behavioral Health" (9/22 @ 9:45 AM), tackling the fragmented data and disconnected care that keep payers from delivering support that actually fits the person in front of them.
And "Retention Isn't the Point" (9/23 @ 4:15 PM) pushes further, rethinking what good engagement in behavioral health actually looks like beyond just keeping people in care longer.
This is a small slice of what's on the agenda. Five stages of programming means there's a lot more where this came from. If any of this got you excited, registration is still open and we'd love to have you in the room.
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