6 Key Takeaways from 2026 National PACE Association Conference: The Future of PACE Care and Operations

From AI adoption and regulatory compliance to smarter operations and sustainable growth, the 2026 National PACE Association Conference highlighted an industry navigating significant change.

The 2026 National PACE Association Conference in Denver brought together leaders from across the PACE community to explore how programs can strengthen care delivery, improve operational efficiency, and expand access to more older adults.

Across the conference agenda, one central theme emerged: PACE organizations must find ways to operate more efficiently and scale their impact without compromising the personalized, relationship-driven care that defines the model.

Here are six key takeaways and what they mean for PACE providers.

1. AI Is Moving from Experimentation to Practical Application

Artificial intelligence was a prominent theme throughout the conference, with sessions exploring its potential to improve clinical documentation, care coordination, scheduling, and administrative efficiency.

Organizations such as WelbeHealth, On Lok, and Seen Health shared approaches to applying AI and intelligent automation to real operational challenges.

The opportunity is compelling. AI can reduce time spent on administrative tasks, improve scheduling decisions, and help clinical teams devote more attention to participants.

But the conversation is shifting from what AI can automate to what it should automate.

For PACE organizations, the distinction matters. AI-generated documentation introduces potential accuracy and compliance risks, while excessive automation could undermine the human relationships central to the PACE model.

Key takeaway: The most effective AI strategies will prioritize reducing administrative burden and improving operational decisions while preserving human oversight, clinical judgment, and meaningful participant interactions.

2. Operational Redesign Must Come Before Automation

A recurring message was that technology alone cannot fix inefficient processes.

On Lok PACE’s homecare transformation provided an example of this principle. Rather than simply automating existing scheduling practices, the organization reassessed service requirements, staffing capacity, scheduling rules, and travel distances before introducing AI-powered scheduling.

This approach reflects a broader opportunity across PACE operations, including transportation, homecare, and interdisciplinary coordination.

As programs grow, manual scheduling, disconnected systems, and informal processes become increasingly difficult to sustain. Adding technology without addressing the underlying workflows risks perpetuating inefficiencies.

Key takeaway: Sustainable efficiency requires rethinking how work gets done, then applying technology to support better processes. The goal is not simply to automate more tasks, but to build more reliable, coordinated, and scalable operations.

3. Transportation Is a Strategic Foundation of PACE Care Delivery

Transportation received important attention as an essential component of participant access, care continuity, and overall program performance.

Centra PACE highlighted its integrated transportation model, combining an internally operated fleet with access to contracted wheelchair and stretcher transportation services.

Its approach demonstrated the complexity of managing transportation for participants with varying mobility needs across rural and urban environments.

Effective PACE transportation requires more than getting participants from one location to another. It involves coordinating appointments, accommodating schedule changes, matching vehicles to participant needs, maintaining fleet reliability, and managing both internal and contracted transportation resources.

These challenges become more pronounced as participant census grows and programs expand their geographic reach.

For transportation leaders, several priorities stand out:

• Intelligent scheduling and routing: Improve vehicle utilization, reduce unnecessary travel, and respond more effectively to changing participant needs.
• Integrated transportation operations: Coordinate internal fleets and external providers within a consistent operational framework.
• Real-time visibility: Give transportation teams and care coordinators better insight into trip status, delays, and service delivery.
• Operational consistency: Standardize fleet maintenance, driver workflows, and performance reporting.

Key takeaway: Transportation should be viewed as a core operational capability, not simply a logistical support function. Investments in transportation efficiency, reliability, and visibility can directly support participant access, staff productivity, and program sustainability.

4. Compliance Is Becoming a Continuous Operational Discipline

Regulatory compliance and financial sustainability were closely connected themes across multiple sessions.

Discussions addressed care planning, Service Determination Requests, documentation accuracy, Medicare payment methodology, risk adjustment, and audit preparedness.

The underlying challenge is that compliance cannot depend on reconstructing information after the fact.

Incomplete documentation, inconsistent workflows, and fragmented data can create financial and regulatory exposure. As expectations for documentation integrity and audit readiness increase, PACE organizations need systems and processes that capture accurate information as care is delivered.

Emerging approaches, including automated documentation checks and AI-assisted compliance monitoring, point toward a more proactive model.

This principle also extends to transportation, where reliable trip records, service verification, timestamps, and consistent reporting can strengthen operational accountability.

Key takeaway: Compliance should be embedded into everyday workflows rather than treated as a separate administrative exercise. Accurate, timely, and accessible operational data is increasingly important for both regulatory confidence and financial performance.

5. Technology Adoption Is as Much About People as Platforms

While technology offers significant potential, successful adoption depends on staff readiness, participant confidence, and organizational culture.

Midland PACE’s experience with care.coach illustrated how insufficient education and preparation can slow technology implementation, even when the underlying solution offers meaningful benefits.

Sessions on interdisciplinary training reinforced the importance of role-specific education, cross-functional collaboration, and practical learning tied to everyday responsibilities.

This is particularly relevant in PACE, where technology often affects multiple teams simultaneously. A new scheduling platform, for example, may change how transportation coordinators, drivers, clinical teams, and program administrators work together.

Successful implementation requires more than technical training. Staff need to understand why processes are changing, how the changes improve participant care, and what success looks like in their roles.

Key takeaway: Change management should be a core part of every technology investment. Organizations that engage frontline teams early, provide practical training, and demonstrate tangible benefits will be better positioned to achieve lasting adoption.

6. Sustainable Growth Requires a More Scalable Operating Model

Beyond optimizing existing operations, conference discussions explored how PACE organizations can expand their reach while protecting the quality of care.

Government affairs sessions examined opportunities to improve access through policy and legislative engagement, while other discussions considered PACE-adjacent services and new approaches to serving high-need populations.

Innovative care delivery models, including bringing ancillary services such as dental, vision, audiology, and podiatry onsite, also highlighted opportunities to improve coordination and participant convenience.

Yet growth creates operational complexity.

More participants mean additional appointments, transportation requirements, homecare visits, documentation, and interdisciplinary coordination. Processes that work for a smaller program may become increasingly difficult to manage as census expands.

This creates a need for operational infrastructure that can accommodate growth without requiring administrative resources to increase at the same rate.

Key takeaway: The ability to scale PACE will depend not only on expanding eligibility and enrollment, but also on building coordinated, data-driven operations that support more participants without compromising service quality.

Looking Ahead: Smarter Operations, Stronger Care

The 2026 National PACE Association Conference reinforced an important direction for the industry: the future of PACE will be shaped by organizations that successfully balance innovation, operational discipline, and person-centered care.

AI, automation, and integrated technology offer meaningful opportunities to reduce administrative work, strengthen compliance, and improve resource utilization. But technology delivers its greatest value when it supports the people, processes, and relationships that make PACE effective.

For PACE leaders, the opportunity is to build a more connected operating model—one where clinical teams, homecare, transportation, and administrative functions work together with greater visibility and coordination.

Ultimately, the goal is not simply to operate more efficiently. It is to create the capacity to deliver high-quality, personalized care to more participants.

Supporting PACE Transportation with Tobi Cloud

Transportation plays a critical role in making coordinated, person-centered care possible.

Tobi Cloud helps PACE organizations manage transportation operations through one integrated platform, bringing together scheduling, intelligent route optimization, dispatch, driver management, real-time trip visibility, and reporting.

Whether managing an internal fleet or coordinating with external transportation providers, Tobi helps teams improve operational efficiency and deliver more reliable participant transportation.