Executive War College General Session auditorium

31st Annual Executive War College

April 28-29, 2026
New Orleans • Hyatt Regency Hotel

For you and your clinical lab or pathology management team, this must-attend two-day event is unique because it emphasizes success stories and case studies that will help your lab survive—and thrive—despite the industry’s changing landscape. More than 90 sessions and 146 speakers, panelists, and lab experts will be at the podium sharing the inside story of how their respective lab organizations are succeeding. 

Important presentations will cover the major trends in today’s healthcare system and describe specific ways these developments either hurt or help the financial stability of laboratories.

Whatever your special interest, you’ll find it! Each day’s sessions cover the full gamut of lab strategy, lab management, lab operations, finance, sales, marketing, managed care contracting, regulatory, CLIA updates, legal/regulatory compliance, coding/billing/collection innovations, AI, digital pathology, whole genome sequencing, and even merger & acquisition activity involving lab companies. 

Add it up! Our Executive War College provides you everything you need to guide your laboratory to success. In two-information-filled days, you get the latest in lab management, inside news on breaking trends, and the opportunity to network with the keenest minds in laboratory medicine. Join us and 1,000 of your peers in New Orleans on April 28-29 and be part of the biggest laboratory management summit on the planet!

Insights from Industry Leaders on Why You Should Attend!

For more than three decades, Executive War College has become THE essential, must-go-to conference for obtaining information designed to solve the latest challenges in diagnostics, clinical lab and pathology management.

Need testament to that statement? Well, in 2025, more than 1,000 attendees came to New Orleans and left after giving the event a 97% approval rating.

It’s you, our EWC community, that make this event so special, and we are grateful for the insight and energy you bring to it every year.

Executive War College 2026 will give you access to all the thought leaders, experts, and analysts you need to develop the right strategies for your lab.

Stay tuned to this site for updates as new session topics and speakers are confirmed. We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!

2025
Executive War College Audio Recordings

Now available for pre-order!
Listen to the event’s incredible insights to improve your lab business whenever you want!

  • Order the digital download Audio Recordings set now
  • Share their expertise with your entire management team
  • Build an information library with the best in innovative lab management 

Enroll for EWC 2026

April 28-29, 2026

Questions – We have answers, and your point person is Amanda Curtis
acurtis@darkreport.com

What kind of EWC experience do you want to have?

Sign up for our official conference newsletter and stay informed with the latest news, topics, and speakers planned for the 2025 Executive War College.

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Our EWC Headquarters Hotel, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans

Hyatt Regency New Orleans building

The Hyatt Regency New Orleans is looking forward to welcoming and hosting our conference guests and will provide discounted guest room rates for the conference dates.

601 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA

What Our Attendees Are Saying

Julie Ramage
Harbor Precision Genomics Consulting

Sanjay Timbadia
Tucson Medical Center

Dustin Suntheimer
GoPath Diagnostics

Stacy Thomas
Ellkay

George Zhao
Dendi

Stefan Macchi
Birdrock Laboratories

Browse Photo Highlights from Executive War College

Why You Can’t Miss Attending EWC 2026

See you in New Orleans,
Robert Michel
Founder and Director
Executive War College Speaker Curtis Mcnair speaking in front of a Breakout Session

Success is not an option, it is an Imperative!

Woman Laboratory Expert speaking at podium at EWC general session

170+ Expert Speakers can’t all be right… or can they? 

EWC is your best place to learn solutions for your laboratories’ unique challenges. Expert speakers discuss powerful new practices that can positively impact your bottom line. Each session and panel discussions cover subjects such as: 1) Transitioning to precision and genetic medicine 2) The integration of clinical care and/or healthcare big data 3) Navigating narrow and exclusionary payer networks. With 116 sessions and panels, there is something for everyone!

Executive War College is the largest gathering in one place of lab and pathology leaders

Phrases like: Unique… One of Kind… indispensable … Not to be missed… have been used to describe the Executive War College’s annual gathering. They suggest the impact that attending the college can have on you, your career, and your laboratory. With a record crowd in 2024 of 1,026 attendees, EWC also delivers on the promise to give you the best networking in the lab profession!

Female EWC Attendee talking with two other attendees in the row behind her.

Change your mindset from Survive to Thrive

Your unprecedented access to peers and industry leaders is another source of great value for your time and investment. Our collegial environment encourages straight talk, clear understanding, and insider perspectives on lab successes and setbacks. These conversations will provide you with the knowledge and the confidence to thrive in this current clinical laboratory and diagnostics marketplace.

Attendance in the 2025 Executive War College is an exponential mental growth explosion!

Learning opportunities at EWC widen your perspectives on success in these challenging times. Each day you are with us, you’ll add to your personal leadership and management skills. You’ll return to your laboratory charged with ideas, enthusiasm, and ideas. It’s why attendance in EWC is a must for every lab leader wanting to stay abreast of market developments and everything new and useful in laboratory management. EWC’s learning opportunities include: management master classes, lab executive roundtables, intimate workshops, lab case studies, and exciting post-seminar workshops, along with rich networking opportunities. Executive War College is the essential investment that helps you prepare your lab to not only survive, but thrive even as healthcare itself is being transformed by new care models, big data, and precision medicine.

Who Attends the Executive War College

Health Systems and Hospital Clinical Laboratory and Pathology Leadership

Hospital C-Suite Administrators

Laboratory Vice Presidents

Pathology Lab Directors/Administrators

Laboratory Directors

Molecular and Genetic Lab Leaders

Precision Medicine & Genetic Program Directors/Administrators

Laboratory Section Managers/Leaders/Supervisors

Representative Labs:

  • ACL Laboratories/Advocate Health
  • Cleveland Clinic Laboratories
  • Medical University of South Carolina
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine
  • Baptist Health South Florida
  • Banner Health
  • Intermountain Health Outreach Labs
  • Baylor Scott & White Health
  • Cedars Sinai
  • Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center
  • Fabric Genomics
  • Kaiser Permanente

Independent Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Laboratory Owners/C-Suite/Vice Presidents/Directors

Pathology Group Owners/Directors

Pathology Group Practice Administrators

Physician Group Lab Owners/Directors

Public Health/Population Health VP’s/Directors

Life Sciences/Research Labs

Representative Labs:

  • Mayo Clinic Laboratories
  • ARUP (Reference Lab)
  • LabCorp (Reference Lab)
  • TriCore (Reference Lab)
  • GeneDx
  • Sonic Labs (Reference Lab)
  • Michigan Pathology Specialists (Pathologist Group)
  • Pacific Pathology Labs (Pathology Group)
  • NorDX (Animal Reference Lab)
  • Novartis (Research Pharm (Life Sciences)
  • AstraZeneca (Pharm/Life Sciences)
  • Caris Life Sciences (Pharm/Life Sciences)
  • Sonora Quest (Population Health Division)

Partners and Suppliers to Laboratory and Pathology Groups

In Vitro Diagnostic Manufacturers

LIS/Pathology LIS/LIMS/RCM/IT

Diagnostic Instrument, Product & Technology

Informatics Products and Services

Suppliers of Automation, Analyzers, and Assays

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), Coding, Billing, and Collections

Legal, Regulatory & Compliance

Representative Companies:

  • Abbott (Diagnostics)
  • Epic Corporation (EMR/LIS)
  • Clinisys LIS
  • Cerner LIS
  • Telcor (Technology)
  • XIFIN (Technology/Informatics)
  • LifePoint Informatics
  • Change Health Care (RCM/billing)
  • HC1 (RCM)
  • Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc. (RCM)
  • COLA (Regulatory)
  • College of American Pathologists (Regulatory)
  • Beckman Diagnostics (Diagnostics)
  • Bio-Rad Laboratories (Diagnostics)
  • Hologic (Diagnostics)
  • Cardinal Health (Product & Technology)
  • Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (Legal)