ViVE brings healthcare voices to Nashville | ViVE 2025

The ViVE digital health conference hasn’t been around too long, but it’s already become a big draw.

ViVE, now entering its fourth year, kicks off Sunday in Nashville. The event is produced by HLTH, which also runs a major health conference in the fall, and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).

Rich Scarfo, president of HLTH, says more than 8,000 healthcare leaders are expected to attend the event at the Nashville Music City Center. Last year, ViVE drew a crowd of 7,300 leaders.

Scarfo tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that he’s excited about more than the sheer numbers. The event is aimed at executives and decision-makers, he says.

“The numbers are nice, and we like them to grow,” he says. “We focus less on the number and more on the number of C-suite and VP-level attendees. So as that number goes up, we're very focused on making sure the percentage of those categories go up as well, because if that doesn't happen, we don't really view it as successful.”

This year, 27% of ViVE’s attendees come from the C-suite, and he says the event has seen “double-digit” growth in vice presidents as well.

About 6,000 meetings will be taking place at ViVE as well.

VIVE is also offering a program to connect providers and payers, and more than 600 buyers are expected, a 25% increase over last year.

Scarfo says he wants ViVE to be a place where leaders come together and do business. He says that’s one reason why the booths on the floor at ViVE are smaller than what attendees may see at other events.

“We don't want companies coming and taking massive booths and having their team stand around and, you know, hope for the best. We want them in meetings, and we want them networking and doing customer events. And we really want it to be a very certain type of event. So that's kind of our core,” he says.

VIVE is very focused on hospitals and health systems, Scarfo says. ViVE differs a bit from HLTH, which is focused on the entire healthcare ecosystem, he says.

“For ViVE, it's really more of a marketplace event,” he says. “It's an executive level networking event, It's focused much more on healthcare, health IT, and digital health solutions, and really the hospital systems and the payers are the core audience.”

ViVE is taking place less than a month after President Trump began his second term in the White House, and weeks after the installation of a new Congress. Those in attendance will likely be talking about the sweeping changes in the government and the implications for health providers.

“I think policy and administration changes will be front and center,” Scarfo says.

Given that it’s a digital health conference, artificial intelligence is likely to emerge as a dominant conversation topic.

“AI is going to thread pretty much through everything, you know, as we're seeing that in every industry,” Scarfo says.

Last year, ViVE took place just after the Change Healthcare cyberattack, the most disruptive healthcare cyberattack in U.S. history. Hundreds of healthcare cyberattacks were reported to federal officials in 2024.

Cybersecurity will be a big discussion topic at ViVE again this year. “Cybersecurity is going to be a key issue,” Scarfo says.

Beyond the technology and the transformation of healthcare, ViVE will also feature conversations on improving health equity.

“Equity in healthcare, it's very important to us, not just as an event, but as a company,” Scarfo says. “So I think that that's going to be a huge topic this year.”

ViVE draws established players in the industry, but more young companies are going to be attending.

“We've seen a surge in the investment community and startups this year at the event,” Scarfo says.

“I think what we're seeing this year at the event are really startups that are interested in working with hospitals, just interested in pilot programs, and certainly interested in funding,” he adds. “So that'll always be a thread through what we do, but it's nice to see that piece grow along with the other components as well.”

Scarfo offers some advice for those attending ViVE, especially those coming for the first time.

“Do your homework, whether you're a company that is exhibiting or you're someone who's attending,” Scarfo says. “We have hundreds of sessions. We have our four stages, and then we have another 200 speakers on the floor in smaller theaters. So I think knowing what you want to focus on when you get there, it's really important to do that before you get there.”

Apryl Childs-Potter, president of the Nashville Health Care Council, says tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that she's glad to see ViVE return to Nashville. The conference was held in Los Angeles a year ago, but ViVE came to Music City in 2023.

"We're excited that ViVE is back in Nashville, because I think it's sort of a testament not only to our city's ability to host conferences of that scale, but really our status as a healthcare hub and our growing concentration of healthcare technology companies," she says. "I think that that is an exciting thing for us as a market to see that continued reinforcement of that growth. I think that it's a great conference."

Chief Healthcare Executive® will be reporting throughout ViVE in Nashville. Look for our coverage in the coming days.