What if the next meaningful change in healthcare starts with a conversation?
A question asked at the right moment. A perspective we haven’t considered before. An idea shared across the table that makes us reconsider something we have accepted as simply the way things are done.
Or perhaps it begins with seeing something for the first time.
This 14 and 15 October 2026, Days for Better Ways returns for its third year, bringing healthcare leaders, innovators and forward-thinkers together for two days of meaningful conversation, connection and discovery.
Set against a new backdrop at Balgownie Estate in the Yarra Valley, this year’s conference explores Unlocking Innovation in Healthcare, a theme deliberately broad enough to encourage bigger questions, fresh perspectives and meaningful discussion.
What does innovation actually mean for healthcare today?
Where are the opportunities to do things differently?
What can we learn from research, technology, education, leadership and the experiences of people working through these challenges every day?
And, importantly, how do we turn what we discover into meaningful action within our own organisations?
Because innovation doesn’t always arrive as one enormous breakthrough.
Sometimes, it begins quietly.
It can start with research that changes our understanding of what might be possible. It can come from technology that allows us to approach a familiar challenge in a completely different way. It can emerge through education, leadership or a willingness to rethink a process that has remained unchanged for years.
And sometimes, it begins by hearing a perspective we simply hadn’t considered before.
That is where the people in the room matter.
As an invite-only event, Days for Better Ways creates an environment where healthcare leaders and innovators can move beyond surface-level conversations, ask questions, exchange experiences and challenge one another’s thinking.
The program provides the starting point, but some of the most valuable ideas can emerge from what happens around it: the question asked after a presentation, the conversation that continues over coffee, or the connection between two people approaching a similar challenge from entirely different perspectives.
At the centre of those conversations are our Days for Better Ways 2026 speakers.
This year’s speaker line-up has been intentionally shaped around variety.
Different backgrounds. Different areas of expertise. Different experiences. And, importantly, different perspectives on what progress can look like.
Because unlocking innovation requires more than one way of thinking.
Across the two days, our speakers will explore ideas spanning dementia research, healthcare technology, education, leadership, people and organisational change, each bringing a different perspective to the broader conversation around innovation in healthcare.
Some sessions will inform.
Some will challenge.
Some may reinforce what you already believe, while others may make you reconsider it entirely.
And that is exactly the point.
Days for Better Ways isn’t designed to give everyone in the room one prescribed answer. It is designed to create the conditions for better questions, meaningful conversations and practical ideas that can continue beyond the conference.
Because the real value isn’t only in what happens while everyone is together at Balgownie Estate.
It’s in what happens next.
What stays with you?
What conversation do you continue?
What do you share with your team?
And what might you approach differently because of something you heard, saw or experienced?
That is where Unlocking Innovation in Healthcare becomes more than a theme.
It becomes something we explore together, through different perspectives, shared experiences and conversations that have the potential to lead to meaningful action.
And this October, an exceptional group of speakers will help us begin those conversations.
Director, Clinical & Consulting, Guldmann, Inc.
Dr. Patti Mechan is a physical therapist and recognised specialist in healthcare safety and mobility, with extensive experience across clinical practice, education and consulting. A Certified Safe Patient Handling Professional, Patti works with clinicians and organisations to turn evidence and expertise into practical improvements in care. At DFBW 2026, she will explore how technology can support progressive mobility and help create better outcomes for patients.
Session Topic: Progressive Mobility for the 21st Century – Leverage Technology to Impact Patient Outcomes
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Meizon Innovations
Liz Ferentinos is a Melbourne-based biotech founder and strategist with more than three decades of experience spanning pharmaceutical development, commercialisation and investment. As Co-Founder and CEO of Meizon Innovations and Co-Founder and Executive Director of Amnio Bio, Liz works at the intersection of science, innovation and real-world application. At DFBW 2026, she will take us inside the evolving world of dementia research and the possibilities emerging in the pursuit of a cure.
Session Topic: Advancements in Research on Dementia and Finding a Cure
CEO, Accelerer
Raechelle McLean is a change adviser, leadership coach and CEO of Accelerer, with more than two decades of experience helping organisations navigate complex transformation. Her work spans government, higher education, financial services and major organisational change, with a distinctly human approach to turning complexity into meaningful progress. At DFBW 2026, Raechelle will explore the relationship between people, purpose and possibility, and what it takes to move change from an idea to something that lasts.
Session Topic: People, Purpose and Possibility
General Manager, HLS Healthcare
Stephen Kingwell is an experienced healthcare leader with more than two decades across sales, operations and organisational transformation. As General Manager of HLS Healthcare, he leads with a focus on sustainable growth, strong teams and continuous improvement. At DFBW 2026, Stephen is turning the lens on something healthcare organisations invest significant time and resources into, with one deliberately simple question: Education: Why Bother?
Session Topic: Education: Why Bother?
Different disciplines, experiences and perspectives. One shared opportunity to look at healthcare through a different lens. Each session brings something different to the room, but they are connected by a shared challenge:
How can we turn new thinking into better ways of working, caring and leading?
Because Unlocking Innovation in Healthcare isn’t simply about exploring new ideas. It’s about what we do with them.
The question you take back to your team.
The connection that continues beyond the conference.
The perspective that changes how you approach a familiar challenge.
The idea that becomes something worth acting on.
That is where better ways begin.
Days for Better Ways is an invite-only experience, but the ideas and conversations it creates don’t have to stay in the room.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll continue sharing more from DFBW 2026, including insights from our speakers and moments from this year’s event.
Follow Days for Better Ways on LinkedIn and Instagram to continue the conversation, or join the 2027 guest waitlist for the opportunity to be part of a future DFBW experience.
Days for Better Ways 2026 is proudly supported by HLS Healthcare, Hitec Solutions and boozycandlez.
