Northhampton News

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation hosted its 3rd annual DISRUPT: Health-Care Innovation Summit on April 5 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Nearly 200 attendees gathered at ArtsQuest to explore innovative ideas and engage in discussions aimed at transforming health care.

Emily Lyter, PT, DPT, administrative director and chair of the DISRUPT planning committee, opened the event with a call for innovation: "Health care is changing, and it’s changing because of people like you — people who refuse to accept, ‘This is how it’s always been done’ and instead ask, ‘How can we make it better?’ Let’s build on what we’ve started here and turn it into something bigger."

Featured speakers shared their expertise in areas such as human-centered design and digital health care. Noteworthy presenters included Gokul Krishnan, PhD; Chad Bouton, PhD; and Anang Chokshi, DPT, who participated in sessions on brain-computer interfaces and wearable robotics.

The event also featured poster presentations and a vendor fair, presenting developments in technology and professional education. Participants from diverse clinical settings such as inpatient and outpatient care, as well as various therapeutic roles, attended.

Sponsors for this year's summit included Strolll, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA, Lifeward, and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Plans are already underway for the 2026 summit, which will evolve into a two-day event at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on April 18-19.