LUGPA 2026: Midterms, AI, and ancillary services take center stage

The 2026 LUGPA Annual Meeting, scheduled for November 5 to 7 in Chicago, centers on innovation and what comes next for independent urology practices, according to Benjamin H. Lowentritt, MD, FACS. Throughout the program, member groups are set to share what they are working on, where they have seen early success, and what other practices could adopt to better serve patients, physicians, and practices.

The meeting falls 3 to 4 days after the midterm elections, which Lowentritt said made the Health Policy Forum and Political Affairs Update especially timely. LUGPA’s advocacy leadership, including its lobbyists and policy team heads, will address the likely impact of the election results, the strategy that has shaped the association’s priorities so far, and what might still be accomplished in the lame duck session before year-end. Lowentritt described the Friday morning session as a perennial highlight of the meeting.

A panel on 2026 practice challenges focused on issues already affecting member groups this year, with topics drawn from feedback gathered at LUGPA meetings held throughout the year. Radiation was a central concern.

“The beginning of the year saw a big effect on radiation, not just from the known changes that were happening in Medicare payment, but also some of the coding changes that had unintentional effects and unplanned consequences that we really needed to adjust to,” Lowentritt said.

The panel will also cover anesthesia services in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and the integration of subspecialties, reflecting that many LUGPA groups now function as multispecialty practices, with other specialists helping care for urologic patients. Lowentritt characterized it as the program’s one session centered on present-day, high-impact challenges, in contrast with the forward-looking focus of most other sessions.

Because artificial intelligence (AI) has become so pervasive, planners debated how much of the program to devote to it, Lowentritt said. The meeting includes a dedicated AI session and breakout featuring member examples of implementation, without promoting any particular vendor; Lowentritt said he did not believe anyone had yet figured out all, or even some, of the ways AI applications could work well in urology practices. AI is also expected to surface in the Thursday morning practice administrators session and in several executive leadership presentations, whether or not it was named explicitly.

Breakouts on launching a genitourinary medical oncology program, adding Aquablation to ASCs, and building ancillary services reflect what Lowentritt described as a key to success for many groups: identifying and executing well on a suite of ancillary services.

“It’s all focused on our GU patients and what’s best for them. But then how can we provide it? And if possible, how can we provide it within our four walls to make the experience even easier for our patients and our urologic teams?” he said.

Aquablation, which to date had been performed solely in the hospital setting, makes sense as an outpatient procedure and therefore within urology practices, according to Lowentritt, and member groups would share their early experience implementing it. Some groups had also achieved what appeared to be sustainable integrations of medical oncology into urology practices that already had advanced cancer programs, potentially adding depth of service where a group felt it was appropriate. Presenters are expected to address both their successes and the challenges they had to overcome.

The keynote from Lindsay Shookus, a former Saturday Night Live producer and head of talent, will offer lessons on building and managing teams of strong personalities—a challenge Lowentritt likened to managing a group of physicians—building on discussions of culture and team building held throughout the year. The meeting will close with a cross-party conversation between Chris Christie and David Axelrod on the effects of the election and broader trends in medicine, moderated by LUGPA’s head of advocacy, Josh Langston, MD. Lowentritt said the session would leave attendees with a clear understanding of the policy landscape they face going forward. Registration for the meeting remains open at www.lugpa.org.

Lowentritt is secretary of LUGPA and director of minimally invasive surgery and robotics at Chesapeake Urology in Towson, Maryland.