SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 1, 2026--
Zentist will host Dental RCM Bootcamp 6.0 from August 30 to September 1, 2026, at The Westin Nashville, convening revenue cycle and finance leaders from multi-site dental organizations for three days of focused learning, peer exchange, and strategic discussion.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260331159845/en/
Now in its sixth year, Dental RCM Bootcamp has become a key industry gathering for dental RCM leaders navigating increasing operational complexity. The 2025 edition in Vail, Colorado reached full capacity, bringing together representatives from nearly 80 unique DSOs and more than 5,000 dental practices.
Building on that momentum, Bootcamp 6.0 will continue its interactive, workshop-led format designed to move beyond theory into practical application. Attendees can expect candid insights from senior RCM and finance leaders, hands-on learning experiences, and structured opportunities to connect with peers facing similar challenges.
The Venue: The Westin Nashville
Located in the heart of downtown Nashville, The Westin Nashville will serve as the backdrop for three days of intensive learning and networking. The move to Nashville reflects the event’s growing scale and Zentist's commitment to providing a world-class environment for the industry's top minds.
Event Details
Dates: August 30 – September 1, 2026
Location: The Westin Nashville, Nashville, TN
Registration:[Link]
Sponsorship Opportunities Now Open
Companies seeking meaningful visibility and qualified connections in the dental revenue cycle space can explore sponsorship opportunities via this link or contact Ashley Ferns at ashley.ferns@zentist.io.
About Zentist
Zentist empowers dental revenue cycle and insurance billing leaders to reduce human error, increase insurance collections, and adapt to a rapidly evolving reimbursement environment. In 2025 alone, the platform processed more than 11.2 million claims valued at $2.1 billion. Using intelligent RPA and early-stage agentic AI, Zentist delivers scalable automation across the dental revenue cycle, supporting organizations at every stage of growth.
Zentist Announces Dental RCM Bootcamp 6.0, Heading to Nashville
BAGHDAD (AP) — An American journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad had tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier and was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.
U.S. and Iraqi officials said Shelly Renee Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction. A freelance journalist who has worked for years in Iraq and Syria and was described by those who knew her as deeply knowledgeable about the region and the communities she covered, Kittleson was kidnapped from a street in the Iraqi capital Tuesday and remains missing.
Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said Kittleson had sought to enter via the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9 but was turned back because she did not have a press work permit and because security concerns due to “the escalation of the war and aerial projectiles over Iraqi airspace as a result of the war on Iran.”
She later entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days issued to allow foreign citizens stranded in neighboring countries to “transit through Iraq to reach their home countries via available transport routes,” he said.
Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before she was kidnapped and was staying in a hotel in the capital, he said.
“The incident is being followed closely by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of” al-Sudani, Alawi said. He noted that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being interrogated.
Iraqi security forces gave chase to her captors and arrested one suspect after the car he was driving crashed, but other kidnappers were able to escape with the journalist in a second car.
An Iraqi intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said Iraqi authorities believe she is being held in Baghdad and are trying to locate her and secure her release. He said authorities “have information about the abducting party” but declined to give more details.
U.S. officials have alleged that Kittleson was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Iraqi militia that has been implicated in previous kidnappings of foreigners. The group has not claimed the kidnapping and the Iraqi government has not publicly said anything about the kidnappers' affiliation.
The Iraqi intelligence official said that prior to Kittleson's abduction, Iraqis had contacted U.S. officials to notify them that there was a specific kidnapping threat against her by Iran-affiliated militias.
Dylan Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X Tuesday that the “State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”
A U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said, “She was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her," including as late as the night before the kidnapping.
Kittleson’s mother, 72-year-old Barb Kittleson, who spoke to The Associated Press at her home in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, said she heard about the kidnapping from a news report on Tuesday and was visited by the FBI at her house on Tuesday night.
When asked how she felt about the kidnapping she said, “Terrible. Scared. I’ll pray for her.”
Barb Kittleson said she last exchanged emails with her daughter on Monday. Shelly Kittleson sent photos of herself from Iraq, her mother said.
“Journalism is what she wanted to do so bad,” Barb Kittleson said. “I wanted her to come home and not do it, but she said, ‘I’m helping people.’”
Surveillance footage from Baghdad that was obtained by the AP shows what seems to be the moment the journalist was kidnapped. It shows two men approaching a person standing on a street corner and ushering the person into the back of a car. There appears to be a brief struggle to shut the car door before the men get into the vehicle and it drives away.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Bauer reported from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
The street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson poses for a cellphone photo in a cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo)
U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson poses for a cellphone photo in a cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo)
A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
