Episodes

  • TP452 - “Do More With Less” is the Default

    TP452 - “Do More With Less” is the Default
    Sep 10 2025
    Health systems are facing a new reality: “do more with less” is no longer a slogan, it is the baseline. With shrinking margins, delayed capital investments, and workforce fatigue, marketing leaders are under pressure to deliver growth and digital progress with fewer resources. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore: Constraints as the new baseline: why financial pressure, staffing shortages, and stalled capital projects are redefining digital priorities. Resilience over perfection: how leaders can avoid paralysis by prioritizing impact over effort and sequencing initiatives more intentionally. The role of AI and efficiency: why digital and AI are high priorities but must be approached with caution, sequencing, and patient-first framing. Chris Pace, VP Healthcare Industry at SearchStax, shares lessons from his post “When Strategy Meets Reality”, his pivot from Banner Health to the tech sector, and why patient-centered leadership frameworks matter most when resources are tight. Mentions from the Show: 2025 US Health Care Executive Outlook — Deloitte 2025 Global Health Care Outlook Digital Transformation Investment Gaps — McKinsey Costs of Caring Report — AHA 2025 Workforce Scan — AHA GenAI in Healthcare Trends — McKinsey Chris Pace on LinkedIn Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 mins
  • TP451: How Marketing and IT Are Redefining Patient Engagement

    TP451: How Marketing and IT Are Redefining Patient Engagement
    Sep 3 2025
    Health systems have long promised to “break down silos,” but are marketing, IT, and clinical teams finally being forced to collaborate in meaningful ways? In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore how consumer expectations, ROI pressures, and enabling platforms are reshaping what patient engagement really means: From Silos to Systems – Why joint governance across marketing, IT, and operations is no longer optional, and how access- and flow-aware campaigns help avoid wasted spend. Measuring What Really Matters – Why CTRs and impressions aren’t enough, and how marketers can prove ROI with metrics that tie directly to booked appointments, care-gap closure, and clinical outcomes. The Role of Emerging Tech – How AI, programmatic media, and CRM platforms are influencing engagement strategies—when they deliver value, and when hype gets in the way. They’re joined by Sam Seering and Josh Torano from Epic Systems, who share how Epic’s CRM and Campaigns tools are supporting closed-loop outreach, practical ROI measurement, and the real-world lessons health systems are learning as they navigate consumer expectations and new technologies. Mentions from the Show: Deloitte: 2025 global health care outlook Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow The role of personalization in the care journey: An example of patient engagement to reduce readmissions Becker’s Health systems’ ROI on generative AI To help improve the accuracy of generative AI, add speed bumps Epic Systems Implementation Guide for Linking Digital Marketing to Appointments Sam Seering on LinkedIn Josh Taranto on LinkedIn Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • TP450 - Marketing Technology Trends (Hype, Hope, and Hard Truths)

    TP450 - Marketing Technology Trends (Hype, Hope, and Hard Truths)
    Aug 27 2025
    Healthcare marketers are navigating a landscape where martech is both exploding in scale and under pressure to prove its value. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore the latest shifts shaping the future of healthcare marketing and technology: The rise of autonomous systems – moving from pilots to practical tools that reshape operations and engagement. Human–machine collaboration – how AI copilots, wearables, and adaptive systems are augmenting—not replacing—marketing teams. Scaling challenges – balancing infrastructure, talent, and regulatory realities in the age of compute-heavy GenAI workloads. Personalization as strategy – why advanced targeting and AI-driven tools remain a growth lever for healthcare organizations. Guest experts Kathy Divis and Mike Schneider from Greystone.net, share insights from their work with health systems across the country, and preview what’s ahead at the upcoming Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC). Give it a listen and learn how marketing leaders can stay ahead of martech trends while preparing for the next wave of innovation. Mentions from the Show: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-top-trends-in-tech https://www.deloittedigital.com/nl/en/insights/perspective/marketing-trends-2025.html https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5460663-generative-ai-zero-returns-businesses-mit-report/amp/ https://www.williamflaiz.com/blog/marketing-ops-vs-revops-vs-martech-what-s-the-difference Kathy Divis on LinkedIn Mike Schneider on LinkedIn Healthcare Interactive Conference Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • TP449: From Personas to Precision (How Behavioral Modeling is Changing Healthcare Campaigns)

    TP449: From Personas to Precision (How Behavioral Modeling is Changing Healthcare Campaigns)
    Aug 20 2025
    Behavioral modeling is reshaping how campaigns are built, measured, and optimized, moving us from broad strokes to precise strategies that drive measurable impact. Hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore how healthcare organizations can adapt to this shift: Why behavioral modeling changes media planning, creative strategy, and workflow collaboration. Moving past CTRs to metrics that align with business outcomes like patient lifetime value and conversion quality. How to personalize without crossing the “creepy” line and losing consumer confidence. The role of modular content, analytics partnerships, and executive education in making this shift stick. Tim Duer, VP of Data Analytics & Strategy at Causeway Solutions, shares his team’s work helping health systems apply behavioral modeling to marketing and communications. He provides best practices, lessons learned, and practical guardrails for building campaigns that are both precise and trustworthy. Mentions from the Show: Unlocking the next frontier of personalized marketing Targeted Marketing Best Practices Tim Duer on LinkedIn CauseWaySolution.com Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • TP448: Alphabet Soup: Navigating the Rise of GEO, SEO, and AEO

    TP448: Alphabet Soup: Navigating the Rise of GEO, SEO, and AEO
    Aug 13 2025
    Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore how marketing and communications teams can adapt their digital content strategies for a future where search behavior is fragmenting and more patients are turning to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot instead of traditional search engines. They also discuss how AI models often cite structured, well-answered content from trusted sources and how to adapt the format and structure of content matter as much as the message. Guest expert Martha Van Berkel, CEO and co-founder of SchemaApp, shares how health systems can use schema markup and structured data to improve visibility across emerging search platforms and which schema types have the highest impact for healthcare. If your digital team is still optimizing only for Google’s blue links, this conversation will help you prepare for the new reality where getting found means thinking beyond SEO, and building for a world where AI answers first. Mentions from the Show: How To Win In Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) SEO vs. AEO vs. GEO: Key Differences & Optimization Strategies in 2025 Google still leads, but Gen Z and AI are reshaping search behavior: Survey Has The Helpful Content Update Impacted SEO Content? How AI Is Changing Medical SEO Martha Van Berkel on LinkedIn SchemaApp.com Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • TP447: Do Consumer Expectations Apply Equally Across All Health Systems

    TP447: Do Consumer Expectations Apply Equally Across All Health Systems
    Aug 6 2025
    Consumerism is impacting all health systems but does this mean the same thing in the same way to academic medical centers, urban hospitals, and rural health systems? Reed Smith and Chris Boyer unpack the growing tension between what patients want and what different types of health systems are built to deliver. From broadband gaps in rural markets to brand-driven loyalty in AMCs, they explore whether “digital transformation” really means the same thing in each context—and what happens when strategy drifts from mission. Later, Chris sits down with Andy Chang, Chief Marketing Officer at UChicago Medicine, who shares how his team is driving consumer-centered digital strategy within the complexity of an academic medical center. It’s a candid look at how one system is adapting to a consumer world, without losing sight of what makes it unique. Mentions from the Show: 2025 US health care outlook - Deloitte 2025 Trends in Hospitals and Health Systems Exploring Disparities in Urban and Rural Healthcare Markets: A Closer Look at PRC’s National Consumer Study Data Andy Chang on LinkedIn Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    50 mins
  • TP446: From Toolset to Mindset: The Evolving Martech Stack

    TP446: From Toolset to Mindset: The Evolving Martech Stack
    Jul 30 2025
    As the martech stack continues to evolve, health systems are facing a growing challenge: how to balance enterprise-grade safety and security with the performance demands of modern digital marketing. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer tackle that tension head-on, exploring what transformation really looks like when your tools, teams, and tactics need to evolve simultaneously.In the first segment, Reed and Chris unpack the deeper implications of today’s marketing technology decisions. From navigating compliance constraints to reconsidering the value of “speed to campaign,” they ask whether risk tolerance is becoming the silent killer of innovation. In the second segment, they explore how martech fragmentation, misplaced analytics, and slow procurement cycles are creating structural disadvantages for health systems trying to compete on digital experience.To bring in real-world perspectives, this episode includes audio highlights from a recent live panel moderated by Chris Boyer, featuring Aaron Mauck, Tom Armitage (MVP Health), and Raj Venkata (Align). The panel shares unfiltered insights about aligning legal and marketing, moving beyond vanity metrics, and making martech decisions that actually drive transformation. Mentions from the Show: Aaron Mauck on LinkedIn Tom Armitage on LinkedIn Raj Venkata on LinkedIn Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • TP445: ICYMI: Gaining Insights Into Market Research

    TP445: ICYMI: Gaining Insights Into Market Research
    Jul 23 2025
    Health systems are increasingly asked to make decisions based on data, but not all research is created equal. In this encore episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer revisit the essential differences between market research and marketing research—clarifying how each plays a distinct role in informing healthcare strategies. They’re joined by Steve Koch of Cast and Hue, who offers a deeper dive into qualitative research methods, including the strengths and limitations of focus groups versus 1:1 interviews. Together, they explore how empathy-driven research can uncover powerful insights that help organizations align their messaging, experiences, and offerings with real patient and consumer needs. Mentions from the Show: Original episode: https://touchpoint.health/podcast/tp394-gaining-insights-into-market-research/ Market Research: An Important Investment For Long-Term Viability Cast & Hue Focus Groups Vs. Interviews: Which Approach Provides Richer Insights? Steve Koch on LinkedIn Reed Smith on LinkedIn Chris Boyer on LinkedIn Chris Boyer website Chris Boyer on BlueSky Reed Smith on BlueSky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr