touch point podcast

Latest Episodes:

TP456 – When AI Speaks for the Patient Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

As AI becomes more fluent, empathetic, and embedded in communication workflows, healthcare’s relationship with voice, empathy, and trust is being redefined. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore the coming shift where technology mediates the patient experience itself, interpreting emotions, intent, and tone.They discuss:

The Signals – Why early pilots in AI-driven communication are signaling a shift from automation to authorship, and what it means when AI can shape the tone of care.
The Scenarios – Three futures for healthcare: The Empathic Mediator, where AI bridges patients and systems; The Voice Overload, where empathy fatigue sets in; and The Ethical Frontier, where transparency becomes healthcare’s new trust currency.
The Brand Voice Paradox – How AI as both author and amplifier challenges traditional notions of authenticity, and why marketers must move from managing tone consistency to ensuring voice integrity.

In the expert interview, Stephanie Wierwille, EVP of Engagement at BPD Healthcare, shares her perspective on how AI will reshape creativity, communication, and the psychology of trust, and why healthcare marketers must lead this next transformation.

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TP455 – The End of Easy Marketing (Racing Ahead While the Rules Change) Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

The era of easy targeting and attribution in healthcare marketing is over. With disappearing cookies, stricter platform restrictions, and growing consumer expectations, health systems are being forced to rethink how they segment audiences, measure ROI, and test emerging channels. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore:

Segmentation in a Privacy-First World – Why CDPs, not CRMs alone, are becoming the foundation for first-party and cohort-based targeting, and how to balance richer signals with regulatory risk.
Measurement in the Age of Proxies – How marketers can use matchbacks, lift studies, and proxy metrics (like click-to-directions or portal logins) to prove ROI when platforms restrict attribution.
Consumer Readiness for New Media – The growing role of CTV, podcasts, and AI-powered campaign tools — and why testing budgets and structured measurement are essential.

In our expert interview segment, Laurin Engle Bobo and Craig Blake from Amsive share insights from the field, including how they help health systems adapt segmentation strategies, measure ROI with imperfect data, and invest in emerging media without falling for hype.

Why this matters today: Healthcare marketers can no longer rely on “easy” targeting and reporting. Success will depend on how quickly they adapt to privacy-first segmentation, faster but defensible ROI proof, and disciplined experimentation in new media channels.

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TP454 - The Legal Lens: How Privacy Laws and AI Oversight Are Rewriting Healthcare Marketing Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

HIPAA is no longer the only rule that matters in healthcare privacy. State laws, FTC enforcement, and even wiretapping lawsuits are reshaping what health systems can and cannot do with data — and AI is adding another layer of complexity. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore:

Beyond HIPAA: How state privacy laws and enforcement actions are redefining what “compliance” means for digital marketing.
Wiretapping lawsuits: Why session replay, chat tools, and pixels are pulling hospitals into new liability risks.
AI oversight: Where AI introduces opportunity in marketing workflows, and where it creates risk in advertising and personalization.
Compliance as differentiator: How health systems can turn responsible AI and privacy practices into trust-building brand advantages.

In our expert interview segment, Jennifer Everett and Jen Pike from Alston & Bird share their legal perspective on HIPAA’s gaps, state law proliferation, FTC enforcement, and what marketers should expect next in AI regulation.

Why this matters today: Marketing leaders can no longer treat privacy as an afterthought. Success will depend on integrating legal frameworks and AI governance directly into digital strategy.

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TP453: When State Laws Supersede HIPAA: Privacy and the Marketing Funnel Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

For years, HIPAA has been the rulebook for healthcare privacy. But in 2025, the real drivers of risk (and opportunity) come from state laws, FTC enforcement, and lawsuits that extend well beyond traditional PHI. In this episode, Chris Boyer and Reed Smith explore:

Why state privacy laws are reshaping digital marketing more than HIPAA.
How the marketing funnel is being rewritten, with upper-funnel tactics carrying the highest risk.
Whether health systems should shift back to safer group-based targeting and focus more on owned channels.
How AI fits into this conversation — transformational for efficiency, but potentially dangerous in third-party advertising contexts.

Jeremy Mittler, CEO and Cofounder of Blueprint Audiences, unpacks how state laws are colliding with HIPAA, what enforcement trends are signaling to health systems, and why privacy must be built into every stage of the funnel.

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TP452 - “Do More With Less” is the Default Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

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.

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TP451: How Marketing and IT Are Redefining Patient Engagement Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

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 Taranto 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.

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TP450 - Marketing Technology Trends (Hype, Hope, and Hard Truths) Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

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.

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TP449: From Personas to Precision (How Behavioral Modeling is Changing Healthcare Campaigns) Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

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.

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TP448: Alphabet Soup: Navigating the Rise of GEO, SEO, and AEO Aug 13, 2025

Show notes

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.

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TP447: Do Consumer Expectations Apply Equally Across All Health Systems Aug 06, 2025

Show notes

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.

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