touch point podcast

Digital health is here to stay: nearly half of the US population actively use wearables and connected health devices. However, many still express concern and doubt, which is impacting overall adoption. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the public use of health apps and wearables, the concerns that patients have with these devices and how those concerns may extend into other...

Health system marketers often develop strategies to address online reviews, ratings and even how their organization rank with third-party sites and organizations. In the episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the differences between each, the interrelation between ratings and reviews, and the challenges of bias with ranking methodologies.  Mentions from the Show:  Wave of leading medica...

For digital marketers, it might be said that Google has a strong influence on the tools and strategies that influence how we do our work - however, will this last? In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the current-state of Google’s search engine (and the new conversational search engines being announced), the decline in Google advertising spend and the impact that the HSS.gov r...

The need for virtual health solutions at the onset of the pandemic led to wide-spread adoption of telemedicine by providers and patients alike. However, over the years, this adoption rate has shifted and changed - based both on shifting patient expectations and provider acceptance of these tools. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the current trends impacting telehealth use...

Recent news reports of ChatGPT and DAL-E seem to imply that AI and machine learning is on the verge of taking over many functions of the marketing team. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss how AI/ML has already started to play a role in copy editing, creative design, digital advertising, CRM and website development. They are then joined by Matt Cohen and Christian Boylston of...

Healthcare digital marketers are spending more and more time focusing on improving the digital patient experience - but are they leveraging an important tool in the overall digital toolkit? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss how patient engagement technologies - and most notable, the EMR - impact the overall patient experience, and share the results of a recent study outlini...

Healthcare professionals realize the importance of focusing on healthcare consumerism. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss why health systems and hospitals still struggle with developing experiences that are simple and accessible, including sharing what the modern healthcare consumer wants (and what they complain about the most), the challenges to consumer-driven healthcare a...

Healthcare marketers are very familiar with acquisition marketing, but are these strategies enough? In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the trifecta of patient-centered marketing strategies: acquisition, retention and leakage. By understanding their roles and align their outreach efforts, marketers can build a comprehensive approach to marketing to patients in their service a...

Building a marketing plan and strategy is important, but the evolution of health system marketing is creating a demand for something bigger - the development of a business case. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the challenges that healthcare marketing is facing and how by moving outside of simply patient acquisition and branding requires us to build partnerships with the C...

Many health systems have begun to formally develop a customer experience center strategy. But what does that actually entail? In this episode Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the design and technical elements of s customer experience center, the purpose and ways that organizations can find value when adopting this critical strategy. Mentions from the Show: HOW A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY HELP...

In the annual “Year in Review” show, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer reflect back on the past year of the Touch Point podcast, sharing some of their most popular topics, favorite shows, including a special shout-out to our Guest of the Year - Stephanie Petrazzi of Nuvance Health. They also share their perspective on “virtue signaling” in our industry and close out the show with their predictions...

In our annual holiday “butter-board” episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer highlight clips from some of the shows on the Touch Point Media Network, including conversations about Apple and Amazon’s healthcare moves, diversity in clinical trial recruitment, the differences in hospital vs. academic marketing, innovation in nursing and child-care. Listen in and enjoy these audio “spreads” from the...

Recent news revealed that a number of hospital websites were found to have passed sensitive PII (personal identifiable information) to the Meta company via the use of the Facebook Pixel. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the importance of pixel tracking for digital marketers, how many websites encourage the use of tracking pixels and the legal and privacy concerns that aris...

Healthcare organizations face incredible industry challenges in 2022, they also must rethink their patient experience, marketing and data strategies. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share ways leading health systems have implemented “big ideas” in their marketing, and how focusing on patient experience can help healthcare leaders transform their strategies. They are joined by Chr...

The healthcare industry is facing extreme pressures to change and transform. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the outlook for healthcare - both at a macro and micro level - and ask if we are finally seeing the long-promised transformation of our industry. They are joined by Carrie Liken, Head of Healthcare Industry at Yext, who shares her predictions on how health systems...

In this special episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the various health observances that health systems use as part of their content calendars and ponder if they are useful or not. They also discuss whether Seasonal Marketing can align to the strategic plan as well as tap into consumer emotional states, and if that has an impact on various hospital strategies.  Mentions from the show:...

For organizations, the connection between reputation and brand is inextricably linked. This is even more important for hospitals and health systems focused on recruitment and retention efforts. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the relationship between reputation and brand, and share ways in which corporate reputation can be adopted by organizations that sometimes struggle...

In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the top challenges social media companies are facing, and how the recent evolution of social platforms are conducive to health system marketing and communications strategies. From the challenges with content, the movement to paid approaches and the steady loss of importance of social media followers, it’s important to ask: is social media (...

Health systems understand the need to embrace consumerism - and that improving the healthcare consumer experience is a competitive differentiator. But are we ready for it? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the new digital consumer and the challenges their expectations have on health systems. Rob Klein from Klein & Partners joins to share the latest insights from the 2022 Co...

In the healthcare space, there has always been confusion about the marketing technology stack, and specifically around the role of CRM - and Marketing Automation (for that matter). In this episode, Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the role of technology in the overall “patient engagement system” and how CRM and Marketing Automation are very different strategies that have a different place in the...

Healthcare organizations are transforming their patient experience measurements away from simple surveys to more sophisticated voice of customer programs. In this episode, Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share some of the pitfalls with survey-based measurement, and how to embrace predictive customer insight. They are joined by Amy Brown, CEO of Authenticx, who shares how truly listening to the “voice o...

In this triangular milestone, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer celebrate their 300th recording by looking back over the nearly six years of weekly podcasts and reflect on how the role of digital and experience has evolved in hospitals and health systems. They share their top 3 episodes, and look forward to the top 3 things they each feel are going to have the most impact on our industry. They also...

Physicians are currently facing a myriad of challenges, yet the importance for hospitals and health systems to involve them in our marketing efforts is increasing. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the challenge of physician burnout, and how this factor can shift their expectations of being involved in an organization’s marketing and outreach efforts. Marketing and communic...

In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith have “the conversation” about AI - and how the last decade (the so-called “Golden Decade of AI”) has radically advanced the capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning in all aspects of life and industry. After outlining some of the significant accomplishments of AI, they then discuss the challenges of AI adoption in healthcare and...

A recent study revealed the average patient appointment wait time has increased over the past few years to nearly a month, due to a number of factors impacting the industry. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share the results of this study, broken out by cities and specialties, then share ways in which health systems can begin to better understand overall wait times in an effort to...