touch point podcast

The passing of the Cures Act in 2016 aimed to empower patients to take control of their health information to make more informed decisions on their care. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss two recent studies that cast a light on if this has indeed occurred. THen they are joined by Chris Turner, of HealthBookPlus, who shares his insights on the modern healthcare consumer and...

In general, digital transformations can be difficult - particularly in health systems. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the overall need for provider organizations to embrace radical digital transformation, ponder if we are able to do so, and then discuss how prioritizing patient advocacy can yield to more impactful digital transformation. They are joined by Scott Becker,...

In this special Thanksgiving Week episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer review three stories that are abuzz in the news, and share their “hot takes” on how they may impact our industry. From getting care from a pod, who owns innovation in health systems, to AI gone bad, listen in as the hosts share their thoughts. Mentions from the Show: Primary care player Forward unveils AI-based, self-serve...

With all of the emphasis lately on developing digital experiences, it’s often overlooked that the customer experience transcends online and offline touchpoints. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the concept of a hybrid CX approach, integrating offline and online experiences, and the role AI has in supporting the new customer journey. Ian Lindsey from CereCore joins to discu...

Recorded live at the 2023 Healthcare Internet Conference in Los Angeles, CA, join host Chris Boyer as well as the panel of healthcare experts David Perry, John McKeever and Andrew Rainey as they discuss the importance of content strategy, best practices in measuring patient experience and the transformation of marketing.  Mentions from the Show: David Perry on LinkedIn Bowstring.tv John McKeever o...

Over the years, there have been many experts and analysts that have tried to predict the future of our industry. But are we set up to do this? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss why making predictions for the future are hard - not only for our industry, but also for technology. They are joined by industry expert Quint Studer, co-founder of HealthCare Plus Solutions Group, wh...

While there is ample talk of the use of AI (and Generative AI) in healthcare, sometimes there is a lot of confusion as to which solution is better. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the two different “worlds” of AI - open vs. closed systems, outlining use cases in healthcare for both and asking which is better for health systems. Then, Jeremy Rogers of IU Health joins and s...

If you are working at a health system focused on digital transformation, engagement or innovation strategies, the understanding of the customer journey is imperative to your work. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the different ways to analyze a customer-journey and share ways to use this to stay competitive.  Mentions from the Show: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/analyze...

Coming soon from Touch Point Media: discover the realm where digital expertise meets candid conversations on “Surprise – It’s Not a Toaster” – a bi-weekly podcast led by healthcare digital experts Ed Bennett and co-host Chris Boyer. Together, they venture into the fabric of online experiences, dissecting annoyances and irritations about navigating the modern online world. In each episode, they wil...

Over the last year, most healthcare organizations have responded to the guidance from OCR on HIPAA and third-party tracking by either removing all tracking or adopting new analytics and CDP technologies in their MarTech stack. But is this truly a “privacy-first” framework? In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss how the healthcare industry is being impacted by the recent guidance...

Over the last four decades, the rise of digital healthcare consumerism has evolved - in part based on consumer expectations, but also on technology. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the trends that have been driving this rise of consumerism and outline key milestones over the past 40 years. They are then joined by Kathy Divis and Mike Schneider of Greystone, who discuss ho...

Innovation is not, by nature, easily attainable - but for healthcare providers and health systems, innovation can pose significant challenges. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the classic management book about innovation - The Innovator’s Dilemma - and the ten arguments it poses, reflecting on how they reflect on our current state industry. They are joined by Kamal Jethwan...

Virtually every health system has a digital strategy in their strategic plan. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer explore the three pivotal digital strategies in healthcare: Transformation, Experience, and Innovation, offering insights into how these strategies are reshaping organizations and the industry.  Mentions from the Show: The digital transformation of healthcare organization...

It’s been repeated so often, it nearly sounds trite - the last 18 months have seen unprecedented change in the healthcare industry. And with these changes and challenges, a new leadership approach is emerging that is important for every health system leader needs to recognize and embrace. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the four leadership types of our industry and revisi...

If you attend any healthcare conference, webinar or read a whitepaper, chances are it’s about AI. And more times than not, it’s about Generative AI and how the industry is starting to consider and adopt these tools. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith review the current sentiments of healthcare consumers regarding AI, and the reasons behind the sudden advancement of GenAI solutions i...

Data is critical to any organization, in order to support decision-making and measuring success. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss how developing a good data strategy is the underpinning of any successful digital transformation, experience or innovation strategy. They also reflect on the changing responsibilities of the Chief Data Officer over the years, and share myths rel...

Healthcare organizations are feeling significant stress with the pressure to transform their organizations, while dealing with an understaffed workforce and financial challenges. To that end, healthcare leaders need to adopt new ways to be strategic, while also being agile and focused. In this episode, Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share how organizations can adopt a strategy-focused agile approach t...

There are numerous promises associated with adopting technology in healthcare, including cost savings and improved efficiency, just to name a few. However, can technology contribute to humanizing the patient experience? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the significance of infusing AI with a human touch. They are later joined by Aaron Patzer from Vital.io, who sheds light o...

Many times, the concept of “digital experience” is reserved to describing patients using websites, portals and social media to interact with health systems. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss how to bring digital patient experience to the bedside - virtual nursing, telemedicine, etc. - and the evolution of the hospital smart room. Jeff Fallon of eVideon joins to share his ex...

Health systems realize that the opportunity that digital offers to solve patient access is tremendous. Yet, many still have a narrow definition of what “access” really is. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer define the term “patient access” and discuss how digital front door solutions are only part of the equation - and how consumer intent and public health outreach offers a greater...

Current news-cycles are filled with a lot of hype around Generative AI, but there are a number of subfields of AI that are not “generative.” In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the various subfields of AI and how they have been used in healthcare for years. Then, Ed Bennett joins to share his hot take on AI and provides guidance on what healthcare marketing and communication...

Today, health systems are faced with a myriad of challenges to improving patient satisfaction, outcomes, and delivering more effective and patient-centered healthcare experiences. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss how the Jobs to Done framework is important to user-experience design (UXD), and then are joined by hosts Steve Koch and Jonathan Pathuis from Cast and Hue who sh...

When developing experience and digital strategies for health systems, the value of research is important - but what is the difference between market research, marketing research and consumer insights research? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer outline the different types of research that can inform an experience strategy, and share the benefits of consumer insights research that ca...

In this encore episode (which originally aired in July, 2022), Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the concept of the “Digital Front Door” and attempt to define and outline the various technologies and approaches that comprise typical health system front door initiatives. Ben Dillon shares his expertise in the “Ask the Expert” segment of the show. Overall, they conclude that perhaps the challenge w...

Arguably the most important data for health systems developing Digital Front Door (or Side Door) solutions is standardized provider data - yet, many organizations still struggle in developing a single source of truth. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the various ways that provider data is used within a health system, and the challenges that organizations are facing in stan...