touch point podcast

In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith dive deep into the complex world of marketing technology, exploring the essential tools and strategies that power successful marketing teams. From foundational elements like website CMS and analytics to advanced AI-driven solutions, they dissect the marketing tech stack, providing insights into its construction, optimization, and the challenges fac...

In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer compare market and marketing research, and discuss the various methods - both quantitative and qualitative - that organizations can use to help inform critical strategies in a health system. Steve Koch from Cast and Hue joins to breakdown the differences and strengths of using focus groups and/or 1:1 interviews.  Mentions from the Show: Market Rese...

In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith dive into the world of Online Reputation Management (ORM) and its significance for healthcare systems. They explore the essential activities marketing teams must undertake to manage ORM effectively, including monitoring social media, responding to reviews, and engaging with the community. They also discuss the nuanced aspects of ORM, such as sentim...

In this week’s episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share their perceptions and insights on patient access - what it is, what internal and external factors are impacting access and then they dive into a recent study by Experian that implies that both patients and providers are feeling optimistic about access improvements in health systems. Lastly, they share some ways to implement a consumer-...

Data is crucial for uniting digital strategies across a health system, yet it often presents significant challenges. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer explore how various departments—marketing, innovation, operations, and clinical/care management—perceive and utilize data differently. They delve into the distinct value each area finds in data and discuss how organizations can progr...

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 rela...

As health systems increasingly adopt digital technologies, the gap between leading innovators and lagging adopters is becoming more pronounced. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share characteristics that distinguish the two. They are then joined by Ben Dillon, who shares findings and insights from Geonetric’s most recent 2024 Healthcare Digital Marketing Trends Survey. Mentions fr...

The modern healthcare consumer expects a personalized experience, but many health systems struggle to meet these expectations. In this week's episode, Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the current state of personalization in healthcare and explore why these strategies often fall short. They are joined by Keir Bradshaw of Merge, who shares his insights on how health systems can enhance personaliza...

In this week’s episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the future of search and search optimization by exploring the recent changes to SEO algorithms and the challenge of integrating Gen AI into search experiences. They even provide a high-level overview of the most recent Google SEO leaks and what it means to healthcare marketers. They are then joined by Martha van Berkel of SchemaApp w...

In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith delve into the contrasting worlds of back-office and front-office digital initiatives in healthcare, exploring how back-office applications like productivity tools, connectivity solutions, and data interoperability are revolutionizing administrative efficiency, while front-office innovations such as patient-facing care protocols, self-service optio...

Hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith delve into the concept of shared governance, exploring its definition and application across different fields. They discuss how shared governance empowers nurses in healthcare by involving them in decision-making to enhance patient care and job satisfaction, and how it functions in higher education by balancing diverse perspectives to improve institutional operatio...

Despite the abrupt disruption in the retail telemedicine industry, the role of telehealth is still strong in our industry. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the state of the state of virtual care in 2024. From the repositioning of telehealth away from episodic care, to how state and federal legislation is advancing to support the wide-spread adoption of telemedicine, they s...

In the second of a two episode arc on innovation and disruption, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss how consumerism is driving changes in the healthcare industry and how Big Tech to retail healthcare entities are changing the landscape. Then, Danny Fell, Senior Vice President of Healthcare at BVK, joins the show to share his perspective on disruption and the trends shaping our industry.  Men...

In the last ten years, we have seen a rise of consumerism being at the heart of most digital strategies. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer review the “who,” “what,” and “how” of innovation and in health systems and reflect on how consumerism has changed the landscape over the last decade, illustrating ways that consumerism can drive innovation for our industry. This is part one of...

For health systems, it’s important to leverage all tools in the digital marketing toolkit to support digital patient experience efforts. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the role digital advertising plays in supporting online experiences and share ways to leverage UX/Ui to optimize advertising efforts. They are joined by Jeremy Mittler of Veeva who share how to develop a p...

Recorded live from the Expo hall at the 29th annual Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer are joined by Kristen Wevers and David Perry, and share some of the key themes and ideas being discussed at the conference. From leadership resiliency, having a seat at the strategy table, to adapting to disruption, the four panelists discuss relevant topics top...

As Bob Dylan put it so eloquently: “the times, they are a changin’” - and for Chief Marketing Officers in health systems, this is true now more than ever. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the evolving role of the CMO, and the new skill sets required of the role. They are joined by Chris Bevolo who discusses his latest blog post “Rome is Burning” and his advice to marketing...

Since the pandemic (and arguably before), health systems are dealing with unprecedented staffing and culture challenges. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the results of a recent study on healthcare employee satisfaction, discuss how to address “quiet quitting” and share high-level thoughts on how organizations could begin changing their own culture. Then they are joined by...

On March 18, 2024, HHS and OCR released updated guidance on how health systems should utilize third-party trackers on their website - but what specifically did they indicate was different? In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith review the revised guidance, underscore the need to develop a privacy policy, and then Ray Mina from Freshpaint joins to share his perspective and insights on ho...

In health systems, many organizations are rightfully starting to consider the evolution of their website CMS to a Digital Experience Platform (DFP) - but what does that mean? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer clarify what a DXP is, including discussing differences between DXPs and CMSs and how websites are begin to evolve to meet the needs of modern digital experiences. John Berndt...

Many health systems realize that to meet the modern digital healthcare consumer, they need to embrace a “digital first” strategy. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the key elements a “digital first” company, how this relates to a Digital Front Door strategy, and then outline the change elements needed to propel organizations to prioritize digital in their operational, clini...

Back by popular demand: 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 stru...

As consumerism and marketing continue to blurs the lines across health systems, in this episode Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the critical role teams have in providing input and sharing our influence across the organization. From cross-departmental collaboration and data-driven insights to enhance patient care and operational efficiency within health systems. Learn more about your ad choices....

AI has seen rapid adoption in health systems, but are we ready for it? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the challenges with adopting federal regulation on AI and how local organizations can begin developing an AI governance framework. Patty Riskind, CEO of Orbita, joins to share her perspectives on responsible AI adoption in health systems.   Mentions from the Show: Health...

The current period of disruptive change in the U.S. health system industry is unlike any other time before due to the simultaneous convergence and magnification of several transformative factors. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer outline the unprecedented impacts in our space and share traits of agile organizations to help navigate this transformation. David Perry, of Bowstring Stu...