Win or Lose Patients at the Digital Front Door

A free white paper, published by SearchStax

How website experience and site search drive trust, access and patient acquisition.

Download your copy to learn:

• Why are healthcare websites now one of the most influential touchpoints in the patient decision-making journey?
• How do poor onsite search experiences impact patient trust, engagement and provider selection?
• What operational and financial consequences occur when patients cannot complete healthcare tasks online?
• Why are younger generations placing greater pressure on healthcare organizations to modernize digital experiences?
• What practical strategies can healthcare organizations use to improve patient-centered search, navigation and digital access to care?
• How can better digital experiences reduce call center dependency while improving patient satisfaction and transactional outcomes?

Download Now  »

Inside Award-Winning Women’s Health Campaigns: Strategies That Deliver Results

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing member roundtable

Presented May 5, 2026

Panelists:

• Matt King, solutions consultant, population intelligence, Definitive Healthcare
• Katherine Baker, director of content strategy, Inspira Health
• Kelly Morrissett, director of consumer engagement, Ardent Health
• Cori Ahrens, vice president, client experience, Unlock Health

Moderator:

• Susan Dubuque, Contributing Editor, eHealthcare Strategy & Trends and Co-Chair, 2025 eHealthcare Leadership Awards

You’ll hear how leading organizations:

• Identify and segment women’s health audiences
• Translate insight into messaging that resonates
• Use digital channels with precision and purpose
• Build trust around sensitive or complex topics
• Measure performance and refine campaigns over time

Watch Now  »

Trust by Design: How UCLA Health Builds Privacy Into Every Digital Touchpoint

As health care organizations race to personalize digital experiences, UCLA Health takes a deliberate stance: Privacy isn’t a constraint on engagement; it’s the foundation of trust that enables meaningful connections. Discover how UCLA Health embeds privacy into its digital strategy to strengthen trust, improve continuity of care, and support long-term patient relationships.

Privacy as a Promise: How UCLA Health Builds Trust Across the Digital Patient Journey

// By Susan Dubuque // As health care organizations race to personalize digital experiences, UCLA Health takes a deliberate stance: Privacy isn’t a constraint on engagement; it’s the foundation of trust that enables meaningful connections. Discover how UCLA Health embeds privacy into its digital strategy to strengthen trust, improve continuity of care, and support long-term patient relationships.

Letting Kids Be Kids: CHAP Transforms Hospital Stays at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital

// By Susan Dubuque // The Children’s Healing Art Project has spent the past 19 years transforming pediatric playrooms and hospital rooms into vibrant, imaginative spaces where creativity can flourish. Read on for a clearer picture of the role of art in patient experience and actionable strategies for healthcare marketers to engage families and strengthen community ties.

CommonSpirit Invests in Personalized Patient Engagement with Health Risk Assessments

// By John Marzano // Historically, health care marketing has focused on brand awareness. Today, health systems are adding more measurable methods that foster long-term patient relationships. Learn how combining HRAs with email nurturing boosts patient engagement, enabling marketers to measure ROI and justify marketing investments that support the broader goals of the organization.

Governance Models That Work: How 3 Leading Health Systems Align Marketing with Strategic Goals

Without a unified governance framework to guide marketing, organizations risk sending mixed messages, squandering resources, and failing to engage patients and employees and fulfill the organizational mission. Explore how three health systems use tailored governance models to align marketing efforts with strategic goals, ensuring consistent brand messaging and effective return on investments.

Unified Marketing Governance: Lessons from Leading Health Systems

// By Marcos Irigaray // Without a unified governance framework to guide marketing, organizations risk sending mixed messages, squandering resources, and failing to engage patients and employees and fulfill the organizational mission. Explore how three health systems use tailored governance models to align marketing efforts with strategic goals, ensuring consistent brand messaging and effective return on investments.

Conference Preview: SHSMD24 Connections Gears Up for Insightful Sessions and Networking in Denver

SHSMD Connections is a must-attend event for health care marketers every fall. This year’s conference takes place October 13-15 in Denver. This three-day conference, jampacked with exceptional educational and networking opportunities, will fill you up with new ideas and fresh inspiration, and empower you to become a changemaker in your organization.

Rocky Mountain High: Reach New Heights at SHSMD24 Connections

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // SHSMD Connections is a must-attend event for health care marketers every fall. This year’s conference takes place October 13-15 in Denver. This three-day conference, jampacked with exceptional educational and networking opportunities, will fill you up with new ideas and fresh inspiration, and empower you to become a changemaker in your organization.

Measuring What Matters: A Framework for Healthcare CRM Success

CRM is evolving, helping health care leaders prioritize high-value communications that enhance profitability and support patients. Yet, today’s CRM often falls short of customer expectations. Are these expectations realistic, or are organizations expecting too much? Explore the current state and future possibilities of health care CRM.

Engaging, Educating, and Brand-Building: How Top Health Systems Leverage Video to Enhance Their Marketing

For 25 years, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards have celebrated excellence in health care digital marketing. At the 2023 awards, winning videos showcased the power of video to capture attention, evoke emotion, and drive action. Read the full article for expert insights and examples of award-winning videos.

Is Enterprise-Wide CRM Possible?

// By Elaine Christie // CRM is evolving, helping health care leaders prioritize high-value communications that enhance profitability and support patients. Yet, today’s CRM often falls short of customer expectations. Are these expectations realistic, or are organizations expecting too much? Explore the current state and future possibilities of health care CRM.

How Riverside Health Boosted Patient Engagement with Automated Audience Segmentation

Last year, Virginia-based Riverside Health System set out to enhance digital communications with its patients in pursuit of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim. Eileen Varnson, vice president of marketing, communications, and digital strategy, determined that the best way to achieve this ambitious objective was to partner with Upfront Healthcare to adopt a personalized Read More

Best Video Content: Unleashing Video’s Potential in Health Care Marketing

// By Susan Dubuque // For 25 years, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards have celebrated excellence in health care digital marketing. At the 2023 awards, winning videos showcased the power of video to capture attention, evoke emotion, and drive action. Read the full article for expert insights and examples of award-winning videos.

Leveraging Personalized Digital Communications and Psychographics to Maximize Marcom Effectiveness

// By Brian Griffin // Last year, Virginia-based Riverside Health System set out to enhance digital communications with its patients in pursuit of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim. Learn how Riverside Health used an automated audience segmentation strategy to increase patient engagement.

How One Health System Leverages AI to Optimize Workflows

When ChatGPT burst into the public consciousness in late 2022, it sent ripples of excitement and concern through many professions. Those working in public relations and communication were especially interested. Questions abounded. Debate ensued. Would AI be a helpful addition to our jobs that we could control? Or something that would end our work as Read More

Conference Preview: HMPS24 Will Keep You Educated, Informed, and Connected

When a health care conference sends out a call for speakers nine months in advance, you might wonder how current the sessions will be by the time the live event rolls around. That’s where the Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS24) advisory committee — made up of industry leaders convened by conference producer Judy Read More

AI’s Impact on Health Care Communication Teams: Is It an Evolution or a Revolution?

// By Alan Shoebridge // When ChatGPT burst into the public consciousness in late 2022, it sent ripples of excitement and concern through many professions. Those working in public relations and communication were especially interested. Questions abounded. Debate ensued.

Advertising Showcase: Baptist Health’s “Living Proof” Integrated Marketing Campaign

// By Susan Dubuque // Baptist Health has tackled cancer advertising and marketing from several angles. Research revealed that many people in the market assumed that a cancer diagnosis meant a death sentence, and as a result, they avoided seeking medical treatment. A new campaign was needed to help consumers overcome this barrier by flipping the narrative.

A Conference Hand-Crafted for You

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // The Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS24) planning team has put together a star-studded program covering today’s top issues that will keep you educated, informed, and connected.

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market? Lessons From Emory Healthcare’s Rebranding Success

Emory Healthcare’s rebranding initiatives enable the health system to stand out in Atlanta’s crowded market. Emory’s success should serve as an example for other hospitals and health systems looking to develop a successful rebranding strategy and drive growth. There are hospitals and health systems with reputations verging on veneration. But for all the world-renowned research Read More

Emory Healthcare’s World-Class Reputation Defined It — and That Was a Problem

// By Ron Shinkman // There are hospitals and health systems with reputations verging on veneration. But for all the world-renowned research and medical breakthroughs that occur at such institutions, the average person sometimes doesn’t realize that these famous hospitals also provide bread-and-butter clinical services. That can make it a challenge to attract patients seeking routine care.

Tips for Effective Service-Line Marketing at Your Health Care Organization

As a health care marketer, you’re acutely aware of how important it is to not only acquire patients and drive patient volume, but also to engage and retain those patients in order to establish long-term brand loyalty and improve ROI. The history of service-line promotion dates back to the early 1980s when marketers built brand Read More

Marketers from Three Leading Organizations Weigh In on Patient Acquisition and Retention and What It Takes to Succeed

// By John Marzano // The history of service-line promotion dates back to the early 1980s when marketers built brand awareness of their organizations’ high-end specialty care using visual and emotional imagery to display the prowess of their services, physicians, and organizations. Marketing terminology referenced centers of excellence, and promoted an organization’s distinction as the largest, highest quality, best, or first program in almost all health care marketing and advertising.