Strategic Issues/Trends

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Before the Search: Digital Strategies that Reach Women Earlier in Their Health Journey

Susan Dubuque headshot

// By Susan Dubuque // A digital marketing expert urges health care marketers to stop focusing solely on conversions and to start building trust before fear and confusion shape patients’ decisions. Read on to discover how health care organizations can use digital content, health literacy, and earlier engagement to strengthen women’s health marketing.

2026 eHealthcare Leadership Award Winners Announced

// By Susan Dubuque // More than 200 organizations were honored for outstanding work across the digital healthcare spectrum at the 2026 eHealthcare Leadership Awards, announced October 25, 2026, during an awards presentation at the Healthcare Interactive Conference (HCIC). Read on for a detailed rundown of the 2026 Awards and view highlights of the winning entries.

Brand Means Business: Turning Brand Strategy into Business Impact

Brand Means Business_ Turning Brand Strategy into Business Impact

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar sponsored by TILT

Presented October 21, 2026

Your Presenters:

  • Megan Kapalla, Senior Director of Strategy, TILT
  • Sarah Sanders, Executive Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer, Baptist Health
  • Kathy Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Your Moderator:

  • Susan Dubuque, contributing editor, Plain English Health Care

The discussion will explore:

  • Making brand strategy an integral part of business strategy.
  • Creating meaningful differentiation in a category defined by sameness.
  • Connecting brand to business priorities, competitive strategy, and organizational goals.
  • Creating alignment around the brand across leadership and the organization.
  • Putting brand and business alignment into practice through real-world health system examples.

Kapalla-Sanders-Smith

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Content that Connects: Inside Award-Winning Health Care Storytelling

Headshot - Jennifer-Shepherd-ANA

// By Susan Dubuque // Health care leaders from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the American Nurses Association, and Aha Media share how audience insight, trusted expertise, distinctive storytelling, and smart distribution create content that stands apart. Discover how these leaders identify meaningful opportunities and build strategies that extend the value of their best work.

Beyond Schema Markup: Is Your Healthcare Website Ready for AI?

SHCM webinar

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar sponsored by Schema App

Tuesday | November 17, 2026 | 2 p.m. Eastern

Panelists:

  • Martha van Berkel, CEO, Schema App
  • Jasmine Drudge-Willson, Product Manager, Schema App

Moderator:

  • Kyle Hardner, Contributing Writer, Plain-English Health Care

In this webinar, you’ll learn:

  • Accuracy: How your website influences the information AI uses to describe your health system, physicians, locations, and services.
  • Consistency: Why disconnected information across your website can create confusion and misrepresentation.
  • Brand Authority: How connecting your content and expertise helps AI better understand what your organization specializes in.
  • Confidence: What healthcare marketing leaders can do today to strengthen their digital foundation and prepare for AI-driven patient discovery.

No technical background required. This session is designed for healthcare marketing and digital leaders who want a clearer understanding of how to protect their brand, strengthen discoverability, and get more value from their existing website investments.

presenters

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How Baptist Health Elevates Marketing Through Executive Alignment and Consumer Focus

Sarah Sanders, executive vice president and chief consumer officer, Baptist Health

At Baptist Health, marketing has earned a seat at the leadership table, helping ensure the consumer’s perspective remains part of the decisions that guide the health system forward. Discover how Baptist Health’s leadership structure, collaborative culture, and faith-based mission help shape a high-functioning marketing organization focused on both growth and community impact.

Demystifying the Power of Schema in Search: What Healthcare Marketing and Digital Teams Need to Know – Webinar Recording

Demystifying the Power of Schema in Search

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing webinar with insights from Aha Media

Presented September 23, 2026

Panelists:

  • Ahava Leibtag, Founder and CEO, Aha Media Group
  • Tim Voyles, Partner and Technology Lead, HealthStack Partners

Moderator:

  • Jared Johnson, Host, Healthcare Rap Podcast, and eHealthcare Strategy & Trends Editorial Advisory Board Member

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Explain what schema is and why it matters in today’s search landscape.
  • Understand how structured content and schema work together to improve content discoverability.
  • Identify where marketing, content, and digital teams each contribute to an AI-ready website.

SHCM-webinar-260923-headshots-ver1

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A Health Care Marketer’s Roadmap: Replacing AI Fragmentation with Clear Direction

Joe McMahon

// By Wendy Margolin // During a recent webinar, leaders shared tips for navigating beyond fragmented AI testing toward AI systems that work for your specific marketing organization. Here, the panelists discuss how to manage change brought about by AI, share a framework for understanding an organization’s starting point, and explain how to avoid one-off AI successes.

Beyond the Click: Proving Marketing’s Impact on the Bottom Line

Matt Eaves, vice president of digital marketing, University Hospitals

// By Susan Dubuque // Clicks and calls can tell marketers whether a campaign is active. But health care leaders want to know how those interactions ultimately drive results. An industry leader and executives from University Hospitals and Ochsner Health share how connecting marketing activity to appointments, patients, and revenue can change the conversation about marketing’s value.

Content That Connects: Inside Award-Winning Healthcare Storytelling – Webinar Recording

Content That Connects

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing member roundtable featuring winners from the 2025 eHealthcare Leadership Awards

Presented September 1, 2026

Panelists:

  • Lacey Reichwald, director of marketing, Aha Media Group
  • Jennifer Shepherd, DNP, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, director, nursing practice, work environment & healthy nurse, Healthy Nation® Nursing Programs, American Nurses Association
  • Susannah Kistler, associate director of multimedia strategy and storytelling, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Moderator:

  • Susan Dubuque, Contributing Editor, Plain English Healthcare and Co-Chair, eHealthcare Leadership Awards

Here are some of the topics that will be covered:

  • Why narrowly focused content often outperforms broad, generalized messaging
  • Creating distinctive health care content that stands out in a crowded digital landscape
  • Developing content that remains valuable as search and AI continue to evolve
  • Turning complex clinical information into clear, engaging stories patients can understand
  • Building editorial workflows that support websites, social media, and other digital channels
  • Practical lessons from award-winning healthcare content programs

SHCM-webinar-260901-content-headshots-ver1

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Beyond the Funnel: Reaching Health Care Consumers in the Moments That Matter

Mindy Adams, chief creative officer, BPD Healthcare

// By Susan Dubuque // Health care marketers know the funnel by heart: Awareness. Consideration. Conversion. But it does not reflect how people actually move through their day or how they engage with health care. Learn how shifting from a funnel mindset to a moment-based strategy can help marketers connect earlier, stand out, and drive action.

Where Is Your Health System on the AI Adoption Curve?

Taylor Pressler, senior director, enterprise analytics, Renown Health

// By Jane Weber Brubaker // No more AI for AI’s sake, and no more vanity projects. That’s the message from industry leaders from Mass General Brigham, Renown Health, and Invoca. Learn how enterprise AI is progressing, and what it will take to deliver real value.

Measuring What Matters: Award-Winning Digital Marketing Campaigns – Webinar Recording

Measuring What Matters_ Award-Winning Digital Marketing Campaigns - Shared Screen with Gallery View - Aug 19, 2026 1_01 AM - (1h 3m)

A new Strategic Health Care Marketing member roundtable featuring winners from the 2025 eHealthcare Leadership Awards

Presented August 18, 2026

Panelists:

  • Jamie Mermelstein, vice president of digital experience, Unlock Health
  • Matt Eaves, vice president, digital marketing, University Hospitals
  • Sarah Montalbano, marketing automation manager, Ochsner Health

Moderator:

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

Here are some of the topics that will be covered:

  • Showing up when patients are actively searching for answers and care options
  • Reaching patients, caregivers, and referring physicians at the right moments in their decision-making journey
  • Reducing friction between awareness and appointment while re-engaging patients who have fallen out of the funnel
  • Connecting marketing activities to patient volume, service line growth, revenue, margin, and market share
  • Building measurement frameworks that demonstrate marketing’s impact on organizational goals
  • Lessons learned from award-winning campaigns and programs

SHCM-webinar-260818-headshots

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Executive Alignment and Marketing Performance, Part 2: Faith-Based Health System Perspective

Logo - Baptist Health

// By Susan Dubuque // At Baptist Health, marketing has earned a seat at the leadership table, helping ensure the consumer’s perspective remains part of the decisions that guide the health system forward. Discover how Baptist Health’s leadership structure, collaborative culture, and faith-based mission help shape a high-functioning marketing organization focused on both growth and community impact.

Focus on Recruitment and Retention: How Marketing Supports Hiring and Employee Retention

Focus on Recruitment and Retention

In this new report, you’ll discover how leading health systems use authentic storytelling, stronger internal communications, and closer collaboration across departments to support hiring and retention goals. From culture-driven recruitment strategies to creative digital campaigns, these examples offer practical ideas that can help you strengthen your organization’s workforce and employer brand.

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Precision Engagement for Population Health: How Nationwide Children’s, Geisinger, and Rochester Regional Health Use Storytelling and CRM to Improve Health Outcomes and Drive Growth

Carrie Cardot, vice president of marketing and communications, Rochester Regional Health

// By Susan Dubuque // Population health demonstrates an organization’s commitment to community before someone becomes a patient. Through targeted storytelling and CRM-powered engagement, health systems deepen consumer relationships, strengthen brand and clinician preference, and drive better outcomes. Read on for practical insights, proven strategies, and lessons learned from three organizations leading the way in population health.

Creating More Meaningful Patient Connections with CRM

Virtua Health logo

// By Susan Dubuque // By combining predictive analytics, sophisticated segmentation, and personalized engagement, Virtua Health built a patient-centered strategy that connects patients with the right care while delivering measurable business results. Read on for practical takeaways that can help you get more from your CRM investment.

Aligned to Hire: 30 Nurses in 90 Days

Logo-Southeast-Georgia-Health-System

// By Susan Dubuque // Southeast Georgia Health System built a recruitment campaign that connects incentives, internal engagement, and smart use of existing channels. With a clear goal and shared ownership, marketing and HR developed and implemented an ambitious recruitment effort. Discover whether the campaign reached its goal and see what a small budget can do.

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