Welcome to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence.
We just got back from the 2024 HLTH Conference held in Las Vegas. Sara Payne is joined by her colleague Erin Noel to discuss pivotal themes like AI in healthcare, preventive care, and women’s health.
Erin, a seasoned health strategist, shares insights from her experience at the conference, where thought leaders gathered to discuss bold ideas set to shape the future of healthcare. Together, Sara and Erin explore the critical importance of daily habits in disease prevention, the role of AI in making healthcare more human, and the emerging conversations around women’s health, particularly menopause.
They also address the significant implications of processed foods on public health, emphasizing the need for healthier options in corporations and schools to combat food deserts. A notable moment from the conference included Dr. Darren Weathers’s critique on value-based care, sparking a lively audience response and highlighting the industry’s need for structural changes.
Thank you for being part of the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. The future of healthcare depends on it.
Key Takeaways:
1. Daily Habits & Lifestyle Choices: Erin Noel underscores the importance of integrating healthy habits into daily life beyond mere reliance on medical screenings and vaccinations. The discussions highlighted how simple lifestyle choices could serve as powerful preventive measures against chronic diseases.
2. AI Enhancing Human Healthcare: The growing presence of AI in healthcare was a focal point. Erin explains how AI can reduce provider burdens by automating routine tasks, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient interactions. The episode differentiates between AI-first and AI-enabled companies, stressing the need for transparency to build trust in AI technologies.
3. Women’s Health & Menopause: An essential part of the conversation revolved around women’s health, with a spotlight on menopause. With influential figures like Dr. Jill Biden and Halle Berry calling for better understanding and funding, Erin praises the community-building efforts that encourage women to share their experiences and drive advocacy for more research.
4. Prevention Over Medication: Dr. Casey Means’s emphasis on tackling chronic disease through lifestyle changes instead of medication was a significant talking point. Erin describes how this approach aligns with the broader theme of integrating nutrition into healthcare, reinforcing the message that food can act as medicine.
5. The Future of Value-Based Care: Erin reflects on Dr. Darren Weathers’s critique of value-based care and the substantial audience response it garnered. This highlights the ongoing debate and the need for major structural changes to truly benefit healthcare professionals and patients. Discussions about AI and data utilization further illuminate the pathways toward a more effective healthcare system focused on outcomes rather than processes.
Episode Highlights:
- Processed Foods & Public Health: Calls for food companies to take responsibility for their products’ health impacts at future conferences.
- Healthy Food Options: Applauding the conference for providing healthy food choices, mirroring a commitment to health promotion.
- Food Deserts & Corporate Responsibility: The necessity for corporations and schools to enable access to nutritious food to combat social determinants of health.
- AI’s Role in Humanizing Healthcare: Shift from skepticism to embracing AI’s potential in enhancing care by offloading routine tasks from healthcare providers.
- Reproductive Rights & Healthcare Access: Exploring how restrictions in reproductive rights affect overall healthcare access and the economic implications.
Erin’s admiration for efforts to make menopause a prominent discussion topic emphasizes the importance of addressing the later stages of women’s health to improve quality of life and longevity. This episode offers a beacon of hope, encouraging bold actions to drive necessary changes in healthcare, guided by transparency, inclusion, and community-focused strategies.
Thank you once again for tuning into the Health Marketing Collective. The bold ideas discussed today remind us that the future of healthcare lies in proactive, empathetic, and evidence-based approaches that prioritize the well-being of all individuals.
Transcript
Sara Payne [00:00:10]:
Welcome back to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. I'm your host, Sara Payne. And today, we're diving into everything bold that happened at the 2024 HLTH Conference that just wrapped up in Las Vegas. It was packed. Big ideas and bold voices. Joining me today is Erin Noel, an associate director of earned media and PR strategy from our team here at Inprela, who attended the conference alongside me.
Erin Noel [00:00:34]:
Hi, Sara. I'm excited to join you today. This year definitely lived up to the hype. Plenty of bold things to talk about, bold bold people, bold conversations, and I'm excited to unpack it with you.
Sara Payne [00:00:48]:
So much fun. As we were talking, my calves hurt. My feet hurt. So much walking. You and I literally got off the plane yesterday, and I've got my conference swag on here. I thought I would be very on brand for the health conference for for this conversation today.
Erin Noel [00:01:04]:
I love it. Great conference swag once again this year, and we even got a a VIP photo with the mascot, Petunia, this year, which was very exciting. VIP photo. Lots of celebrities. We had Busta Rhymes.
Sara Payne [00:01:19]:
I mean, there was there was definitely a lot, of entertainment value in addition to substance, which we've got a lot to dive into and a lot to unpack today, Erin. From AI making health care more human to tough conversations around women's health and a whole lot in between, we are going to unpack for everybody today what we learned and the insights that we gathered from this year's conference. So as we all know, as many of us know, the theme for this year's conference was be bold. So in this first segment, let's hand out some be bold award winners to the people who said what needed to be said to help drive real change within the industry. First up for me, Erin, is doctor Darren Weathers from the Managed Care Resource Alliance, who didn't mince words in his critique of value based care. He said, I quote, value based care may as well be trash. And this was in front of, if you recall, Erin, a standing room only packed crowd, in a panel session about the link between reimbursement and preventive care, and the room was really buzzing after he said that.
Erin Noel [00:02:32]:
I mean, I think there was a round of applause. There was some hoots and some hollering. So this was certainly something that hit the room and hit the room pretty hard. And he was not alone in this sentiment. We heard value based care be talked about quite a bit, quite a few different sessions. And we all understand that value based care is really meant to help, but physicians are continuing to be frustrated by how slow this payment process is. And I really appreciate how bold he was in calling out that maybe it's time for a new term, maybe even a new approach because, clearly, what we know now about value based care, it it's just not working.
Sara Payne [00:03:10]:
Exactly. Yeah. I totally agree with you on that. And on the topic of challenging norms was another great bold point of view from Mark Price from Kurana Health, and this was in a session that was titled socially prescribed care for seniors. And he straight up suggested an excise tax on processed food and social media to help fund things like nutrition and social connection, which has been studied and and proven to help actually advance, or promote longevity, help people live longer. And that's just not something you hear every day, especially not at a conference like this. So, yeah, he he gets he gets an award from
Erin Noel [00:03:56]:
me for that. Certainly bold. Certainly something you don't hear every single day. I think we heard this a few times again. This was a big sentiment in the rooms, and that we need to start calling out how much we're spending on health care to treat conditions that we could probably prevent in the first place. It's not a financial issue. It's a public health issue. And he even went so far as to ask why are we still letting these industries profit off things we know are hurting us? And, again, that that it was a it's kind of a mic drop moment in that room, and, again, a sentiment we heard time and time again.
Erin Noel [00:04:31]:
And kudos to Mark for really, really saying what needed to be said and saying something bold, but also incredibly honest.
Sara Payne [00:04:38]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Yep. So he gets he gets award number 2 for that. And in a completely different session that not the same session that that Mark was on the panel for, we we had a key point from doctor Casey Means, from Levels. And she said, we have to take responsibility for the chronic disease epidemic in this country. Real health will never be found in a pill. And that really felt like a a wake up call and, a call to action really for everybody in the room.
Erin Noel [00:05:13]:
Yeah. And I I'm still thinking about doctor Means' conversation. You know, she shared a little bit on her story, how she was, a practicing physician, and quit immediately as soon as she found out the importance of metabolic health and what we're doing as a society to our metabolisms, and she wants to be part of the solution. So I I'm continuing to think about it and some of the takeaways from her conversation. And, again, this was a sentiment we saw time and time again about true prevention and good health start with proper nutrition, good habits, and physical act physical activity. And this was just such a big takeaway for me was that there was a practicing physician who's stopping the her general track, something she's been on, you know, spending lots of money to become a physician, to help people learn about proper nutrition and and the actual source of good health, and that we can't rely on medicine or pills to have have us be a healthier society.
Sara Payne [00:06:12]:
Yeah. That personal story certainly spoke volumes, and the the focus and emphasis on longevity was really, I think, a highlight for me in in this year's conference.
Erin Noel [00:06:22]:
For sure.
Sara Payne [00:06:23]:
So let's let's, shift gears a little bit and talk about some of the big trends that we saw at the conference. Lot of hot topics this year. A few of them really stood out and I think are gonna continue to obviously shape the future of health care, but continue to create a lot of buzz as well. And the first one for me is prevention, and we've already kinda touched on this a little bit in in sharing of those quotes. But prevention was definitely a major theme at this year's conference, and I'm really pleased to see it getting so much attention. That's where the real change is going to to come from. And and maybe, you know, we waited too long for this. But now this conversation is really growing much larger, towards that shift towards overall wellness and in food as medicine.
Erin Noel [00:07:18]:
Yeah. And you could tell that momentum. Right? Like, in previous conferences, prevention was a talked about topic, but now it finally feels like there's, like, a true shift in energy and that it's being taken seriously as a key driver of health outcomes. Not an afterthought, not a nice to have. It's really being something that, okay, we need to make this at at the actual forefront rather than coming down after after someone gets healthy.
Sara Payne [00:07:43]:
Yeah. And one of the boldest questions on this particular topic came from Arundhati, who is, head of Med City News, editorial director, editor in chief at Med City News. And she asked she was moderating a panel, and she asked the question, somewhat rhetorical. She said, when we talk about prevention, do we mean wellness, or do we mean secondary prevention? When we say that in this industry, are we talking just about secondary prevention, or are we really talking about the actual root cause here in in wellness, which I think was a bold move for her and, you know, could have potentially made a couple of those panelists that were sitting there with her uncomfortable, but I think it was absolutely the conversation, that need to be had.
Erin Noel [00:08:36]:
And it was another one of those, like, kinda mic drop moments, right, where the room goes silent at first, but then you hear claps and you hear some whistles. Right? So there's definitely, truth truth seeking to that. Right? That there is some truth in that question. And I think that food as a topic related to that came up quite a bit. Doctor Alex Belew of UnitedHealthcare even suggested that health insurance should cover food. If we're really serious about prevention, we have to look at what people are eating. We know that you are what you eat, and we feel like that that has is having a really big moment. Again, that's having definitely a lot of energy behind that.
Erin Noel [00:09:13]:
And this is a pretty big statement from one of the largest private payers. So, again, another another person with a big title, a big organization asking some pretty big big bold questions.
Sara Payne [00:09:26]:
Yeah. I mean, processed foods came up multiple times, was under attack quite a bit, and rightfully so. And some people were saying that that maybe next year we need to have food companies at this conference, and maybe they should be on the panel, answering, some of these questions and answering for the role that they play in overall public
Erin Noel [00:09:45]:
health. I have to give a shout out to the health conference, organization because, again, they they practice they're practicing what they preach. They had a lot of healthy options available for conference goers for the 4 days that we were there, and I really like to see them walking the talk. So I have to give a shout out to them. And, again, to underscore your point, Sara, there's a true shift towards understanding that prevention isn't just screenings, isn't just immunizations. It's those daily habits and choices that people every day are making around their food and lifestyle, and those are the hardest. Right? Like, an immunization, you can check a box. It's daily habits.
Erin Noel [00:10:20]:
That's what's gonna have the biggest impact, and that that's hard. That's hard to do. So I I appreciate that that food and daily habits are starting to also become more and more, and I think I think next year that's probably gonna be a big main stage conversation. Yeah. I agree with you on that. It's but this this hard becomes
Sara Payne [00:10:38]:
a lot easier when organizations like health make those healthy options and schools and right? Like, we need we need corporations to their in in these offerings to their employees and schools to their students. Right? Like, we've all got to make those shifts so that it's just readily available and accessible to us, and we've got to address food deserts as well because there certainly is you know, and we we we talk about social determinants of health. You know, food, access to to healthy and nutritious food is certainly a big issue there. Trend number 2 is not a surprise to anybody. It's AI, and it was everywhere. Never heard of it. We knew it was gonna be there. Right? It was everywhere at Health.
Sara Payne [00:11:23]:
And I think that the general consensus from a lot of the the speakers and the panelists is that we're really just scratching the surface and just getting started as it pertains to AI's role in the future of health care. In fact, Shiv Rao from Abridge said it best. And in my opinion, he said, AI will make health care more human than it ever has been, which is kind of ironic, but I I believe that it's true, that AI has the potential to to take over tasks that are bogging down providers that is actually preventing them from having that face to face connection with their patients at the bedside, really freeing them up to spend more time with the thing that they went into the profession for to begin with, which is, again, the patients.
Erin Noel [00:12:13]:
And that that was a a line that really resonated with me. I never thought about it in that way. But since he said it, I've been like, oh, I can definitely see how this is gonna have an impact and improve the the true human human interaction of health care. He also talked about the difference between AI first companies and AI enabled companies. The ones that are AI first are really pushing the boundaries, but most companies are still truly trying to figure out how to adapt AI into their existing workflows and their existing softwares.
Sara Payne [00:12:47]:
Yeah. That's that's so important. And, you know, we can't also ignore the emphasis on transparency and trust when it comes to AI. I think that has been sort of held out there as one of the things that's gonna be key critical to adoption. People need to be able to trust it. And if we're gonna build trust, especially with patients, we have to be transparent about where the data comes from in these algorithms and also what outcomes we're seeing, as a result, of the use of AI.
Erin Noel [00:13:22]:
For sure. And I also could tell there is a big shift in the conversation around AI comparatively to last year. Last year, it felt like there was a bit more skepticism and, like, is it really gonna deliver? You know, is this smoke and mirrors? Like, really, what is this gonna do? But this year felt like a completely different story and a completely different narrative around AI. The sentiment was much more about embracing AI and advancing its adoption in ways that can truly improve outcomes. One key piece about this that I've continued to hear time and time again from different stages was AI can help enable health care professionals to deliver care at the top of their credentials. This means they can automate some parts of their their job so that they can truly practice medicine at the highest level that they know how. Examples of that included things that things like call having a call or text to patients instead of the physician having to call the patients that can take, you know, time away from actually sitting down with the patient, to remind them to do things like come in early for your blood sample or come in, or submit this form. Right? So finding ways that AI can help take things off their physician's plates, which we know have been full, can really help us practice medicine at its highest level.
Sara Payne [00:14:44]:
Yeah. So many great examples, so many bright spots, I believe, in in the adoption of AI within health care. And if we've come this far in the 12 months since last year's conference, I can only imagine what's here what's what's to come here over the next 12 months. I think it's really exciting.
Erin Noel [00:15:00]:
And what I also found really, hopeful in this piece was that it can help health care professionals regardless of if they're a doctor, if they're a nurse. Like, this can have impacts across all health care professions, and help eliminating some of the some of the more redundant work, giving everyone more time to have that true patient to patient or patient to physician interaction. Absolutely.
Sara Payne [00:15:25]:
So that's trend number 2. And and trend number 3 for me was, really about important conversations within health specific, diseases or health issues that are finally getting the attention, that they deserve and that they need. And one of the most impactful conversations was around women's health. Women's health was a big thematic at this year's conference. And, first lady, doctor Jill Biden, took the stage, the last morning of the show. She was on the main stage, and she said she was talking about menopause and the importance of, really funding it well and understanding menopause better. She said, we, meaning women or as a society, we go from women's bodies being a miracle during our childbearing years to being a medical mystery later in life. That got a lot of claps, from women in the room.
Sara Payne [00:16:31]:
And, she's absolutely right. We menopause is is not very well understood. People don't receive very much in terms of education. Right? Like earlier in our lives, we were educated on puberty. Right. And and then we're just left into the abyss of navigating our lives and and and figuring it out as we go.
Erin Noel [00:16:55]:
Mhmm.
Sara Payne [00:16:55]:
And and this wasn't the first time that menopause showed up on the stage at Health. Erin, I know you were really moved, by Halle Berry. She was also there to talk about menopause as well.
Erin Noel [00:17:07]:
I was I was really moved by Halle Berry. I think she has spent past couple years being incredibly brave and being very bold. So for me, she's at the top of the list of of, connecting with the theme for me this year. She's been very open around, her experience with menopause and how underfunded and misunderstood it is as a condition. I think something that I really that really struck me was she wanted to not leave her doctor's office with more questions than answers. And I think that's a sentiment we all can we all can agree with. Like, we wanted a doctor to seek more answers to get more clarity. I can't imagine the frustration she had around with her experience having more and more questions than answers.
Erin Noel [00:17:48]:
And so what I really what I really admire her for is that she is taking this as a top issue and she wants to have this as a top conversation. She wants to create a community around talking about menopause and talking about issues that are part of menopause. Instead of feeling alone with more questions, she wants to give a community space. She wants to get people connected so they can share because that's a large part of your life. You want you want there's still life left to live. And I really appreciate her doing that and kind of taking it out of, behind the scenes or and giving it some attention that it that it truly deserves. I also really appreciate that she's taking this to to DC, and creating some nonpartisan support around bills so that we can have more funding for research around this. Ultimately, again, connecting people with more answers, hopefully, and giving it some real attention that it deserves.
Erin Noel [00:18:40]:
Yeah. I
Sara Payne [00:18:40]:
mean, if we're gonna drive change, we need funding in order to do so. And I also agree with you on her bravery and sharing her personal stories because the reality is other women are experiencing these same things. And if she learned something by doing you know, going to these appointments and getting, you know, not very helpful information or chasing down pathways that actually didn't do it much for her in terms of, you know, bringing relief for symptoms that she was experiencing, sharing that with others so they don't have to go through the same thing, is so incredibly important and generous of her, and brave of her because Mhmm. Some those some of those symptoms are uncomfortable to talk about, and she she went there. She went there.
Erin Noel [00:19:25]:
She absolutely went there. And I really commend her for all the work she's doing in this space. I think for me, it also directly ties back to the conversations that were being had around longevity. Right? It's like we want to live longer, healthy, fuller lives. Yes. If women if we're saying we don't know much about women's health after 40, they that's another potential 40 more years
Sara Payne [00:19:47]:
That's a problem.
Erin Noel [00:19:48]:
That's a big issue. Right? So for me, I I saw that parallel really, really directly, between high quality of life, and longevity.
Sara Payne [00:19:58]:
Absolutely. And I I will say, I mean, I'm grateful for it. Right? Like, I'm I'm entering this this this back half. Right? And and I don't wanna be considered dead. Or a medical mystery. What? Or a mystery. A medical mystery. The other issue related to women's health that that came up many times, on the stage as well was reproductive rights.
Sara Payne [00:20:18]:
And some of the restrictions that are now in place are not only impacting reproductive care, but also broader health care access. There was a really interesting session that we sat in on, Erin, that took a look at some really interesting data. And I I just I my hair was blown back by it. Mhmm.
Erin Noel [00:20:39]:
It's something that you don't think about. Right? It's something that it's it's hard to to imagine, like, a a larger zoom out. But with this data, we are I was really able to see, like, a much more direct impact than I had thought of before. So one thing that, the data that was presented shared was that new physician applications have dropped in states with restrictions, and it's creating gaps in care that can impact everybody. So it's not just impacting women. It's impacting men and women. It's impacting children. It it has a direct impact on all health care.
Erin Noel [00:21:12]:
And regardless of your political beliefs or your backgrounds, this is something we really need to pay attention to the facts on so that we don't risk creating even more health care deserts, which we already know that there are, and has even more negative impacts at health for health outcomes on much larger scales.
Sara Payne [00:21:29]:
Yeah. Absolutely. The the data, like I said, sort of blew my hair back just thinking about it. It wasn't just OB GYNs. No. Right? That that application for OB GYNs were down.
Erin Noel [00:21:38]:
It was all types of physicians. Mhmm.
Sara Payne [00:21:41]:
And then it talked about the economic impact to that community beyond the access to care issue, that you now have when you have fewer physicians entering that community, not just for women's health, but all types of physicians. So, yeah, I definitely think that's gonna be something to to keep an eye on, and and see where that goes from here.
Erin Noel [00:22:01]:
And I'll be especially interested to see, that that data continue, as it as we look at, you know, urban versus rural as well, because we already know that some of those disparities already exist. So for this to be on top of that does certainly give me pause. And so I'm interested to see this data continue for sure.
Sara Payne [00:22:22]:
Yeah. And kudos to those that are that are collecting the data and sharing it out as well so that we can all have the facts that we need to to make important decisions. The last trend for me really is the big question of, are we, as an industry, really ready to drive real change in health care? And I believe Ashok Subramaniam from Scentivo said health plans are doing nothing to solve the affordability crisis in America. That's a pretty bold statement. Mhmm.
Erin Noel [00:22:57]:
With with plenty of, those people in the room.
Sara Payne [00:23:00]:
With plenty of those people in the room. It was it was a hard truth. On the flip side, people were also sort of saying, but why wouldn't the incentives be there for real change? Right? Like, payers could save money if we do focus more on, the affordability crisis and getting people access to care so that we can catch disease early. We can manage these diseases better, and it's gonna control the the long term cost. So, you know, really both sides, kinda different sides of the argument, they're saying, like, yes. Let's let us let us focus on prevention. Let us focus on affordability. We need to drive some real change in these areas.
Erin Noel [00:23:40]:
And I would say that based on our conversation already and our takeaways is that we are setting the stage for that to be the conversations in the next 1, 2, 3 years. Right? So I feel hopeful that there is definitely gonna be a a change in the future. I think everyone can agree that value based care is the future, but there's some serious change we need to do in order to make that happen. Right? We need to reduce the administrative burden on health care professionals because we already know that this capacity is a huge issue, and we truly need to incentivize them. And it's gonna be a tough road. I don't think it's gonna happen overnight. I think a lot of things are gonna need to change, but we I think there is finally a movement for this to to start getting some actual traction.
Sara Payne [00:24:21]:
Absolutely. Well, we've already talked about the boldest voices coming out of the conference and some of the biggest trends, but I think we need to also get into what all of this means for marketing leaders out there. Whether you're thinking about AI or prevention or driving change, there are some key insights for how we approach health care marketing here moving forward. And one of the key takeaways for me from a marketing perspective is that building trust in health care is more important than ever, and it starts with transparency. Especially as we talked about when it when it comes to AI, it's really crucial to be up front about your data and your results. But frankly, data and results, clinical clinical outcomes, clinical impact, that matters regardless of whether we're talking about an AI solution or not. Everybody wants data and outcomes.
Erin Noel [00:25:13]:
Absolutely. And I heard it a couple times. We're data rich, but insight's poor. And so we need to be really mindful about how we use AI and how we capture results from it. Right? So there's multiple sessions that I sat in on that said, like, we can collect a bunch of data, but it's what we're doing with the data and to help create change in a positive way that's really gonna really move the marble for us. We need data and insight for patients, but we also need it for policymakers, Yes. Because that's what it's gonna gonna really create create the most change. And I
Sara Payne [00:25:44]:
think it's important, you know, too to make sure that that data is approachable and make sure that it's easy to understand because, you know, we can throw up a bunch of charts and graphs. But if I can't decipher what does any of this mean to me, then it's just data, and it's not that impactful. And, obviously, marketers play a critical role in in developing sort of the story around that and deciphering, how to make that data relevant to their audiences. Absolutely. Another one of the the takeaways for the conference, was the importance of inclusion. And, you know, this has been a growing conversation in the industry here, in recent years, and and it's an important one, rightfully. So we can't just focus on a narrow slice of the population in our campaigns. We have to make sure that we've got representation from diverse audiences.
Sara Payne [00:26:32]:
And there was a session, where doctor Jamie Rutland of Illuminate Health, said, health care can't just be 9 to 5, meaning we need to reach people where they are in their communities and reflect their realities, whether it's different racial, cultural, or socioeconomic backgrounds, inclusion needs to be at the core of our marketing strategies. I mean, he was talking about, I believe it was his mother, his own mother. He he he grew up, raised by a single mother. She had, I believe, a couple of different jobs. And he's like, just talk about clinical trial enrollment as just one example. If you are communicating with her on a 9 to 5 schedule, you're not getting her.
Erin Noel [00:27:16]:
Mhmm.
Sara Payne [00:27:16]:
You're not getting her because she's at work. Right? So it has to be nights. It has to be weekends. Right? Obviously, that we've so many different channels available to us, to be able to reach people, you know, all times of day and at an hour that, is convenient to them, that we definitely need to make sure that
Erin Noel [00:27:35]:
we are leaning into that. Absolutely. And that one that one, again, that one really stuck with me. There was plenty of other physicians in the room too. That's a hard truth to hear as a practicing physician that what you're doing from 9 to 5 isn't gonna isn't gonna be enough. I mean, that's that can be a tough pill to swallow. When health care practitioners are already feeling burnt out, hearing that, oh, you need to be available even more, that's tough. That's tough.
Erin Noel [00:27:58]:
So I'm glad that he he was able to put some truth to that because I think that's very true. And another piece, that stuck with me, that relates to this that was on a different stage, but we have to earn the right to to talk to our patients. Right? We have to we have to communicate with them in ways that's meaningful and resonates with them. And so if that's an if that's a phone call between 9 to 5, that's not gonna work for everybody. Not everyone's gonna be available at those times. People have very different lives, and they they they need the messaging to reflect what their lives look like. But, also, the messaging needs to reflect the diversity. Right? Like, we have to be intentional about when and where and how we connect with them.
Erin Noel [00:28:37]:
This goes back to trust too. We also want to make sure that the physicians that are that they can that when patients see a physician, they can see some of themselves. They can see some of the humanness in them too because it's it's health care. Right? We wanna be able to trust.
Sara Payne [00:28:49]:
The last key insight, I believe, for marketers is that we need to lead the change. Mhmm. We need to lead the charge for real change. Health care is facing enormous challenges. We've already talked about many of them. Chronic disease crisis, issues of affordability. It's up to us to be bold and say the things that need to be said, even if it's uncomfortable. It's up to us to be committed to educating the industry, around these important topics, getting the word out, helping people
Erin Noel [00:29:25]:
do things differently, make different choices in their lives. And and I for me, marketers play a big role in that. Certainly. Certainly. And I keep thinking about too that we need to change how we talk about impact. So while reaching millions of people is great for ROI, you know, we talk about impression numbers. We talk about coverage. But real impact is 1 bedside at a time.
Erin Noel [00:29:51]:
Right? We need to reach the one person who truly needs that information. It's gonna take change for us to really put that at the forefront. But every single person matters, and we can't shy away from saying the things that are gonna make a difference and really, really increase our ability to to to increase the health care. As as a marketer, we're we're gonna need to think about how how we create impact differently too. I think it's great that we say can reach millions of people, and we talk about, you know, how many impressions we can garner and how many views we have on a certain LinkedIn post. But real impact happens one bedside at a time. And we need to make sure that we're marketing the right information to get to the right person at the right time. And that's gonna take a lot of courageous actions to change how we market.
Erin Noel [00:30:39]:
But we need to not shy away from doing that and not shy away from saying the things that can actually make a true difference.
Sara Payne [00:30:46]:
Amen to that. Well, I don't I don't know
Erin Noel [00:30:48]:
about you, Erin, but I've walked away from this year's conference feeling extremely inspired and very optimistic about where we're headed as an industry. Absolutely. I mean, the fact that we already have so many people who are willing to be bold and willing to speak up and speak some hard truths, definitely made me, inspired and hopeful for the future. I think it's gonna be hard. I don't think it's gonna be an easy road to change all the things that we need to change. But I definitely felt that there was, big shifts and big momentum going the right direction.
Sara Payne [00:31:27]:
Well, thanks so much, Erin, not only for joining me in Las Vegas, which I had a blast out there with you, but also for joining us in this conversation today and sharing all of your insights and everything that you learned at the conference as well.
Erin Noel [00:31:41]:
Thanks for having me. It was fun to recap. The conference was incredible, and can't wait to see you again in Vegas next year.
Sara Payne [00:31:48]:
I know. And for all of you out there, if you haven't if you haven't gone to health, consider it. Take a look at it. Give it key consideration because there's a wide range of of topics, a lot of diverse topics. And beyond the sessions themselves, value in the networking and the business connections that are happening out on the show floor as well. So, I think, you know, if there's one thing that that we've learned, it's that being bold is no longer optional in health care. It's necessary. So thanks for listening, everybody.
Sara Payne [00:32:19]:
And until next time, stay bold.