HMPS ’24: Healthcare Strategies x AI

Sondra Brown and Kristy Roldan share their insights and personal highlights from the Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS) 2024, held this year in Las Vegas. Amidst the neon lights and party atmosphere, our dynamic duo learned, connected, and grew professionally with clients and peers.

Their takeaways from the event underscored a growing emphasis on consumerism in healthcare—listening to and empowering patients to make informed choices. Looking ahead, they shared their bets on AI enhancing clinician-patient interactions and the competitive pressures driving industry changes.

As they look forward to the next year, Sondra is eager to continue building industry relationships, finding motivation in the shared passion within the healthcare community. Kristy humorously anticipates a conference experience that doesn’t involve navigating the bustling environment of Las Vegas.

1. What was your favorite moment from HMPS '24?

Sondra Brown (SB): Probably not supposed to say this since it was so great to see clients and colleagues, but truly my favorite was dinner with Kristy Roldan at Nobu. Great company and so, so good!

Kristy Roldan (KR): Having a reason to see peers who have become friends over time, catching up, and connecting in person.

Pictured: Sondra Brown and Don Stanziano of Geisinger Health

2. Were there any session or speaker highlights?

SB: I loved the entitled session entitled “A Wake-Up Call: The Future of the CMO.” Thank you, Sarah Sanders, Kristen H. Wevers, MBA, and Lisa Schiller for presenting a balanced perspective on this topic. What could have been a tough conversation was an invitation to relevancy for CMOs. The theme of “evolve or dissolve” rang true for us and our client work.

KR: Shawn Konubngo’s take on generative AI was a big highlight for me, and an especially relevant topic in our industry. MDRG embraces AI in our work to help us dig deeper, move faster, and deliver better results. Hearing his optimism about the future of AI was a nice way to start the morning and feel energized.

3. What's the wildest thing you saw in Las Vegas?

SB: So you have to consider the source (non-gambler and likes to go to bed early)...Going down to get coffee at 6 am and seeing people coming in from the club! I'm sure that was me at some point in my life, but can't remember that far back :).

KR: The juxtaposition of healthcare professionals with party people made for a fun backdrop to the content.

4. What were the big themes or issues that you noticed?

SB: Certainly AI was a huge topic. In fact, it became a joke in sessions that weren't talking about AI ... Meaning that they would throw out the term just to get the obligatory nod to AI in the session. There was also a lot of discussion about how to ensure that marketing has a seat at the C-suite table. One session, in particular, discussed what CMOs need to do to demonstrate their bottom-line value. It's not enough to just report marketing metrics, there must be an impact on the metrics that CFOs and CEOs care about: revenue and growth.

KR: AI and data are still the biggest themes playing out the in category, but it seems fear has been replaced with curiosity and tactical ways to use AI to the advantage of health systems. We are excited to see this advancement and curious about its future.


Pictured: Kristy Roldan and Victor Reiss of UNC Health

5. What are your big takeaways from HMPS 24?

SB: Our research and understanding of consumerism and listening to consumers is becoming common nomenclature. It's refreshing that there is still so much discussion and dialogue. It was only a few years ago that thinking about patient/consumer choice in healthcare was foreign. Ultimately, this will ensure better healthcare through empowerment and more compliance. That said, there is still a long way to go.

KR: There is still a large role for consumers and patients to tell health systems how they want to participate in the category. This is so important, but can be so challenging. It’s definitely one of our strengths at MDRG, so we are looking forward to tackling this together with our clients.

6. What are you 'betting' on as a solution for a pressing problem in healthcare?

SB: AI done right can improve productivity, increase efficiency, and refocus clinicians on connecting with patients rather than all of the other administrative tasks that take up so much time. We do need to ensure, however, that AI enhances the connection between consumers/patients and clinicians.

KR: Competition and the threat of competition is going to drive the most change in the industry. Our HX Index was designed with this in mind—to help guide health systems as the competitive landscape becomes more intense.

7. What's one thing you learned that you will definitely be putting into use in the future?

SB: Continuing to understand the business of healthcare and the strategic plans of our clients. While we already do this, it is even more critical in the current cost-containment environment. Our research must be impacting the bottom line in some manner and we need to be able to articulate that to our clients.

KR: Different perspectives and metrics on success. Dollars saved is a powerful KPI to represent back to stakeholders during times of slow revenue growth.

8. What are you looking forward to for next year?

SB: Continuing to build relationships in the industry. The healthcare industry is very passionate about the work that they do and it is refreshing to be around.

KR: Not having to navigate Las Vegas 😊 See you next year, Orlando!

Did you miss us at HMPS '24? Contact us to chat about how we'll be putting our learnings into practice, or access the HX Index, our syndicated report on the future of healthcare here.