--- title: "Trust, AI, and Very Sore Feet: Lessons From SHSMD 2026" description: "Key takeaways from SHSMD 2026: AI in healthcare marketing, reaching hard-to-reach patients, and why trust, not transactions, builds patient loyalty." image: https://blog.mdrginc.com/hubfs/pexels-m-designz-llc-463260-10770456.jpg --- [![resized-transparent-logo](https://blog.mdrginc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/resized-transparent-logo.png?width=135&height=40&name=resized-transparent-logo.png "resized-transparent-logo")](https://www.mdrginc.com/) - [Who We Are](https://www.mdrginc.com/who-we-are/) - Who We Are - [Our Team](https://www.mdrginc.com/who-we-are/) - [History](https://www.mdrginc.com/who-we-are/history/) - [What We Do](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/) - Industries - [Healthcare](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/healthcare-market-research/) - [CPG](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/cpg-industry/) - [Finance](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/finance-industry/) - [Media and Communications](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/media-and-communications/) - 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[Podcast](https://www.mdrginc.com/our-work/mdrg-healthcare-podcast/) - Back [Contact Us](https://www.mdrginc.com/contact/) [Contact Us](https://www.mdrginc.com/contact/) Topic: [Market Research](https://blog.mdrginc.com/tag/market-research) [Trends](https://blog.mdrginc.com/tag/trends) [Healthcare](https://blog.mdrginc.com/tag/healthcare) # Trust, AI, and Very Sore Feet: Lessons From SHSMD 2026 by [Maggie Conley](https://blog.mdrginc.com/author/maggie-conley) Oct 6, 2026, 12:57:34 PM ## **SHSMD 2026 At A Glance** I went to my first SHSMD Connections conference expecting to learn a lot. I didn’t expect the hardest lesson to happen in the hotel hallway. For anyone who hasn’t been, SHSMD (the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development) brings together the people who market, plan, and build strategy for health systems across the country. It’s a few days of sessions, hallway chats, and badge-scanning, and it’s full of people who care a lot about getting the right message to the right patient. Here’s what stuck with me. ### Key Takeaways - Health system marketers have moved past asking whether to use AI. Now the question is how. - The systems reaching hard-to-reach audiences start by listening, through community partners, local voices, and in-language content. - Trust, not transactions, drives patient loyalty, and most marketing metrics can’t see it. - Comfortable shoes are a conference strategy.   ## AI Is Already in the Room I expected AI to come up. I didn’t expect it to come up in nearly every session. The conversation has moved past “should we use AI?” Health system marketers are talking about how they use it: drafting and testing content faster, personalizing outreach at scale, finding patterns in patient data, and freeing their teams to spend more time on strategy. The tone was practical, not breathless. ## How Are Health Systems Reaching Hard-to-Reach Patients? The health systems making real progress with hard-to-reach audiences start by listening. One of the most useful threads at SHSMD was how systems are reaching the people traditional campaigns tend to miss: people who don’t speak English as a first language, rural communities, patients who don’t trust the healthcare system, younger adults without a primary care relationship, and people who only show up in the ER. The systems making progress aren’t just turning up the volume on the same campaign. They’re showing up through community partners, local voices, in-language content, and the channels people already use. In other words, they’re meeting people where they are instead of waiting for them to show up. As a researcher, I found that the emphasis on listening was the most exciting part of the conference. You can’t reach an audience you don’t understand, and the hardest-to-reach groups are usually the ones we know the least about. Hearing them well takes more than a translated survey. It often means in-culture moderators who share the audience’s language and culture, and research designed around how people actually live and engage. ![Medical staff organizing a blood donation event in a rural community.](https://blog.mdrginc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/pexels-himanuuu-37191912.jpg?width=5952&height=3720&name=pexels-himanuuu-37191912.jpg)   ## Without Trust, You Just Have a Transaction If one idea tied the whole conference together, it was trust. [Alan Shoebridge](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoebridge/?isSelfProfile=false), Associate VP and Chief Communications Officer at Providence, put it in a way that stuck with me during his session with MDRG's own [Kristy Roldan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-roldan-a340744/), VP of Growth: *“Without trust, it’s just a transaction.”*  A patient might book one appointment because your ad showed up at the right moment. They’ll come back, refer their family, and choose you for the big, scary moments only if they trust you. And that trust can’t be taken for granted right now. A December 2024 Gallup poll found that only 53% of Americans rate the honesty and ethics of medical doctors as high or very high, a 14-point drop since 2021 and the lowest level since the mid-1990s. The trust gap changes how healthcare marketing success should be measured. Clicks and conversions matter, but they don’t tell you whether a community believes you have its best interests at heart. Trust is hard to measure, and that’s why many health systems don’t really know where they stand. Finding out takes research built to hear what patients won’t say on a satisfaction survey: why they hesitate, who they believe, and what would earn them back. ![Kristy Roldan (MDRG) and Alan Shoebridge (Providence) presenting at SHSMD 2026.](https://blog.mdrginc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Image%20(2)-1.jpg?width=710&height=947&name=Image%20(2)-1.jpg)   ## Comfortable Shoes Are a Conference Strategy Now for the most humbling lesson of the week: the walk from my hotel room to the conference hall. Somewhere between the elevator bank, the skybridge, the second skybridge, the escalators, and the hallway that seemed to stretch every time I looked at it, I realized this walk was a session of its own. Day one, I strolled. Day two, I strategized. I was calculating routes like a logistics firm and wondering if my step counter was broken (it wasn’t). So here’s my most actionable takeaway: comfy shoes are A-OK. Nobody is looking at your feet. They’re looking at your badge, trying to remember where they met you.   ## What Should Health Systems Take From SHSMD 2026? The health systems that win the next few years will use new tools like AI to build real understanding and real trust with the communities they serve, not just to do more. That’s the conviction I left SHSMD with, along with a full notebook, some new connections, and tired feet. At MDRG, we help health systems understand the patients and communities they most want to reach, including the ones who are hardest to hear. If building trust with your audiences is on your agenda, [**get in touch with us**](https://www.mdrginc.com/contact/) today. And bring comfortable shoes. You’ll thank me.   ## Frequently Asked Questions ### *What is SHSMD Connections?* SHSMD Connections is the annual conference of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. It brings together marketing, communications, planning, and strategy leaders from health systems across the U.S. ### *How are health systems using AI in marketing?* At SHSMD 2026, health system marketers described using AI to draft and test content faster, personalize outreach at scale, find patterns in patient data, and free their teams to focus on strategy. ### *How can health systems reach hard-to-reach patients?* Health systems making progress with hard-to-reach patients start by listening. They work through community partners and local voices, create in-language content, and show up in the channels people already use, rather than amplifying the same campaign. ### *Why does patient trust matter for healthcare marketing?* Patient trust determines whether a one-time visit becomes a long-term relationship, including return visits, family referrals, and choosing a system for major care. Standard metrics like clicks and conversions don’t capture it, which is why trust requires dedicated research to measure.   ## References Saad, L. (2025, January 13). *Americans’ ratings of U.S. professions stay historically low*. Gallup. [https://news.gallup.com/poll/655106/americans-ratings-professions-stay-historically-low.aspx](https://news.gallup.com/poll/655106/americans-ratings-professions-stay-historically-low.aspx)   Are you eager to stay ahead of the curve in your industry? 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[DOWNLOAD NOW](https://info.mdrginc.com/landing-page-improving-insights-a-guide-to-getting-actionable-results-from-market-research) We are America's Favorite **Homestay for Foreign Students!** Start your **student homestay** adventure with us today and find out why international student's from all over the world love AmeriStudent. ## More blogs on this topic: [Trust, AI, and Very Sore Feet: Lessons From SHSMD 2026](https://blog.mdrginc.com/trust-ai-and-very-sore-feet-lessons-from-shsmd-2026) [Trust In The System And Trust In Your Doctor Are Two Different Things](https://blog.mdrginc.com/trust-in-the-system-and-trust-in-your-doctor-are-two-different-things) [What Summer Beverage Launches Reveal About Consumer Behavior](https://blog.mdrginc.com/what-summer-beverage-launches-reveal-about-consumer-behavior) [Why Healthcare Systems Must Rethink Their Website Experience](https://blog.mdrginc.com/why-healthcare-systems-must-rethink-their-website-experience) - [Core Competencies](https://www.mdrginc.com/what-we-do/core-competencies/) - [Careers](https://www.mdrginc.com/who-we-are/) - [How We Do It](https://www.mdrginc.com/how-we-do-it/) - [Contact](https://www.mdrginc.com/contact/) - [Blogs](https://blog.mdrginc.com) [![MDRG](https://blog.mdrginc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/MDRG_June2021/images/footer-Logo.png?width=182&height=589&name=footer-Logo.png "MDRG")](https://www.mdrginc.com/) - - - - New Orleans, LA 70112 - [(504) - 821 - 1910](tel:(504)%20-%20821%20-%201910) - [info@mdrginc.com](mailto:info@mdrginc.com) © MDRG inc. 2021. 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