Healthcare communicators are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape where AI, digital channels and online reputation are reshaping how trust is built – and lost. As more content becomes AI-assisted, organizations must balance speed and efficiency with the responsibility to deliver accurate, empathetic and brand-aligned communication. The challenge is how to use AI in a way that protects patient trust and minimizes risk to both patients and the organization. This session will explore how healthcare organizations can establish governance approaches that are both practical and sustainable. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of emerging environment and risks, the role of communicators in managing content risk, and how to apply simple frameworks that enable responsible AI use across content and digital channels.
Marketing leaders are under increasing pressure to drive measurable growth, demonstrate ROI, and contribute to service line performance. At the same time, many organizations are navigating attribution challenges, evolving consumer expectations, referral complexity, access constraints, and growing competition. As expectations for marketing continue to rise, a critical question emerges: Is the organization actually prepared to support the growth it expects marketing to deliver?
Too often, healthcare organizations launch growth initiatives and patient acquisition campaigns before identifying the factors that may be limiting performance. As a result, marketing is frequently held accountable for outcomes that are influenced by far more than marketing activity alone.
Rather than focusing solely on marketing tactics, this session challenges attendees to think more holistically about growth readiness and patient acquisition. Participants will leave with a practical framework they can immediately apply within their own organizations to identify growth constraints, prioritize opportunities, and better align marketing, operations, and leadership around sustainable growth.
Riverview Health transformed its award-winning website from a static destination into a fully integrated digital front door, enabling engagement tracking, performance visibility, and insight-driven optimization. This session explores how Riverview built a scalable foundation for personalized outreach, cross-channel activation, and continuous improvement, plus a preview of integrating clinically validated content for deeper insights. Attendees leave with a practical blueprint for turning a high-performing website into a measurable growth and engagement engine, without starting from scratch.
Workplace violence is a growing national issue in healthcare. This presentation will take a closer look at Indiana Hospital Association’s Safe & Sound campaign, developed for use by member hospitals. Attendees will learn about the scope of workplace violence in healthcare, key provisions of House Enrolled Act 1249, and how to leverage the Safe & Sound campaign’s communication tools and resources to educate staff, engage stakeholders, and support workplace violence prevention efforts.
We will hear a five-minute presentation from My Shirt Works and have lunch.
In an era where audiences increasingly value authenticity over celebrity endorsements, healthcare organizations face a unique challenge: How do you build influence while maintaining credibility?
This session explores the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) nearly decade-long journey of developing an influencer strategy rooted in expertise, trust, and member engagement. Attendees will gain an inside look at how AGD identified opportunities, built internal buy-in, developed spokesperson pipelines, and transformed clinicians into influential voices across traditional and digital media platforms.
Many health care organizations – especially rural and independent hospitals like Good Samaritan – recognize the value of CRM-driven marketing but struggle with how to get started amid limited resources, small teams, and competing priorities. Knowing where to begin, what to prioritize, and how to prove early success can feel overwhelming.
In this session, Good Samaritan shares their journey of getting CRM-based marketing off the ground – starting with focused, achievable efforts designed to build confidence, capability, and credibility. Rather than attempting to do everything at once, the team prioritized foundational campaigns that aligned with organizational goals that could quickly demonstrate measurable impact.
Attendees will learn how Good Samaritan identified initial marketing opportunities, activated early outreach, and used performance dashboards to move beyond activity metrics and tell a clear story of results. Presenters will show how dashboards helped connect campaign performance to patient response, downstream activity, and ROI – creating a shared understanding across marketing, service lines, and leadership.
Healthcare organizations are increasingly challenged to connect with audiences in ways that feel authentic, accessible, and human. For Hancock Health, that opportunity led to the creation of Just Jenn: A Woman’s Health Podcast, a bold women’s health platform designed to bring honesty, humor, and humanity to conversations that are too often avoided.
Presented by Hancock Health and hosted by Jenn Wells, a healthcare executive – not a physician – Just Jenn explores the everyday health issues women face through candid conversations with providers, colleagues, friends, and community voices. The podcast and companion Substack, Just Jenn: Women’s Health Unfiltered, use personal storytelling, practical resources, and provider expertise to help women feel less alone, better informed, and more empowered in their healthcare journeys.
This session will explore how Hancock Health developed Just Jenn as a strategic communications initiative rooted in brand storytelling, audience trust, and mission-driven engagement. Jenn will share how the podcast creates space for taboo topics, bridges clinical expertise with lived experience, and extends Hancock Health’s brand beyond traditional marketing channels. Attendees will learn how healthcare communicators can use personality-led content, multimedia platforms, and authentic voice to deepen community connection while supporting broader organizational goals around access, education, and women’s health advocacy.
When patients search for a cardiologist or a sleep specialist, they're not browsing your homepage – they're typing into Google, asking Siri, or querying an AI assistant. Whether your health system shows up in those moments depends heavily on something most marketing teams overlook: how your services are named, organized, and presented on your website.
This session makes the case for the services audit and gap analysis – a strategic process that examines how a health system currently presents its services online and recommends how to restructure them for better discoverability, intuitive navigation, and measurable conversions.
Whether you're planning a site redesign, battling a cluttered A-Z list, or trying to explain to leadership why content strategy isn't just copywriting, this session gives you the language, the framework, and the proof points to move the work forward.
When plans were announced for Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center to relocate an opioid treatment program to a neighborhood on the southeast side of Indianapolis, there was vocal apprehension and angst by community members. This presentation will take attendees through how Eskenazi Health approached the relocation and came to a place of understanding and partnership with the neighborhood. It will touch on relationship building and engagement with the surrounding community; a new, more positive program name change; and unique ways in which Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center became part of the community. It will also touch on the opening of the new facility, including the installation of public artwork which was inspired by community input.
IHMPRS President will wrap up day one and you will hear a five-minute presentation from our Networking & Dinner Sponsor, rater8.
Unwind and connect with fellow attendees at our Networking Event & Dinner at LumberjAXE. Enjoy great food, casual conversation, and a little friendly competition – all in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Whether you’re throwing an axe or just talking with new friends, it’s the perfect way to end the day!
7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Registration
8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Welcome by Tiffany Conover, IHMPRS President
Title Sponsor Presentation: Mark Shepler, Phoenix Innovate
8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Unlocking Efficiency: Using AI for Healthcare Content Creation
by Robbie Schneider, Franciscan Health
In today's competitive healthcare landscape, marketing teams face the challenge of creating informative, engaging content that resonates with patients while maintaining accuracy and compliance. This talk explores the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in streamlining content creation for healthcare marketing teams and strengths and weaknesses of current technologies. The presenters will delve into practical applications of AI, from generating targeted blog posts and social media content to crafting personalized patient education materials.
9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Breathing New Life Into an Old Brand
by Sarah Murlin and Ashley Hartman, Reid Health
As health organizations across the nation faced financial challenges resulting in changes to services and structure, reputation and brand felt the impacts. Recognizing the importance of resilience and strategic positioning, Reid Health decided to focus on strengthening our brand during these times. This presentation will outline the recommitment to breathing new life into an old brand; recommitting our brand promises to our community and our patients. These efforts include a new emphasis on accessibility, visual brand enhancements, rebranding service lines, introducing new content (including social media processes) that affirms our commitment to diverse communities and more. Our presentation will unpack brand and industry sentiments during challenging times and how to adjust marketing strategies to recapture audiences.
10:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Sponsor Meet & Greet / Break
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
NexusPark: Transforming an Old Mall into a Health, Wellness and Recreation Destination
by Joel Philippsen and Beth Dawson, Columbus Regional Health
In 2018 Columbus Regional Health partnered with the City of Columbus, Indiana to purchase a community mall, Fair Oaks Mall. Like many community malls across the country the facility was plagued with high vacancy rates due to changing shopping patterns over the past several years. In this presentation you will learn about how this facility was transformed and repurposed into what is now a state-of-the-art multispecialty medical facility and how the Columbus Regional Health marketing and communications team played a critical role in the planning and execution process.
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lunch Sponsor Presentation: My Shirt Works
Lunch and IHA Update
During the lunch break we will hear an update from the Indiana Hospital Association.
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Reach for the Stars: The Importance of Google Reviews in Healthcare Marketing
by Gena Linville, Major Health Partners
In today’s digital age, patient reviews wield immense power, especially in shaping Google rankings for healthcare providers. When prospective patients search for medical services online, they rely heavily on these reviews to guide their decisions. Beyond establishing trust and credibility, patient feedback plays a pivotal role in bolstering online visibility. Actively encouraging satisfied patients to share their positive experiences can significantly elevate your Google search rankings, attracting a larger patient base and cultivating a thriving practice. In this presentation you will learn how Major Health Partners began harnessing patient Google reviews and redefined the success of their healthcare business.
2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Creating Person-Centered Experiences: Enhancing Brand Awareness Through Strategic Events and Arts Programming
by Amanda Byrd and Courtney Fehrenbacher, Eskenazi Health
Creating person-centered experiences extends beyond clinical settings and enhances brand awareness and equity. This session will review special programs that support Eskenazi Health’s brand through strategic events operations and arts programming, including the Eskenazi Health Public Art Collection and the Marianne Tobias Music Program.
2:45 to 3:30 p.m.
Sponsor Break & Eskenazi Tour
3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Wayfinding Simplified
by Tiffany Conover, Good Samaritan
Learn how a small rural hospital completely overhauled its interior wayfinding to improve patient and visitor experience without the expense of hiring a wayfinding consultant. After a failed wayfinding approach that left patients and visitors confused for more than eight years, a cross-functional team at Good Samaritan came together to create a new and improved method. This team utilized surveys, department input and the Six Sigma DMAIC process to implement a winning approach to wayfinding, while keeping costs low.
4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Day One Wrap Up and Networking Sponsor
Networking Sponsor Presentation: TBD
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Networking Dinner at Rathskeller
at 401 E. Michigan Street
8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Check-In & Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Keynote: Is Your Culture Killing Your Brand?
by Burl Stamp
Keynote Presentation Sponsor: Stamp & Chase
An organization’s culture and its brand are inextricably linked. Beyond the visual and messaging aspects of brand development, what consumers/patients and employees experience when they interact with our organizations plays a significant role in their conceptualization of our brand and brand promise. Burl Stamp, FACHE, is an experienced healthcare executive who started his career in marketing, communications, and strategic planning. He then went on to become a hospital CEO. His work today with healthcare organizations focuses on how everyone in the organization affects brand perception and how successful marketing strategists can - indeed must - play a bigger role as brand development leaders/advisors across the entire organization.
10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
How Transformation in Today's Digital Landscape Impacts Healthcare Marketing Strategies
by Mark Shepler, Phoenix Innovate, and Judi Willett, Reid Health
Healthcare marketing is experiencing an evolution, one that offers challenges that should be embraced through more dynamic, authentic, effective, data-based solutions that truly resonate with patients. By gaining a deeper understanding of the power of omnichannel marketing, healthcare marketing professionals can enhance relationships with local audiences, creating greater patient and talent acquisition opportunities. During this session you will learn about data and security, patient acquisition, and attracting and retaining talent.
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Rebranding to Provide Clarity and Alignment
by Mike Chapman and Marie Forszt, Powers Health
Community Healthcare System in Northwest Indiana made the strategic decision to rebrand as Powers Health to accomplish the following:
This case study will lead participants through the lessons learned from the VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Powers Health and their agency lead as they navigated an 18-month rebranding process. Strategies shared during this session include the development of a “living” and comprehensive Brand Launch Plan to act as our north star, ensuring that leadership and employees were part of the process (without tipping employees off about a rebrand), and identifying challenges and pitfalls as early as possible. Learn about the critical role a VP of Marketing must play internally to gain trust and buy-in from system leadership and the importance of working with an agency partner who has been through system rebrands and understands the process, opportunities, and challenges. Lessons learned also include the importance of establishing a leadership-based Brand Launch Team and an army of Brand Ambassadors, developing new ways to inspire internal audiences around the new brand, and dealing with a Board approval process that would likely leak the rebrand and new name to employees and the press – five months before the planned brand launch. Lastly, the presenters will share the creative developed to differentiate and elevate the system in the marketplace and instill internal pride in the organization and the brand lift we were able to measure.
12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Door Prizes & Wrap Up
by Tiffany Conover, IHMPRS President
Every post, every comment, every notification takes a toll – and social media marketers are burning outfaster than almost any other role in the modern workforce. This session gives marketing professionals and team leaders a practical playbook for protecting their mental health without sacrificing performance: how to spot burnout before it takes hold, how to navigate online hostility without absorbing it, and how to build team cultures that make persistence sustainable rather than draining. Attendees will leave with concrete process changes and evidence-based resources to reduce the chronic stressors unique to social media work.
Before launching a redesigned internal communications strategy, Beacon Health System faced a challenge familiar to many healthcare organizations: Leaders reported communication overload, competing priorities and difficulty identifying the information most relevant to their teams.
Beacon's communications team conducted surveys, listening sessions and assessments to better understand communication barriers for both leaders and associates. The findings helped build the business case for a dedicated internal communications function and informed the development of a strategic leadership communication approach centered on relevance, prioritization, and actionability.
This session will walk attendees through Beacon’s full internal communications journey, from identifying communication challenges and gathering stakeholder feedback to designing and implementing a leader-focused communication strategy that improved engagement and strengthened organizational alignment. Members of the communications team will share lessons learned and the progression of its strategic approach, showing how Beacon evolved from a “one-off” communication organization to building a trusted and award-winning leadership resource.
Make sure to get your Passport for Prizes card turned in.
As health systems grow through merger and acquisition, marketing and communications leaders inherit a hard question: how do you point marketing dollars toward what the whole system needs, rather than what each facility has always asked for?
The common answer is a regional hub-and-spoke model: complex care concentrates at a hub, everyday care stays close to home. But it only works if marketing follows the strategy. Too often, budgets are still split facility-by-facility, disconnected from where market share is winnable.
DJ Sullivan of HSG Advisors and Emily Laker of Margaret Mary Health share one framework for aligning marketing spend to regional strategy, then show it from both sides: the system that sets regional strategy and the critical access hospital that lives within it.
The session ends with takeaways and action items: how to read your market with data you already have, how to make the internal case for moving spend, and steps for your next budget cycle – whether you set regional strategy or work within it.
As Indiana's syringe exchange law approached its 2026 sunset, the future of every syringe services program in the state was at risk. This presentation explores how Damien Center navigated a complex political landscape to educate stakeholders, engage advocates, and help secure the continuation of this critical public health policy.
Attendees will learn why staying informed about the political environment is essential for healthcare organizations, how to empower patients and staff to become effective advocates, and how to apply a practical, nonpartisan framework for advancing policies that support community health. Through real-world examples and actionable strategies, participants will leave with tools they can adapt to a wide range of advocacy efforts within their own organizations and communities.
