Breaking Barriers to Better Patient Experiences:

Speakers

Aaron Watkins – AVP of Digital Strategy at NorthBay Health

John Davey – Vice Predient, Marketing Technology at Mount Sinai

Chris Pace – Vice President of Healthcare Industry at SearchStax

Transcript

Rosie Alga (Becker’s Healthcare):
Hello everyone. This is Rosie Alga with Becker’s Healthcare. Thank you for joining us for today’s webinar, Breaking Barriers to Better Patient Experiences: Doing More with Less in Healthcare Marketing.

Before we begin, a few quick housekeeping notes:

• We’ll start with the presentation and leave time at the end for Q&A.
  
  
• You can submit questions anytime using the Q&A box on your screen.
  
  
• Today’s session is being recorded; the recording will be available after the event via the same link you used to join.
  
  
• If you have issues with audio or visuals, please try refreshing your browser. You can also submit technical questions in the Q&A box — we’re here to help.
  
  

I’m pleased to introduce today’s host: Chris Pace, VP of Healthcare Industry at SearchStax. Thank you for being here, Chris. I’ll turn it over to you.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Thank you, Rosie. Thanks to Becker’s and to everyone joining us today. I’m Chris Pace, VP of Healthcare Industry at SearchStax, and I’ll be moderating today’s discussion.

I’m very excited to be joined by two leaders who know firsthand what it takes to navigate digital transformation inside large, complex health systems:

• Aaron Watkins, AVP of Digital Strategy at NorthBay Health
  
  
• John Davey, VP of Marketing Technology at Mount Sinai Health System in New York
  
  

Today we’ll explore how health systems can break down barriers and deliver better patient experiences even when resources are limited. Patient expectations keep climbing; AI is reshaping how people search for answers; and most of us are working with constrained budgets, staff, or technology. We’re here to talk candidly about challenges, share what’s working, and give you practical steps to make real progress.

Before we dive in, we want to get a quick sense of where you are in your organization. You’ll see a poll on your screen with this question: What is your biggest barrier today? The options:

• IT bottlenecks (too reliant on technical teams to make changes)
  
  
• Limited budget or resources (not enough staff or funding)
  
  
• Outdated technology (CMS/DXP, site search, etc.)
  
  
• Siloed teams (marketing, IT, and access not aligned)
  
  
• Other (tell us in the Q&A or as a follow-up)
  
  

Go ahead and make your selection — we’ll give it about 30 seconds.

Chris Pace:
Alright — lots of responses coming in. We’ll give it a few more moments… and let’s look at the results.

We have representation in all categories, but Limited budget or resources is the number one barrier, followed by Siloed teams (marketing/IT/access not aligned). Perfect setup for today’s discussion.

We’ll start with panelist stories. I’ll ask each speaker to give a quick introduction — your background and focus — and then we’ll dive into topics. Let’s start with Aaron Watkins.

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
Thanks, Chris. I’m the AVP of Digital Strategy at NorthBay Health, a regional health system in Solano County, California — roughly equidistant between San Francisco and Sacramento. I’ve been here about seven or eight weeks, and it’s a really exciting time. Under a new CEO, NorthBay is expanding urgent care and primary care beyond Solano County into Yolo County and Napa County. There’s a strong focus on evolving from a trusted community hospital into a health system recognized for cutting-edge clinical care, technology, and specialty depth.

I’ve spent most of my career in healthcare. I previously spent time at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere (including five years at the National [unclear] in Baltimore). At Hopkins, I joined at a moment where we needed to build a team from scratch, overhaul technology, and reshape the experience. I see my role similarly here: connecting people to people, making it easier for consumers to become patients, and ensuring the digital experience works end-to-end.

Every health system is unique, but the challenges are familiar. The website reflects the organization: you can’t promise a digital experience operationally you can’t fulfill. Here, I’m leading efforts to rebuild the team, replace foundational web technology, and coordinate touchpoints — including close collaboration with IT on an EMR migration, where I’m chairing a consumer-experience committee tied to that rollout. One big (and welcome) shift for me: decisions happen fast here. I’m used to months of advocacy; now, leadership supports moving proposals forward quickly. It’s energizing.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
That’s great — and I love the “fast pass to action.” Let’s move to John Davey. John, you’re operating in one of the most competitive healthcare markets in the world, with the diplomacy required across IT, marketing, access, and beyond. A bit of background and let’s start there.

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
Thanks, Chris. I’d love to borrow that fast pass from Aaron — that would come in handy at a place that’s been around for more than 150 years.

I’m VP of Marketing Technology at Mount Sinai Health System — seven hospitals, 400+ locations, an academic medical center in New York City. It’s arguably the most competitive market: world-class physicians on every block in Manhattan and beyond. I’ve worked in healthcare marketing most of my career, including roles at Memorial Sloan Kettering and NYU.

Even though Aaron and I are in very different environments, the issues are the same. Change is constant — and after COVID, it accelerated. Patient behavior and expectations have shifted; how we’re funded has shifted. We have new leadership — a new CEO and executive team — and that brings new expectations. The upside: if you aren’t trying new things, you get stuck. We’ve had to be creative — and over time that builds a creative muscle that helps us meet today’s constraints.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
What’s old is new again (cross-team collaboration), and what’s new is really new (AI, consumer behavior). Let’s start with rising patient expectations — specifically how AI has invaded the consumer space and reshaped search behavior in 2025, remapping patient journeys.

John, since we’re with you — what are you seeing at Mount Sinai?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
Digital is all data, and the data shows dramatic changes this year — even quarter to quarter. We’ve seen dips in traditional search traffic and equivalent increases coming from AI tools. Content is frequently aggregated into zero-click or one-click results. We can’t fight that reality — we need to be included in those answers.

That means restructuring content so machines can understand and surface it effectively. Another big shift: patient decision criteria. Historically, referrals or rankings (e.g., U.S. News) mattered most. Now, like with any product, user reviews and comments carry huge weight. We’ve leaned into patient ratings and comments. Rankings still matter, but expectations have changed.

There’s physician sensitivity here; many don’t realize how much public feedback already exists. Our job is to bring data, hold hands, and show how transparency — done right — grows their practice. We organize around that.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Exactly — you don’t know what you don’t know. If you’re blind (externally or internally), you end up chasing ghosts instead of making meaningful change.

Aaron, you’ve gone East Coast to West Coast. Different demographics and cultures. You’re in the Bay Area — a tech hotbed — versus Baltimore, a more stable market. What have you observed so far, and how are you thinking about the 2025 consumer?

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
There are similarities, but also key differences. Previously I was in a big city serving regional, national, even international patients. Now, I’m targeting a more rural market — wine country, agriculture — with a diverse, tech-savvy population.

The strategy is familiar:

• Build structured content (physicians, locations) and make it machine-readable for search engines, ads, and chat.
  
  
• Ensure data quality and distribution — not only on our site, but on third-party sites and chat tools where people already are.
  
  
• Modernize the toolset so we can work nimbly and tie data systems together.
  
  

Execution details change, but the foundations are the same.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Let’s talk about agility — doing more with less. Aaron, how are you enabling agility with your team?

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
I’m fortunate to be building a team. I have one teammate who’s been at NorthBay for years — she knows the community, the contracts, the tech landscape — which helped me ramp quickly.

Immediate priorities:

• Replace foundational web tech so we can work efficiently and connect data systems.
  
  
• Favor lighter-weight solutions over monolithic platforms that are expensive and cumbersome without ongoing investment.
  
  
• Keep content ownership centralized in marketing to move fast — but design user-friendly backends so different marketers can contribute as needed.
  
  
• Audit data workflows — e.g., credentialing → physician data → front end. Ensure clarity on approvals and updates. Physician and location data is the foundation — arguably more critical day-to-day than general health content.
  
  

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
John, let’s connect agility to alignment. You’ve long aligned IT, marketing, access, finance, and more at scale. What’s your approach?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
It starts with trust. Each team has its own leadership and success metrics. Learn those goals and align yours with theirs so their success is your success. It sounds simple; it’s harder in practice. Build relationships where people will share their goals — and you’ll share yours.

Today, healthcare delivery is technology-enabled; digital/IT/access must partner to succeed. Address fears that marketing is stepping on others’ toes. We’re not freelancing in your world — our worlds are connected. We can help translate between technical and clinical language and advocate for the patient experience.

We’re in a noble business — but people still have fears and incentives. Be open about them, and find common ground.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Love that. The marketer’s superpower is advocacy for the consumer and translation across teams. It’s about mutual benefit — and in healthcare, we’re all aligned to patient outcomes and loyalty.

One more before Q&A: when you translate all this back to partners, what common metrics matter across teams? John?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
Reverse-engineer from the customer. Use patient feedback to identify pain points and plan improvements. You’ll never have enough time, money, or people — so don’t admire the problem; work the problem with existing resources.

Focus on convenience — the data shows people sometimes prioritize convenience over brand or expertise. That’s hard to hear, but it’s real. Track what’s working, iterate, and be willing to kill or modify investments that no longer meet needs — even if there’s sunk cost. That’s how you get smarter with limited budgets.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Exactly — watch for diminishing returns. Aaron?

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
Focus where you can actually deliver. Don’t run campaigns to areas without capacity. Map what consumers want to do (get an appointment), then ensure access can handle calls, physicians have availability, and people can pay easily.

Two bookends shape experience: scheduling and bill pay. Work with RevCycle to communicate price transparency and individual cost (physician + plan). Collaborate on those shared KPIs so finance and leadership see the same outcomes.

Audience Q&A

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
We’ve had great questions. First: How do you address outdated tactics (e.g., heavy print, “faces on billboards”) when stakeholders expect them? John?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
NYC is an arms race for advertising — and the most expensive market. Many internal audiences (board, execs, physicians) expect parity with competitors’ big-ticket campaigns. Start with data: against specific business goals, what moved the needle? Campaign mix? Targeted efforts? Brand vs. service-line objectives?

We track image preference and brand metrics over time, and connect campaigns not just to appointments booked but to arrived appointments and downstream value. When you show a true ROI (not just spend), the debate shifts from opinions to facts.

Audience Question (Larry):
Composable vs. monolithic: Do you prefer a composable strategy (multiple specialized vendors) or a single vendor for CDP/CRM/MA, etc.? Aaron?

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
If you go monolithic, the vendor must be excellent in critical areas and have a point of view where they’re weaker. Fewer vendors can improve nimbleness and deepen partnerships.

That said, many leaders use specialized vendors — but then you must orchestrate them (e.g., an annual or biannual vendor summit) to present the holistic strategy, business objectives, and inter-dependencies. That’s effective — but it’s a lot of work.

Audience Question (Nick Henry):
Is AI being used to power Find Care experiences?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
We’re actively evaluating. Some existing platform vendors are adding AI capabilities; in other cases we plug in external tools. We’re headed toward agentic AI that can interpret a user’s needs in natural language and guide them to the right doctor/service — and eventually agent-to-agent interactions with minimal human intervention.

But it must be additive and work in the real world. Demos are great; pilots with real users expose gaps. You need the right data connections, careful governance, and continuous learning. Healthcare lags, but this is where we’re going — cautiously, with testing.

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
I’ll add: it all rests on your own data quality, your ability to partner with IT, and the technology you control. Shiny objects won’t fix messy data. Every new system requires APIs, content tuning, and people to make it work.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Quick plug for our sponsor, SearchStax. We’ve built capabilities to bring the way people ask questions outside your site into your own property — providing generative AI search results you can tune to align with campaigns or service lines, with analytics to show ranking influence and click-throughs. Because consumer language doesn’t always match credentialing systems, our LLM features and synonym management help marketers bridge that gap and learn from user questions to inform content strategy. If you’d like to chat, we’re happy to connect about SearchStax Site Search.

To close, one piece of advice from each of you. Aaron?

Aaron Watkins (NorthBay Health):
If you’ve said something 29 times, you’re just getting warmed up. The web isn’t a magic button — over-communicate the what, why, and how long. Tailor messages to what your stakeholders need to hear.

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
John?

John Davey (Mount Sinai Health System):
When you’re overwhelmed by challenges, reframe them as opportunities. There are opportunities inside every constraint — that’s what makes this work interesting.

Closing & Takeaways

Chris Pace (SearchStax):
Three big takeaways:

1. Agility is your advantage. Move faster, simplify tools, and align with partners even when resources are tight.
   
   
2. Search + AI are reshaping expectations. Patients want clear answers and easy access — in external engines and on your site. Reduce friction to increase appointments and satisfaction.
   
   
3. Alignment creates impact. Shared goals and transparent metrics across IT, marketing, access, and finance produce better outcomes.
   
   

Thanks again to Aaron and John for sharing insights, and to SearchStax for sponsoring. Our slide deck includes their LinkedIn details, but there’s only one of each — you can find them quickly on LinkedIn.

Rosie, back to you.

Rosie Alga (Becker’s Healthcare):
Thank you, Chris — and thank you, Aaron and John, for an excellent presentation on a timely topic. Thanks as well to SearchStax for sponsoring today’s webinar, and to our audience for your insightful questions and for joining us. We hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your day.