HCIC Recap: Insights, Inspiration, and What’s Ahead for Healthcare Digital Marketing 

Our team loves the opportunities conferences give us to connect with healthcare marketers, and this year’s Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC) in Las Vegas was no exception. 

Beyond the packed schedule of booth time, meeting with clients, and attending sessions, HCIC remains invaluable for what it gives us: a pulse check on the market, inspiration from peers, and the opportunity to hear what’s keeping healthcare marketing teams up at night. 

Keynote: Culture as a lens for marketing strategy 

Dr. Marcus Collins, author of For the Culture and a professor at the University of Michigan, set the tone with an energizing keynote on how culture — not demographics — shapes human behavior. One of his most powerful insights for healthcare marketers is that our strategies are limited by how we see people. 

Too often, organizations rely on demographic labels that oversimplify how individuals see themselves and move through the world. Collins challenged us to move beyond boxes and tap into the cultural identities, artifacts, behaviors, and language that actually shape patient motivations. 

Instead of focusing on a prospective patient’s demographics, Collins suggested incorporating humanity into healthcare marketing strategies by: 

• Showing patients you know them — how they self-identify, and what they believe. 

• Helping patients achieve the tasks that matter to them. 

• Wowing patients and making their experience with your organization feel magical. 

• Having empathy. Look at the world through the patient’s lens, and respect the different ways they operate. 

Conference conversations 

There were several recurring themes in the conversations we had with healthcare marketers throughout HCIC, and the sessions we attended: 

1. AI’s impact & agent efficiency  

The marketers we spoke to are keeping a keen eye on the ways AI will impact search, findability, and patient acquisition. There was also a focus on using AI to improve marketing efficiency and help teams do more with the resources they have available.   

One session honed in on how marketers can use AI agents in strategy and planning, content creation, web optimization, and end-to-end testing. When creating an agent, the presenter urged marketers to keep the following in mind: 

Content: What is the purpose? What is the environment it will operate in? 

Logic: Outline rules and structural framework 

Examples: Provide examples of what you are looking for 

Actions: Tell the agent where they will need to get the information, and what integrations they might have to tap into 

Refinement: Continue testing and improvement 

2. High-performing, conversion-focused websites 

Organizations want sites that do more. For healthcare organizations with redesigns or refreshes on the horizon in 2026, one session we attended provided the following roadmap for redesign success: 

• Create incremental launches and have a “mini go-live” every 90 days to show visible progress. 

• Hold quarterly meetings to discuss the process and how it might be improved. 

• Launch the site, then optimize based on data and UX testing immediately after launch (just like Burke Rehabilitation did). 

• Create decision documents along the way documenting the decision, how you got there, and who made it. 

Once a redesign roadmap is created, the speaker also encouraged marketers to hold conversations with stakeholders to understand what their most significant pain point is for the new site’s first year and iterate based on that. 

3. Rural organizations going digital 

One fascinating conversation came from a rural system that’s moving from print-first marketing to building its foundational digital presence. We see an enormous opportunity in rural markets to leapfrog into modern digital experiences. 

4. Doing more with data 

Many sessions we attended were focused on data-enabled growth strategies. As healthcare marketers are challenged to do more with less, they are frequently turning to data and learning how they can leverage analytics to drive patient acquisition and retention, business expansion, and improved decision-making. 

5. Prioritizing the patient journey 

The importance of defining the care seeker’s journey was another topic touched upon during HCIC. Speakers emphasized that these journeys should center on awareness, access, care delivery, post-visit, and advocacy, and that strategies should reach patients at the right time, with the right message and the right channel across the journey. 

6. A surprisingly optimistic budget outlook 

Despite ongoing cost control across healthcare, many attendees expressed optimism for 2026. Even within constrained environments, digital initiatives remain a priority, and many teams anticipate funding stability — or increases — for next year’s projects. 

Looking ahead 

Our team was also honored to take part in the eHealthcare Leadership Awards ceremony, as well as a session with Billings Clinic discussing the importance of a robust location strategy in driving patient conversions. Check out the Geonetric clients who took home awards this year and get inspired for your 2026 projects! 

HCIC 2025 reaffirmed what we already knew: Healthcare marketers are navigating enormous change, but they’re doing it with intention, creativity, and a focus on connecting with new patients. 

We’re excited to continue supporting them through strategy, technology, creative, and the relationships we’ve built over the years. If you’d like help building momentum on any of the ideas from this year’s conference, we’d love to continue the conversation — contact our team today!