As AI-powered search changes how people discover and evaluate brands, traditional marketing attribution is becoming harder to trust. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf, Brandon Schakola, and Richard Wong discuss how AI is compressing the search funnel, why traffic is becoming a weaker KPI, and what marketers should focus on instead. They explore AI visibility, prompt tracking, media mix modeling, SEO measurement, and why authority and retrievability may matter more than clicks in the years ahead.From call center inefficiencies and EMR limitations to the role of data in driving change, they share practical strategies for improving patient access, increasing conversion, and turning these traditionally siloed teams into true collaborators.

In Part 2 of Stewart Gandolf’s conversation with Smile Brands CEO Steve Bilt, dentistry becomes the case study for a much broader healthcare leadership lesson: sustainable growth comes from solving enduring market problems, reducing friction, and building systems that work before attempting to scale them.
From call center inefficiencies and EMR limitations to the role of data in driving change, they share practical strategies for improving patient access, increasing conversion, and turning these traditionally siloed teams into true collaborators.

Healthcare organizations often invest heavily in marketing—but struggle to convert that demand into patient care due to disconnected systems and siloed teams. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf is joined by Nicole Vafadari, Founder of Doret Consulting, to explore how misalignment between marketing, operations, and IT creates friction in the patient journey—and what it takes to fix it.

From call center inefficiencies and EMR limitations to the role of data in driving change, they share practical strategies for improving patient access, increasing conversion, and turning these traditionally siloed teams into true collaborators.

AI is transforming healthcare content—but it’s not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf is joined by Melanie Wilson and Mary Hayes to break down how AI is actually used inside a healthcare marketing agency, where it adds value, and where human expertise is still essential. From strategy and SEO to brand voice and patient safety, they explore why AI works best as an accelerant—not a replacement—in healthcare’s high-stakes, “your money, your life” environment.

Rural healthcare systems across the U.S. are facing a growing physician shortage—and traditional solutions aren’t enough. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf is joined by Dr. Kenneth Holmen, President and CEO of CentraCare, to discuss how his organization is tackling the problem head-on by helping launch the first new medical school in Minnesota in over 50 years. From workforce shortages and aging populations to siloed systems and outdated thinking, they explore what’s driving the crisis—and how a new, community-centered model for education and healthcare delivery could help solve it.

Steve Bilt, CEO and co-founder of Smile Brands, joins Stewart Gandolf to discuss what it takes to scale a 600-location healthcare organization through disciplined execution, leadership alignment, culture, operational focus, and strategic decision-making. Drawing on 25 years of DSO leadership, Steve shares practical lessons on growth, technology adoption, acquisitions, organizational change, and creating sustainable enterprise value.

In this episode of the Healthcare Success Podcast, Stewart Gandolf is joined by Brooke Hynes, Anissa Davenport, and Dave Eilers of Possibility Partners to unpack one of the most persistent challenges in healthcare organizations: team dysfunction.

From unclear roles and internal silos to cross-functional friction with IT, operations, and administration, healthcare marketing teams are under increasing pressure to perform—often without the alignment needed to succeed. The conversation explores why marketing teams frequently feel misunderstood, how that impacts performance, and what leaders can do to fix it.

In this episode, Stewart Gandolf talks with Kirsten Lecky about how healthcare content strategy is evolving in the AI era—and why balancing discoverability and trust is more critical than ever.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores how healthcare organizations can unlock growth by focusing on financial fundamentals.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores how healthcare organizations can unlock growth by focusing on financial fundamentals.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores how lenders evaluate organic growth—and what healthcare organizations must demonstrate to secure capital.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores how buyers evaluate organic growth—and why it’s becoming a key driver of valuation.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores why healthcare organizations are shifting from acquisition-driven growth to operational performance and efficiency.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores how healthcare leaders can evaluate AI vendors in a rapidly evolving—and often overhyped—market.

Episode of the Organic Growth Podcast series recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference, this conversation explores one of the most overlooked drivers of growth: hiring the right people.

Stewart Gandolf sits down with Kyle James of Urrly to unpack why “great on paper” candidates often fail in real-world roles, how to evaluate sales talent more effectively, and where AI is beginning to transform the recruiting process.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf speaks with Tom Furr of PatientPay about how the rise of high-deductible health plans is transforming revenue cycle dynamics—and why healthcare organizations must rethink how they bill and collect from patients.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. Revenue doesn’t disappear—it gets stuck. In this episode, Brian Plamondon of SuperDial explains how AI is transforming revenue cycle management by automating payer communication and clearing long-standing bottlenecks.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf sits down with Roy Bejarano of SCALE Healthcare to explore why scaling healthcare organizations is far more complex than simply adding locations or acquiring practices.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, sits down with Stewart Gandolf sits down with Louis Oster of ECG Consultants to unpack why so many healthcare organizations struggle to grow—even after investing in marketing, acquisitions, and infrastructure.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. In this episode, Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, sits down with Stewart Gandolf sits down with Louis Oster of ECG Consultants to unpack why so many healthcare organizations struggle to grow—even after investing in marketing, acquisitions, and infrastructure.

This special Organic Growth Podcast series is being recorded live at the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity & Finance Conference in Chicago. In this first episode, Stewart Gandolf, CEO of Healthcare Success, sits down with Quin Wright, Senior Vice President of RealRev, to discuss lifetime value.

In this episode of the Healthcare Success Podcast, Stewart Gandolf talks with Steve Page, Founder and CEO of SUN Behavioral Health, about whether private equity and patient care can successfully coexist. Steve shares a behavioral health CEO’s perspective on capital, care quality, governance, misaligned incentives and how thoughtful investment can expand access to essential services.

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf talks with Sean Young, former CMO of Penn State Health, about why healthcare marketing remains misunderstood in many organizations—and what marketing leaders can do to build C-suite trust, use data more effectively, and shape strategy at the highest level.

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf talks with Kelsey Kloss about why PR has become even more valuable in the AI era—and how healthcare brands can use earned media, press releases, and digital PR to influence what AI says about them.

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf talks with Krista Robertson and Ben Cash about why healthcare RFPs so often frustrate both clients and agencies—and what health systems can do to make the process more strategic, more human, and more effective.

In this Healthcare Success Podcast episode, Stewart Gandolf interviews Holly Buckley, Chair of Health Care at McGuireWoods, about healthcare private equity trends in 2026. They discuss deal activity, regulatory changes, high-growth sectors, and how AI and operational discipline are driving value creation.

Air quality is an often-overlooked factor that can significantly impact patient outcomes. In this episode of the Healthcare Success Podcast, Stewart Gandolf speaks with Katy Worrilow, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of LifeAire Systems, about how unexplained fluctuations in IVF pregnancy rates led to the discovery that airborne contaminants were affecting embryo viability. Katy explains how this insight led to the development of a technology designed to destroy airborne pathogens rather than simply capture them—an innovation now being used in IVF labs, operating rooms, NICUs, senior living communities, and other healthcare environments.

How can healthcare practices use video not just for marketing—but to drive consistency, efficiency, and higher patient conversion?

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf sits down with Dr. Steve Moravec, Orthodontist at Moravec Ortho (Plainfield, IL), and Carol Gifford, Co-Founder of Docs on Video, to explore how thoughtfully planned video content can transform patient education, streamline staff workflows, and significantly improve case acceptance.

AI is rapidly reshaping healthcare marketing—but success depends on using it to solve real consumer problems. In this episode of the Healthcare Success Podcast, Stewart Gandolf speaks with Sandra Mackey, Chief Marketing Officer of Bon Secours Mercy Health, about how her team is integrating AI into its broader marketing strategy to reduce friction in the patient journey and improve access to care. Sandra shares how their conversational AI platform helps guide consumers to the right provider at the right time, why AI must be embedded within the overall marketing ecosystem rather than treated as a standalone tool, and how healthcare organizations can balance innovation with trust, governance, and patient privacy.

When does a healthcare app actually improve patient experience—and when is it a costly distraction?

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf sits down with Erin Rollenhagen, Founder of People-Friendly Tech, to explore how healthcare organizations can decide whether to build an app, what it should do, and how to design it so patients actually want to use it—especially in high-stress healthcare moments.

In this week’s podcast, I sit down with Matthew Pinzur, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Jackson Health System, to explore how a large public health system aligns mission, operations, and marketing through disciplined planning, measurable accountability, and data-driven patient engagement.

Jackson is a rare organization with a dual identity: it’s both Miami-Dade County’s safety net hospital system, providing the same level of care regardless of insurance status, and South Florida’s primary academic medical center, powered by its partnership with the University of Miami. That combination shapes everything—from brand strategy to growth priorities—because the high-margin, highly differentiated services help fund the mission-driven work that serves everyone.

In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf sits down with Duane Forrester—renowned search and AI discovery strategist, author of The Machine Layer, and former Microsoft leader behind Bing Webmaster Tools and Schema.org—alongside Brandon Schakola, Senior Director of Digital Services at Healthcare Success. Together, they unpack what “AI visibility” really means, why traditional SEO metrics are no longer enough, and how healthcare organizations must rethink discovery as AI systems increasingly summarize, cite and answer on behalf of brands.

What’s the best way to choose a healthcare marketing agency? While I (Stewart) have plenty of ideas about the process of picking the best healthcare marketing agency for your hospital, medical practice, or healthcare network, I thought it would be valuable to ask my friend and venerable colleague, Ed Bennett, to share his opinions during our […]

Drawing from real-world case studies—from the Gossamer Albatross crossing the English Channel to a violin built from a cardiac monitoring device—Bobak shares a practical, grounded framework for innovation that’s less about flashy ideas and more about asking better questions, iterating faster and deliberately doing what others aren’t.

Explore how olfactory stimulation, sleep, and brain health are connected in this Healthcare Success podcast with Dr. Michael Leon of UC Irvine.

Why should healthcare organizations choose a specialized marketing agency? In this podcast, Corey Quinn explains how specialization reduces risk and accelerates results.

Explore how healthcare leaders are using AI phone agents to improve access, reduce staff strain and modernize the patient experience.

We dig into how AI is changing who shows up on healthcare websites, what those visitors are trying to do and where many organizations are unintentionally creating friction. Drawing from more than a decade of real-world gSight survey data and nearly 400,000 completed surveys, they share why many health systems are seeing dramatic shifts and how leaders can respond strategically.

Bill shares real-world insights into how podcasts are helping hospitals showcase physician expertise, strengthen community relationships, and repurpose content for maximum impact across digital channels.

In this episode, we dig into a problem I’ve seen repeatedly over the years: healthcare companies that either have a strong clinical mission but fail to scale it—or scale aggressively without the clinical substance to support long-term success. Vasanta explains why neither approach works, and why sustainable growth requires intentional alignment between clinical vision, operations, marketing, leadership, and governance.

In this week’s episode of the Healthcare Success Podcast, I sat down with Michael Baer (TechCXO) to talk about two ideas that are especially relevant for healthcare and healthcare-adjacent companies right now: the rise of the fractional Chief Marketing Officer and Michael’s concept of “stratecution”—the inseparable pairing of strategy + execution.

Explore how doctors can take advantage of free and low-cost marketing strategies with tips from Stewart Gandolf, CEO, and Kathy Gaughran, Senior Marketing Strategist, at Healthcare Success.

Explore the real drivers of hospital safety today—and why some organizations consistently outperform when patients’ lives are on the line.

How Justin Gardner built Active Skin Repair into a leading healthcare consumer brand, combining innovation, data-driven strategy, and authentic storytelling to disrupt a legacy market

How understanding healthcare’s core terminology empowers marketers and leaders to communicate more effectively, align strategy, and drive clarity across complex systems.

How can health systems expand access, improve quality, and reduce costs at the same time? In this episode, Stewart Gandolf talks with Dr. Lyle Berkowitz, Founder and Executive Chairman of KeyCare, about building a national “virtualist” medical group on Epic, aligning incentives for physicians, and using AI to amplify, not replace, clinical care. Why Listen? […]

What does it take to truly win the hearts and minds of healthcare professionals in an increasingly complex industry? In this week’s podcast, I sit with Ajoy Mahtab, Founder and Partner at Strategility Consulting, to explore how genuine curiosity, empathy and purpose can transform healthcare sales and marketing. With more than 25 years of leadership […]

How can marketing, innovation, and AI transform patient care while supporting the unique mission of an academic medical center? Ahead of his keynote presentation at the Healthcare Interactive Conference (HCIC) in Las Vegas, David Feinberg, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Mount Sinai Health System and Dean for Marketing and Communications at the […]

How can healthcare leaders address burnout while driving operational efficiency and scalable growth? In this week’s podcast, Stewart Gandolf sits down with Edisa Shirley, Chief Mental Health Officer at ClinicMind, to explore the intersection of mental health, leadership, and operational efficiency in modern healthcare practices. Together, they discuss the systemic challenges of provider burnout, strategies […]

How can healthcare leaders and marketers build trust and meaningful connections with rare disease patients and caregivers? In this week's episode, I sit down with Sugata Biswas, Co-Founder & Managing Principal, and Emily Anderson, Associate Director of Patient-Centered Research at Cadence Communications & Research, to explore their human-centered approach to rare disease research and patient […]