After The PHM Healthfront on April 29-30, Christine Maguire, Chief Business Officer at Fullspan Health, sat down with Andrea Palmer, Chief Executive Officer, and Brad Liebow, Chief Investment Officer, from PHM, to discuss the future of health marketing.
Their discussion expanded on topics from the event, where health media leaders talked about how AI, trust, media planning, and patient and provider journeys are changing how people move from awareness to action.
During the two-day event, one message became clear: while people may be more open to discussing their health, it doesn’t always lead to action. As AI changes how people find information and patients arrive to clinical settings better informed, health brands need new ways to build trust, make important decisions, and help people take the next step.
“People are moving from reaching patients to actually serving them.” — Christine Maguire, Fullspan Health
Watch the series to see how AI, planning, trusted stories, and practical tools are changing the way health brands connect with people throughout their health journey.
Building trust and planning around decisions
Christine Maguire highlighted one of her takeaways from PHM Healthfront as a growing gap in health engagement. Recent Fullspan Health research shows that 98% of people want to take action on their health, but 41% actually do. This gap is becoming more important as AI-powered discovery and social influence change how people find, assess, and trust health information.
“Winning hearts and minds” has always been important in marketing. But as Andrea Palmer noted, health marketers now have to think beyond “hearts and minds” to “hearts, minds, and machines”, citing one of Healthfront's sessions.
“AI is actually kind of a customer, too.”— Andrea Palmer, PHM
AI-powered answer engines are changing how people find information. Instead of giving a list of places to research, these tools often provide the answer directly. This means health brands must make sure accurate information, meaningful stories, and credible sources are easy to find and understand.
Building trust takes several steps. Accuracy is paramount, but so are cultural relevance, social proof, real-life experience, patient communities, creators, and doctors who share relatable stories. Brands have a chance to bring these elements together and become part of how people learn, not just something they see in passing.
Brad Liebow linked this change to media investment. The future isn’t just about using different media channels, but about organizing media around key decision moments. By using signals, timing, and connected systems, brands can reach patients, doctors, and communities when they are searching for information.
This is where trust and media strategy come together. The goal is to help brands move from broad reach to engaging people who are ready to make decisions.
Connecting patient and HCP journeys
Andrea explained that treatment decisions no longer happen only during a short exam. Patients now arrive with research, questions, and advice from other sources, while healthcare providers bring their own knowledge, experience, and new tools to the equation
“The preparation happens outside of the room.” — Andrea Palmer, PHM
This gives brands a good opportunity to connect patient and provider strategies before the two audiences meet in the exam room. When both parties are prepared, conversations are more productive, decisions are clearer, and next steps are easier.
Brands need to be ready for every step of the patient and provider journey with reliable health content, patient support programs, communities for chronic and acute illnesses, and a trusted place to connect with healthcare professionals.
With these tools, brands can encourage action and create a connected health journey.
The next role for media is utility
Health information has never been more accessible. The real challenge is helping people figure out what to do next.
“People are ready to make a decision at the right point in time, and you have to be there at that point in time with the right utility.” — Brad Liebow, PHM
They noted that the future of health media is about more than just raising awareness. It is about creating empowering moments that make the next step easier, whether someone is looking for care, comparing options, managing costs, or figuring out which action is right for them.
This is where brands can help connect trusted content with practical solutions. Whether it is care navigation, provider search, affordability support, or community insights, media can be more than just a message. It can bridge the gap between interest and action.
For health brands, the goal is to create experiences that inform people and help them take action when they are ready.
Build for the full span of the health journey
AI, culture, content, media, and care are all changing quickly. Health brands now have the chance to build trust earlier, connect with people at important moments, and make it easier for them to take action throughout their journey.
Fullspan Health brings together strategy, media, technology, community, and health knowledge to help brands create better experiences that guide people from awareness to action.
