Bill Klaproth (host): This is a special podcast produced on site at SHMD Connections 2025 in Dallas as we talk with speakers and session leaders direct from the show floor. I'm Bill Klaproth. And we're going to dive into the transformative role of customer data platforms in healthcare marketing on this podcast, exploring how privacy platforms can drive better targeting, improve ROI and maintain compliance in an increasingly data-driven environment. Joining me is Craig Blake, Healthcare Practice Lead at Amsive. Craig, welcome

 Craig Blake: Bill, thanks so much for having me. Glad to be here.

Host: I'm glad you're here. This is such a big topic. All of these privacy platforms, protecting data, this is really important. So, let's start here. There's been a lot of buzz about customer data platforms in healthcare, but not everyone fully understands what they are still. I feel there's people on the continuum that get it, they're implementing it and some are like," Nah, they're going to worry about it." So, can you give us a quick definition and explain why they're becoming so important in modern healthcare marketing?

 Craig Blake: Yeah, great question, Bill. And you're right. You know, a lot of people see headlines of HIPAA violations and this and that, and they're not understanding what does it mean in marketing. And essentially what a customer data platform or privacy platform does is it allows you to take patient data, anonymize it, so you can track it. So, puts it in a clean room, strips out all the PII, and then puts it into a platform so you can do that marketing that you've done for decades over on Meta and in Google and on all the other platforms that are driving conversions in today's day and age.

So, a lot of health systems and a lot of healthcare marketers out there get scared about compliance and risk and become very conservative. But the reality is, if you've not adopting a privacy platform, you're removing performance from performance marketing. And I've been doing this a long time. When you're marketing without performance, what are you doing it for?

Host: Right. You want to see the results and know who you're targeting and still be able to do that in a compliant way.

 Craig Blake: Yeah. Data-driven marketing is where it's at, right? Just look at when you're consuming your own TV shows on YouTube at night or whatever you're doing in your home. It's all personalized and relevant. Healthcare needs to be part of that conversation. And without a privacy platform, you're missing out.

Host: And you're potentially putting your healthcare system or hospital at risk.

 Craig Blake: Oh, a hundred percent. And not a week goes by where there's not a headline about a HIPAA violation. And this stuff started back in 2022 where, I'll tell you, I remember healthcare executives freaking out shutting down all pixel tracking, like literally shutting their website down because they were scared and they didn't know what was going on. They didn't want to violate, they didn't want to end up on the front page of their local or national newspaper. So thankfully, fast forward three years later, there are solutions to help solve for that and put you in a safe way and do what you've always done, performance marketing.

Host: Absolutely. They have loosened it a little bit, because they're not putting IP addresses in the bad category, if you will. But there's so many different ways, touch points they can still identify you. These types of privacy platforms are still necessary and vital.

 Craig Blake: Yeah, a hundred percent. And it's not just the platforms. Think about what Meta did in Q1 of this year. I don't know if you're familiar, but Meta declassified healthcare and put it under the mortgage category, to think back to the mortgage and credit card crisis from 10 years ago, because they don't want people to get offers that aren't applying to them. That's how industry's reacting to HIPAA violations and privacy and security. So, we're seeing it come in many different areas of your major platform players like Meta. And then, you have solution providers like a fresh paint that allows you to go ahead and solve for this at an enterprise level.

Host: Absolutely. So many. Marketers, Craig, still kind of struggle, as we are talking about, to connect the dots between data collection and meaningful outcomes. How can a privacy platform or CDP help teams move from raw insights to measurable marketing impact? How do they do that? Give us a little bit of a roadmap.

 Craig Blake: Yeah. So, imagine if you don't have a privacy platform, right? You lose sight of that journey of a patient. Now, with a privacy platform, you can track the patient all the way down to completing a visit if you tie it to your Epic platform, if that's what you're using. Then you're able to see, "Hey, I invested X on this cohort of potential patients," maybe it's for a specific service line, "and I saw those conversions all the way to a completed appointment." That's marketing gold. Candidly, that's what we did pre-2022, and some of that's gone away.

Host: Okay. So, let's talk about that marketing gold. How do we still get that gold, but in a compliant way? How can organizations integrate these privacy platforms while staying HIPAA compliant while still using the data effectively to personalize outreach? What do you do? You just plug it into the code. How do these things-- For somebody that's like, "I don't really know about this", give us a kind of a 101 on how this works.

 Craig Blake: Yeah. So, I'm not a technology guy. Let's start there. So, I don't want to pretend that I'm something I'm not. But what I can tell you is, at the end of the day, it's making sure all of the pixels and all the triggers within your web infrastructure are pushed through a clean room so information's de-anonymized, and then you can track it in a compliant way. That happens in a nice wrapped up package in a shrunk wrapped way. And I mentioned one of the providers earlier, but there's a variety of solutions. You could go to one extreme where Adobe has a very expensive product where you can insource everything through them. And then, you have the shrink-wrap software solution. And then, I've seen some clients try to build clean rooms in-house. That has its pitfalls, because sometimes you're not getting the full expertise and you're not getting the longevity of support required as regulations change.

Host: Yeah. And we're talking about things like the Meta Pixel, we're talking about Google Analytics. We're even talking about Google Maps. So, all those things, if you think about it, you're like, "Oh, those are touch points that we have to protect for." A lot of people don't even think about Maps, but that's another thing you've got to worry about, not to mention all the record keeping and ways people can log in and all that kind of stuff.

 Craig Blake: Yeah. And it's gotten more complicated with AI and all the GPTs out there, ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity and all those, that's just making it more complicated, more areas of ways to track consumers.

Host: Right. So, this really is a benefit. So once you install these privacy platforms, I would imagine the results are kind of back to, as you said, how we were doing things in 2022. Can we get back to that?

 Craig Blake: A hundred percent. And I come at this from a performance agency point of view. So, I'm not the software guy, I'm not the health system, but I'm the one that wants the health system and the software guy to get in a relationship together because as a performance marketer, I want to bring them back to where they were, bring them back to seeing marketing in the ROI-driven lens that it's intended to be viewed at period.

Host: Right. So, what would you say to somebody right now, what other advice would you give to marketing leaders considering this move that are maybe on the fence?

 Craig Blake: Yeah. So when I would approach it with them, the biggest advice I'd say, "Hey, You need to make this an enterprise-wide solution." This is not a marketing solution. Because at the enterprise level, you're protecting patient data. Everybody from finance to your legal team to your C-Suite should be interested in doing that. And then, the next card you play is it shows measurable return on the marketing investment. So when you go to those budget meetings and you're asking for money, doesn't the CEO, doesn't the CFO, doesn't-- well, maybe compliance doesn't care as much-- but they all want to know that, "Hey, if I give you a dollar, what are you getting in return?" Without this, you're missing that boat.

Now, I've seen clients that are super conservative and they just won't. Okay. But you got to be left behind.

Host: There's risk there.

 Craig Blake: There's market loss risk. What market share are you going to give up to stick your feet in the ground?

Host: Right. So where does somebody start in this journey? I know they can go to companies like you mentioned before, and they can do an audit on their site and they can go, "Uh-oh, red flags here, here, and here." Where should somebody start?

 Craig Blake: I think first step, if they're really green to the topic, get educated; there's a lot of resources, number one. Number two, start talking to companies that offer the solution so you can see the pros and cons. Because when you're going up for bid or doing an RFI, it's many things, not just a solution. But is it a fit culturally? Are they going to help me get to where I want, not just today, but five years from now? So, all those things matter.

So, I would encourage whoever is starting at this is to look at it from a knowledge center and then who can help me and figure that out. And then, talk to their agency. Because their agency, like I do, I'm sure have a point of view. And sometimes it's the best place to get a recommendation.

Host: Absolutely. That is a really good point. Talking with your agency. Well, this has really been a great discussion about privacy platforms, why they're beneficial, and why you need them. Before we wrap up, Craig, anything else you want to add?

 Craig Blake: No, this has been great. I just encourage people, if they have questions on this, start doing the homework. You don't want to end up on the front page of any newspaper. No one wants that, right? And when all the news broke in 2022, I heard many marketing leaders losing sleep because they were scared that something bad was going to happen. They were going to get caught up in a lot of that firestorm. You don't want to be scared at night anymore. Protect your data

Host: Privacy platform.

 Craig Blake: A hundred percent.

Host: It'll do it for you. Craig, thank you so much. This has really been great.

 Craig Blake: Thanks so much.

Host: You bet. Once again, that is Craig Blake. And a recording of Craig's session-- actually, Craig is doing a session with his partner Ryan. Ryan couldn't make it on the podcast. But Craig and Ryan, they're doing a presentation on this and it will be available to members during the SHSMD Connections Virtual Conference. So if you're interested in privacy platforms, make sure you check that out. Craig and Ryan are going to talk about that. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and please subscribe so you get every episode chock full of goodness from healthcare strategists, marketers, topics, and solutions. And you can access our full podcast library at shsmd.org/podcasts. This has been a production of Doctor Podcasting. Thanks for listening. See ya!