The Healthtech Marketing Show

If a potential buyer asked an AI chatbot which companies are leading in your space, would your company come up? And if it did, would the answer be positive?
In this episode, I sit down with Paul Wicks, Founder and Chief Evidence Officer of ProofStack Health, and my colleague Mark Erwich, Chief Strategy Officer of Health Launchpad, to dig into an underappreciated aspect of B2B health tech: the power of hard evidence.
Not case studies. Not testimonials. Published, peer-reviewed proof.
Paul brings a fascinating backstory to this conversation. A neuropsychologist by training, he spent years in academic research and then at PatientsLikeMe, where he helped publish over 110 peer-reviewed papers proving that patient-generated data could stand up to the highest standards of scientific scrutiny. That journey became the foundation for ProofStack Health, which has now helped more than 50 companies publish over 200 peer-reviewed papers.
What makes this episode especially timely is the connection between evidence strategy and the way buyers are now researching vendors. Buyers are increasingly turning to ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity instead of Google, and those tools weight peer-reviewed scientific evidence heavily. Paul walks us through exactly how that works, including a remarkable case study on Ada Health, a company that consistently surfaces in AI search results as the best-evidenced AI symptom checker in the market. He also explains why the process of building an evidence base does not have to take years, and how conference abstracts can serve as a practical, fast-moving starting point.
Mark brings the marketer's perspective throughout, drawing on his own experience co-authoring scientific papers and connecting Paul's framework to real-world content strategy, sales enablement, and trade show programs.
If you are wondering how to get your company found when buyers are no longer Googling, this is an episode worth your full attention.
Key Topics Covered
"(00:00:00)" Introduction
"(00:03:30)" Paul's background
"(00:07:00)" The founding of ProofStack Health
"(00:09:00)" What ProofStack does
"(00:13:00)" The Ada Health case study
"(00:15:00)" Mark's reaction
"(00:17:30)" The shift in buyer behavior
"(00:18:30)" How LLMs weigh evidence
"(00:23:00)" Health Launchpad's AI optimization practice and how to get cited by LLMs
"(00:24:00)" Open access and discoverability
"(00:27:00)" How ProofStack structures an evidence roadmap
"(00:29:00)" Mark on putting evidence to work in marketing
"(00:32:00)" The importance of plain-language titles
"(00:34:00)" Signals of trust
"(00:35:00)" Paul's closing takeaway
"(00:37:00)" Mark's closing takeaway
"(00:38:30)" Adam's five key takeaways from the conversation
If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.

I have wanted to do this episode for a long time. One of the questions I often hear most healthtech marketers is whether starting a podcast is actually worth it. And if you already have one, are you thinking about it the right way?
I brought on two guests who have built one of the most distinctive shows in healthtech together: Ed Gaudet, CEO and Founder of Censinet, and his brother Mark Gaudet, Director of Market Development at Censinet and the host of their podcast, Risk Never Sleeps, which just hit 200 episodes.
This conversation gets past the usual "build your brand" rationale for podcasting and into the real, honest story of what it actually takes and what it actually delivers. Ed and Mark talk about the grind of those first six months, why most podcasts never make it past 25 episodes, and how Risk Never Sleeps has become a genuine source of pipeline for Censinet. I share my own experience too, including how syndication 5X'd our reach and how listeners have turned into real business conversations.
There is also a moment in this episode where Ed shares a story about a message he received from the wife of a guest who had passed away. I will let him tell it, but it is a reminder of why this work matters beyond the metrics.
If you are weighing whether to start a podcast or wondering why your current one is not quite working yet, this episode is for you.
Key Topics:
"(00:00:00)" Introduction
"(00:03:00)" Background on Censinet
"(00:04:30)" How Risk Never Sleeps got started
"(00:05:45)" The philosophy behind the show
"(00:06:15)" Guest mix on Risk Never Sleeps
"(00:07:45)" The business value of podcasting for Censinet
"(00:09:00)" Nearly quitting the HealthTech Marketing Show multiple times
"(00:10:00)" How syndication with Healthcare Now Radio 5X'd the show's reach
"(00:11:00)" Ed shares a story about a message from a listener's widow
"(00:13:30)" Where Risk Never Sleeps is headed next
"(00:14:00)" Improving show quality
"(00:16:45)" Health Launchpad sponsor message
"(00:17:15)" Advice for anyone considering starting a podcast
"(00:18:30)" Learning the craft of interviewing
"(00:19:00)" Four key takeaways
If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.

Something fundamental has changed in how health tech buyers do research — and if you're watching your website traffic decline, you might be misreading what it actually means.
In this episode, I sit down with Suyog Deshpande, Founder and CEO of Webless AI, to dig into one of the most consequential shifts in B2B buyer behavior in a generation.
Will websites die?
Probably not but something big is happening.
Here's what's actually happening: your buyers haven't stopped doing research. They've moved it upstream — to ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. They're building their shortlists there, forming their preferences there, all before they ever land on your website. By the time they show up, they're not browsing. They're validating.
Suyog calls this the low volume, high intent era, and it completely reframes the traffic problem.
This matters enormously for health tech vendors. Healthcare buying cycles run nine months or more, and around 75% of buyers go with the first vendor they contact after that research phase. If you're not on the shortlist before the process starts, your odds of winning are close to zero. The battle is won long before sales gets involved.
We also get into something I find genuinely underused: the first-party intent data sitting on your own website. The queries visitors type into your site search aren't keywords anymore — they're prompts, often 100 to 200 words long, and they tell you exactly what content to create to get cited by AI engines.
Full disclosure: we use Webless at healthlaunchpad.com and it's one of the most useful things we've implemented in the past year. We've lived the traffic dip, made the pivot, and we're now seeing inbound opportunities increase even as overall volume has flattened out.
If you're wrestling with declining traffic or trying to figure out what AEO actually means in practice, this episode will give you a clear framework for what your website is really for in the age of AI search.
Key Topics:
"(00:00:00)" Introduction
"(00:05:30)" Why Websites Were Built for Google, Not Buyers
"(00:07:00)" Will Websites Go Away?
"(00:09:00)" AI Search Engines as the New Top of Funnel
"(00:10:30)" Unpacking Low Volume, High Intent
"(00:12:00)" The Shortlist Problem in Healthcare Buying
"(00:15:30)" How Webless Helps Brands Surface in AI Search
"(00:18:00)" Sponsor Break: Health Launchpad AIO Audit
"(00:19:30)" Prompts, Not Keywords: The New Content Challenge
"(00:21:00)" What Webless Actually Is on Your Website
"(00:23:00)" Content Strategy vs. Measurement for AEO
"(00:24:30)" Real Results: Traffic Down, Inbound Opportunities Up
"(00:26:00)" Where to Find Webless AI and Closing
"(00:27:00)" Four Takeaways

If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.

One of the most common and costly mistakes in medtech commercialization is confusing clinical buy-in with commercial buy-in. 
A surgeon who loves your device, peer-reviewed data supporting it, and a field rep with a 20-year relationship can all be in place, and the deal can still stall out completely. Why? Because the doctor is not the buyer.
I sit down with Todd Laderach, a medtech commercial strategy veteran with over two decades of experience across sales, marketing, and go-to-market leadership. Todd now runs his own firm helping device companies get life-saving products off the shelf and into the hands of clinicians, and he brings a clarity to the commercial realities of medical device selling that I think will resonate well beyond the device world.
We dig into why clinical validation is necessary but not sufficient, how to map a hospital buying committee and figure out who actually holds the yes, and how to arm your clinical champion to sell internally to stakeholders you will likely never get in front of directly. We also get into where commercial revenue gets stuck in mid to large device companies, how ABM applies in a world of complex IDN accounts, and where AI is genuinely moving the needle on account prioritization versus where it is mostly hype.
If you work in medtech or want to better understand the device commercial landscape, this one is worth your time.
Key Topics:
"(00:00:00)" Introduction
"(00:03:00)" Todd's background
"(00:04:00)" The biggest shift in go-to-market
"(00:05:00)" Why "the doctor said he'd use it tomorrow" is one of the most dangerous things to hear
"(00:06:00)" Linking clinical benefit to economic outcome
"(00:07:00)" Following the money
"(00:08:00)" Arming the clinical champion
"(00:09:00)" Anatomy of a hospital buying committee
"(00:10:00)" Journey mapping stakeholders
"(00:11:00)" Best practices for gathering actionable insights from sales teams and market research
"(00:12:00)" ABM in med devices
"(00:13:00)" The critical role of sales and marketing alignment
"(00:15:00)" Is the field-rep-dominant model still fit for purpose?
"(00:17:00)" Where commercial revenue actually gets stuck
"(00:18:00)" Account prioritization
"(00:19:00)" Breadth versus depth
"(00:21:00)" AI in medtech commercialization
"(00:22:00)" Using AI to make existing data actionable
"(00:24:00)" Unlocking non-traditional data sources
"(00:25:00)" What separates companies getting commercial strategy right
"(00:26:00)" Four key takeaways from the conversation
If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.

There is a version of the marketing leader's job that looks great on a slide deck, and then there is the real thing. In this episode, I wanted to get at the real thing.
I sat down with two marketing leaders who are currently in the middle of major company transformations, Erik Johnson, VP of Marketing at Harmony Healthcare IT, and Steffany Whiting, EVP of Marketing at iMethods. We are talking rebrands, ABM programs built from scratch, website overhauls, and bold calls about where to focus and where to pull back. The stakes are real for both of them.
What I really wanted to explore was the human side of leading marketing at this level. The doubt. The pressure. The moments of second-guessing when you have convinced leadership to make a big bet, and you start wondering whether you went too far. 
What came out of this conversation was candid in a way I did not fully anticipate. Erik and Steff talked openly about how they build alignment before launching major initiatives, how they manage the ongoing pressure to show ROI from programs that take time to prove out, and what they do when the inner voice starts asking hard questions. They also went back into their careers to talk about the moments they were genuinely in over their heads, and what those experiences taught them.
If you are a healthtech marketing leader carrying the weight of a big program right now, this episode is for you. And honestly, if you are early in your career and wondering what it actually looks like to lead at this level, this is worth your time too.
Key Topics Covered
“(00:00:00)” - Introduction
"(00:01:00)" - What It Really Means to Lead Marketing in Healthtech
"(00:03:00)" - Guest Introductions: Steffany Whiting and Erik Johnson
"(00:06:00)" - Risk-Taking in a Fast-Moving Environment
"(00:08:00)" - iMethods' Bold Call to Step Back from Events in 2026
"(00:10:00)" - Building and Sustaining ABM Programs: The Long Game
"(00:16:00)" - Why ABM Is Poorly Named (and What It Actually Is)
"(00:20:00)" - Leading a Rebrand: Conviction, Expectation-Setting, and Founder Dynamics
"(00:23:00)" - The Website Overhaul at iMethods
"(00:25:00)" - Moments of Self-Doubt and What Brings You Back
"(00:28:00)" - Have You Ever Genuinely Wondered If You Were the Right Person for the Job?
"(00:32:00)" - Where Resilience Comes From in Healthcare Marketing
"(00:34:00)" - Advice to a Younger Self
"(00:39:00)" - Five Key Lessons From the Conversation
If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Marketing Show on Spotify or watch us on YouTube for more insights into marketing, AI, ABM, buyer journeys, and beyond!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, HealthcareNOW, 24/7 expert shows, interviews, and podcasts, powering healthcare leaders with innovation, policy, and strategy insights.