Most healthcare marketers trust the numbers inside ad platforms. The problem is those numbers often don't reflect what is actually driving new patients.

In this episode of Ignite, Lauren Leone, Cardinal's CGO and Alex Kemp, Sr. Director of Analytics, break down some of the most common measurement traps healthcare marketers fall into. From blended CPA misconceptions to platform over-attribution, the conversation explores why dashboards alone rarely tell the full story. The discussion also explains how leading teams are building smarter measurement frameworks that connect marketing performance to real business outcomes.

You will learn:

• Why blended CPA can hide inefficient patient acquisition

• How platforms over-credit conversions across channels

• What a true source of truth for healthcare marketing looks like

• How incrementality testing and media mix modeling improve decisions

If you want a clearer picture of what your marketing is actually driving and how to scale patient acquisition with confidence, this is an episode worth listening to.

RELATED RESOURCES

The Search Plateau Problem: Why Healthcare Providers Need Incrementality Testing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-incrementality-testing/

When & How to Expand Your Healthcare Media Mix - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/expanding-channel-media-mix-strategy/

Healthcare PPC & Google Ads Marketing Trends in 2026 - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-ppc-google-ads-trends-2026/

RevRx™: Unlocking the Power of Media Mix Modeling - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/media-mix-modeling-revrx/

Healthcare SEO is changing fast as AI reshapes how patients search and how answers appear in Google.

In this episode of Ignite, Ashley Petrochenko, Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing sits down with John Vantine, SEO Director at GoodRx, who helped scale organic traffic from 4 million to 12 million monthly sessions. With more than 20 years of SEO experience, John explains how the rise of AI search and generative answers is forcing healthcare marketers to rethink traditional SEO playbooks. Instead of chasing massive content libraries, the future belongs to brands that focus on trust, intent, and content that actually serves the patient journey.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why publishing thousands of pages is no longer a winning healthcare SEO strategy

• How AI search and Google's evolving results are changing patient discovery

• The role of user experience and trust signals in modern healthcare rankings

• How to build a focused content strategy that drives real business impact

If healthcare SEO is part of your growth strategy, this episode will change how you think about content, search, and patient discovery in the AI era.

RELATED RESOURCES

Connect with John - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnvantine/

2026 Healthcare Marketing Trends: The New Rules Redefining Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-trends-2026/

Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/

How a Primary Care Provider Futureproofed Their SEO in an AI-Driven Search World - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/search-content-strategy-ai-landscape/

How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization Between Paid Search & SEO - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/avoid-keyword-cannibalization-between-paid-search-seo/

If you are treating programmatic like paid search, you are likely measuring it wrong and leaving growth on the table.

In this episode, Evan, Cardinal's VP of Paid Media, and Lisa Fisher, Cardinal's Associate Media Director specializing in programmatic, break down what healthcare marketers actually need to understand about programmatic today. They unpack when it works, when it does not, and how to approach it without wasting budget. With deep experience managing multi-channel media strategies for healthcare brands, they share what separates inflated impression reports from real incremental growth.

You will learn:

• When to use programmatic after search hits saturation

• How to measure success beyond last click attribution

• What HIPAA, pixels, and BAAs mean for your strategy

• How upper funnel investment lowers incremental CPA

If you want a smarter, more scalable approach to patient acquisition beyond search, this is the episode to queue up next.

RELATED RESOURCES

The Search Plateau Problem: Why Healthcare Providers Need Incrementality Testing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-incrementality-testing/

When & How to Expand Your Healthcare Media Mix - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/expanding-channel-media-mix-strategy/

Privacy First: Marketing Technologies That Prioritize HIPAA Compliance - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/hipaa-compliant-martech/

How to Reach Niche Audiences with 3P Data - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/reach-niche-audiences-3p-data/

If your healthcare brand still treats influencer marketing like a one-off promotion, you are missing the real opportunity.

In this episode, Ashley Petrochenko Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing sits down with Ella McMahan, Director of Brand Marketing at Spring Fertility, to unpack what it actually takes to build an influencer program in a highly sensitive, high-consideration healthcare space. With six years leading brand at a leading fertility clinic and a background in women's consumer brands, Ella shares how to turn influencers into trust builders, not short-term conversion plays. In an industry where patients crave authenticity and community, this strategy can reshape how your brand shows up.

You will learn:

• How to evaluate if your marketing mix is ready for influencers

• Why healthcare influencer ROI requires a long-term mindset

• How to give creators freedom without losing brand control

• Ways to activate real-world events that deepen patient trust

If you've been curious about influencer marketing but unsure where it fits, this conversation will help.

RELATED RESOURCES

Connect with Ella - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellamcmahan/

How to Build a Full-Funnel Healthcare Marketing Strategy - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-full-funnel-marketing-strategy/

What is a Patient Journey? Examples to Grow Your Practice - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/

Performance Creative: The Key to Paid Media Success - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-creative-the-key-to-paid-media-success/

How Influencer Marketing is Changing Healthcare - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/podcast/how-influencer-marketing-is-changing-healthcare/

AI tools are changing how patients search, but most healthcare brands are missing the real opportunity.

In this episode, Caroline Adamek, Senior SEO Data Manager at BetterHelp, joins Ashley Petrochenko
Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing to break down what AI visibility actually requires and why strong SEO foundations matter more than ever. They unpack how patient search behavior is shifting across social, AI platforms, and Google, and what healthcare marketers must do to stay visible at high intent moments that drive real growth.

You will learn
• Why AI search rewards trusted brands, not keyword tricks
• How patient discovery now starts on social and ends in Google
• What makes content AI friendly and conversion ready
• How to align SEO with real patient decision journeys

If you want your brand to show up when patients are ready to act, this is the episode to listen to next.

RELATED RESOURCES

Connect with Caroline - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-adamec-0962361ba/

Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/

How a Primary Care Provider Futureproofed Their SEO in an AI-Driven Search World -https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/search-content-strategy-ai-landscape/

How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization Between Paid Search & SEO - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/avoid-keyword-cannibalization-between-paid-search-seo/

What is a Patient Journey? Examples to Grow Your Practice - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/

Referrals are no longer enough to secure patient volume, and healthcare marketers who ignore local trust signals are losing patients before the first appointment is ever booked.

In this episode, Ashley Petrochenko, Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing talks with Ashley Pollard, Practice Marketing Manager at United Digestive, a multi location, PE backed gastroenterology platform. With more than a decade inside a referral heavy specialty, Ashley shares how patient behavior has shifted and what growth focused teams must do to stay visible, credible, and chosen. This conversation makes it clear that modern patient acquisition is as much about reputation and access as it is about media.

You will learn

• Why referred patients still shop and how to win their trust locally

• How to balance centralized marketing with hyperlocal credibility

• Where AI driven search and reviews now influence patient choice

• Which metrics actually connect marketing to kept appointments

If you want your patient acquisition strategy to drive real visits and not just clicks, this is the episode to queue up next.

RELATED RESOURCES

Connect with Ashley- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-pollard-a734825/

Why Capacity-Driven Marketing Is Non-Negotiable - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/capacity-driven-marketing-media-investment-strategy/

Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/

How to Build a Full-Funnel Healthcare Marketing Strategy - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-full-funnel-marketing-strategy/

Marketing + Operations: Why Total Alignment is Vital to Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-operations-alignment/

AI search is no longer experimental and it is already shaping how patients choose providers.

On this episode of Ignite, Lauren Leone Cardinal's CGO is joined by Rob Sauter, Cardinal's SVP of Earned and Owned, to break down what the State of AI Search 2026 really means for healthcare marketers. He explains how platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI are influencing patient research earlier in the journey and why traditional SEO alone is no longer enough to stay visible. For growth-focused teams, this shift can be the difference between being considered or overlooked during patient research.

You will learn

• How AI search is changing the patient decision journey before they ever click a website

• Why healthcare brands must move from keyword pages to connected authority

• Where most organizations have content gaps that hurt AI visibility

• How to balance SEO fundamentals with AI-focused strategy today

If patient acquisition and digital visibility matter to your growth goals this year, this is a must-listen for your 2026 strategy.

RELATED RESOURCES

Healthcare PPC & Google Ads Marketing Trends in 2026 - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-ppc-google-ads-trends-2026/

2026 Healthcare Marketing Trends: The New Rules Redefining Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-trends-2026/

Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/

How a Primary Care Provider Futureproofed Their SEO in an AI-Driven Search World - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/search-content-strategy-ai-landscape/

Healthcare marketing is entering a new phase: one where patient journeys are more complex, measurement expectations are higher, and confidence in growth depends on more than last-click reporting.

In this episode of the Ignite Healthcare Marketing Podcast, Cardinal Digital Marketing Founder, Alex Membrillo, and Power Digital CEO, Jeff Mason, unpack how patient acquisition has fundamentally changed, and why last-click attribution, single-channel thinking, and tactic-chasing are putting healthcare growth at risk. They also explain why this moment in the industry made it the right time for Cardinal to join Power Digital as its dedicated healthcare division.

As patient journeys become more consumer-driven and CFO scrutiny intensifies, healthcare marketers need more than reports—they need confidence. This conversation breaks down how advanced measurement, faster creative testing, and consumer-grade data infrastructure are becoming essential to scaling patient acquisition responsibly.

You'll walk away with:

• Why last-click attribution fails as patient journeys span TikTok, search, influencers, and AI
  
  

• How Cardinal's healthcare specialization, combined with Power's data and measurement capabilities, unlocks smarter investment decisions
  
  

• What retail and ecomm got right, and how healthcare can adapt without compromising trust or compliance
  
  

• How better measurement enables better patient experiences, not just cleaner dashboards
  
  

If you're under pressure to prove growth, justify spend, and move beyond what's "worked before," this episode lays out what healthcare marketing needs next, and why this partnership makes that evolution possible.