—Gil Bashe, “Global Marketing Strategies” and “Emotion: The New Brand Integrator,” Pharmaceutical Executive, 2000

Twenty-five years ago, in a series of articles for Pharmaceutical Executive that may have seemed radical at the time, I argued that successful marketing wasn’t built on features but feelings. Back then, people were skeptical. “Emotion?” they responded. “We’re here to sell solutions.” Yet, as I revisit that article from the perspective of today’s fractured health landscape, I realize just how prescient that core message was.

In 2000, I wrote, “A brand must reflect the soul of the company. It must reflect its leadership and people’s beliefs, philosophies, and practices.” That truth remains, but in today’s health sector—beset by cost crises, consumer distrust, and system complexity—the soul of the brand must go even deeper. It must speak to human experience. It must unite the head (facts), heart (feelings), and gut (intuition) to unite the five pillars of the care community: patients, payers, product innovators, policymakers and providers.

The brands that do this don’t just survive, they lead.

The Head: Anchor in Truth, Lead with Clarity

We live in an era of data deluge. The health industry is drowning in numbers, from EMR systems to clinical trial dashboards. Yet many brands still mistake data for direction.

Yes, the head—facts—matter. Health is a science of logic, science, and proof. But it is also an art.

In my original article, I noted that the “hallmark of a strong brand is clarity—a clear promise, consistently delivered.” In health, clarity is more than a brand virtue; it’s a money and mission obligation. Patients need clarity in order to make life-altering choices. Providers need clarity in order to correctly apply new technologies and administer novel treatments. Payers need clarity so that they may judge value and outcomes.

A brand that leads with the head communicates what it does and why it matters. The science, the evidence, the safety profile: these aspects of health products are essential. But they are not enough.

I wrote in 2000, “Even the most successful product will not remain so without continuous reaffirmation of its value and identity.” It’s still true today, but that reaffirmation must be human, not simply clinical.

The Heart: Where Value Becomes Meaning

A quarter-century ago, I argued that “emotional connection” was key to global brand success. In 2024, I echoed that idea, stating that empathy is a strategic imperative, not a “soft skill.” Writing in Medika Life, I asserted that “Empathy—the ability to sense and connect to another’s experience—has clinical consequences.”

Health isn’t delivered in abstracts. It’s experienced in human moments: a nurse’s tone of voice, the wait time for an appointment, a doctor’s bedside manner. Patients remember how they felt, not what was said.

The same is true of brand impressions. A health brand’s heart is measured by its humanity: how it listens, responds, and affirms the lived experience. Consider the rise of narrative medicine, patient-centered care design, or trauma-informed policy. These are not trends. They are a return to what medicine truly is: a human endeavor.

In 2000, I wrote that “People buy brands because they trust them and because those brands represent a relationship.” It’s never been more true. That relationship must be emotional. If we don’t move hearts, we will never move health.

The Gut: The Compass for Courage and Change

If the head is what we know, and the heart is what we feel, then the gut is what we sense. It’s instinct informed by experience. It’s the courage to take a stand when the data is inconclusive. It’s also the discipline to say no when a decision doesn’t align with the brand’s soul.

In 2000, I observed that “Global brands are built not just on strategy, but on intuition—on understanding the culture and values of the people they serve.” That same intuition now guides how we engage health audiences. Do we sense distrust? Fear? Exhaustion? Our gut tells us when a message is too technical, dense or transactional to resonate. It urges us to simplify and re-center on the human.

Great leaders trust their gut because it helps them detect the intangibles: tone, timing and truth. In brand leadership, that same sense keeps us authentic.

Reuniting the Quintet: Patients, Payers, Product Innovators, Policymakers and Providers

Today’s health ecosystem is fractured along functional lines. Patients seek access, providers seek time, and payers seek value. Too often, they work in silos, leaving innovation and empathy at the margins.

But brands can be bridges. When built with head, heart, and gut, they become platforms for unity.

I wrote in 2000 that the “challenge is to ensure that everyone in the organization consistently communicates the brand through behavior, not just brochures.” That principle is now essential in aligning care delivery. Health brands must operate across disciplines, sectors, and even continents, but always with a singular message: we see, hear, and serve you.

Whether you’re a Medicaid insurer, a diagnostics company, or a telehealth platform, your brand is a promise. And that promise must connect the person in the exam room with the person writing the policy.

The ROI of Human Experience

In 2025, health leaders face dual pressures: cut costs and elevate care. This seems like a paradox, but it’s not. Investing in human experience is not a detour from efficiency; it’s the gateway to it.

Empathy reduces readmissions, clear communication improves medication adherence, and trusted brands drive engagement. When we center on people, we improve systems.

Put simply, mission and money must align. One cannot exist without the other in sustainable health ecosystems.

Final Thought: A New Brand Equation

As I wrote in Global Marketing Strategies 25 years ago, “A brand is the product of what people feel, not just what they see.” That message, once contrarian, is now the compass.

The future of health brands is in the hands of those willing to embrace complexity with clarity, wield emotion with discipline, and make instinct an asset, not a liability. In short, the best brands will speak to the head with intelligence, the heart with empathy, and the gut with courage.

In an age when trust is currency and gaining attention means cutting through the information jungle, this is not just good branding. It’s savvy mission-centered business leadership.

The post Beyond Data: Why Human Decisions Are Shaped by Facts, Feelings—and the Fire Within appeared first on Medika Life.

Today, however, the answer might surprise you. The smartest presence in the room could very well be the computer. With the rise of large language models (LLMs), the exam room now includes an unprecedented repository of knowledge and computational power. These systems process vast amounts of medical information faster than any human, creating new opportunities—but also introducing new tensions—about authority, collaboration, and trust in healthcare.

The Emerging Triad: Patient, Clinician, and AI

The integration of LLMs into healthcare has transformed the exam room into a three-way conversation. Each participant brings unique strengths and perspectives. The patient, armed with AI tools, often arrives better informed and prepared than ever before, ready to engage in their care. The clinician, meanwhile, uses AI to enhance their practice, drawing on tools that analyze patient histories, identify rare conditions, and recommend treatments with remarkable speed. And then there is the AI itself, a neutral and tireless presence offering access to an expansive universe of medical knowledge.

This triad—the patient, the clinician, and the AI—has the potential to create a richer and more informed dialogue. It promises to refine how diagnoses are made, treatment plans are crafted, and information is shared. However, it also introduces a new dynamic, one that demands careful navigation. When the AI holds the most raw knowledge in the room, who becomes the ultimate authority? And how do we resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise between machine-driven insights and human expertise?

Tensions in the Exam Room

This new dynamic in the exam room is both exciting and challenging. On one hand, LLMs empower patients to better articulate their symptoms and advocate for their care. On the other hand, this empowerment can sometimes verge into overconfidence. A patient, buoyed by an AI-generated suggestion of a rare diagnosis, may push for unnecessary tests or treatments. For the clinician, navigating this enthusiasm requires a delicate balance of empathy and expertise. And in an interesting twist, it might be AI—or even the patient—who hears that fabled zebra’s hoofbeats.

Clinicians, too, must grapple with the dual role of AI as both ally and challenger. While LLMs enhance diagnostic capabilities and save valuable time, they can also threaten the perception of the clinician’s authority. Patients may question, “Why should I trust you over what the AI suggests?” This tension forces clinicians to reaffirm their value not just as experts but as interpreters of both data and humanity. Unlike AI, clinicians bring intuition, experience, and empathy to the equation—qualities that are critical in contextualizing and personalizing care.

Efficiency, another hallmark of AI-enhanced communication, is a double-edged sword. Streamlining the exchange of information between patient and clinician can lead to faster diagnoses and treatment decisions. However, speed isn’t always an asset in healthcare. Patients often need time to process complex information and emotionally engage with their care. Clinicians must navigate the subtleties of a patient’s narrative, which cannot always be captured in the algorithmic precision of an AI model. Nevertheless, the tailored articulations of LLMs offer a tremendous opportunity to elevate communication to a new and more engaging level.

Still, one of the most pronounced tensions arises when patient-generated AI insights conflict with clinician-generated AI recommendations. In these moments, the exam room can feel like a battleground of algorithms. The question becomes not just “Who is right?” but “How do we resolve this conflict in a way that maintains trust and collaboration?” My sense is that this might get worse before it gets better, particularly when these conflicts arise in real time.

Beyond the Triad: The Broader Ecosystem

While the triad of patient, clinician, and AI forms the core of the modern healthcare interaction, it is not the entire picture. The exam room exists within a far more complex ecosystem. Payors, regulatory bodies, healthcare systems, and social perception all play varied roles in shaping how care is delivered. The integration of LLMs into this broader framework raises additional challenges.

For example, insurers may begin to rely on AI-driven insights to approve or deny treatments, creating potential conflicts between patient needs, clinician judgment, and algorithmic decision-making. Healthcare systems must grapple with ensuring equitable access to LLMs, preventing disparities between patients who can effectively use these tools and those who cannot. And when errors inevitably occur—an incorrect AI recommendation or a misinterpreted output—questions of accountability will come to the fore. Who is responsible: the clinician, the AI developers, or the systems that integrated these tools?

Amidst these complexities, the triad remains the focal point. It is in the exam room, where patient stories meet clinician expertise and AI’s computational power, that the future of care is being shaped.

The Path (with Bumps) Forward

So, who’s the smartest person in the exam room? The answer is no longer straightforward. Intelligence in healthcare is no longer about who holds the most knowledge; it is about how that knowledge is shared, interpreted, and applied. In this new era, the smartest “presence” is not any single participant—it is the evolving conversation itself.

The triad of engagement—patient, clinician, and AI—has the potential to redefine healthcare, making it more informed, precise, and empathetic. But realizing this potential requires intentional effort. Clinicians must embrace their roles as mediators, patients must critically engage with AI insights, and AI must remain a tool in service of the human relationship.

Looking beyond this triad to the broader orchestration of healthcare, one truth remains clear: the heart of medicine will always be the connection between people. No amount of computational power can replace the trust, empathy, and understanding that make healthcare not just a science, but an art.

The post Who’s the Smartest Person in the Exam Room? appeared first on Medika Life.

Scientific Progress for Patients and a Category

At the core of the ReMMi-D trial was the evaluation of CT-132, a prescription digital therapeutic, for the preventive treatment of episodic migraine. The study included 568 participants and was designed with the scientific rigor traditionally associated with pharmacological interventions. The results were compelling: patients using CT-132 experienced a reduction during three-monthly migraine days by the end of the 12-week treatment, a key metric in migraine management.

More than reducing the frequency of migraines, CT-132 showed improvements in patient-reported outcomes related to quality of life and disability, such as the Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire and the Migraine Disability Assessment. These metrics matter because migraine is a neurological condition that disrupts life activities, affecting employment and social relationships. For the millions of people who have unpredictable and disabling migraines, improvement can have profound quality of life.

According to a statement by Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, FAAN, chief medical officer of Click Therapeutics:“Click has developed and evaluated a first-in-class digital migraine preventive therapeutic, CT-132, in 2 separate clinical studies to demonstrate a reduction in monthly migraine days, the gold standard measure. We look forward to advancing our FDA Breakthrough Designated asset through regulatory clearance and, if successful, offering a new therapeutic option that can be delivered to any eligible patient with a smartphone, meaningfully enhancing access to care.”

Building on Existing Treatment Possibilities

Migraine remains one of the most debilitating neurological conditions, affecting more than 37 million Americans. Despite pharmacological treatment advances, many people still find their lives shaped by frequent, unexpected, debilitating episodes. Existing medications can be effective, yet they don’t work for everyone and at every instance.  Some patients struggle with adherence, side effects, or simply the anxiety around consistent relief.

CT-132 holds the potential for a new kind of intervention. Delivered by a smartphone, this digital therapeutic is designed to work alongside patients’ existing medications, augmenting their current treatments rather than replacing them. Notably, the trial was designed to evaluate CT-132 in patients already using standard migraine medications. Data from the trial points to the efficacy of CT-132 as a stand-alone intervention and suggests an additive benefit when combined with existing FDA-approved pharmacological treatments.

This approach is key to conditions like migraine, where no single treatment is universally effective. For many people, managing migraine calls for a combination of therapies—some interventional, others pharmacological, and still some behavioral. CT-132’s success demonstrates that digital therapeutics have the potential to be additive to that combination, helping people regain control over their condition.

A Potential Step Forward for Digital Health

The results of this trial are even more noteworthy for an entire sector because CT-132 is one of the first digital therapeutics to be evaluated with the same rigorous standards typically applied to pharmaceutical interventions. The randomized, double-masked, controlled study design is a gold standard in clinical research, and Click Therapeutics has brought that level of precision to the digital health category.

Stan Kachnowski, PhD, MPA, founder of HITLAB and a prominent figure in health informatics, has also echoed the importance of this transformation, stating previously that “The convergence of digital therapeutics and traditional healthcare is one of the most promising avenues for improving patient outcomes. Clinical data helps substantiate the effectiveness of digital interventions, paving the way for broader adoption in complex diseases like migraine.”

Digital health has often been touted for its innovation and potential, but the field has faced great skepticism around its ability to deliver scientifically proven results. The CT-132 trial is an answer to those on the sidelines, demonstrating how digital therapeutics—with ample clinical data—can improve people’s outcomes. The nearly 100% completion rate of daily tasks in the trial speaks to the potential for sustained patient engagement, an essential factor in the long-term success of any therapeutic intervention.

Recent FDA guidance on Prescription Drug Use-Related Software (PDURS) opens the door to a new treatment category combining digital and pharmacological interventions. The data from CT-132 adds weight to this model, opening the wide door to showing how digital therapeutics can support existing treatments and may offer added measurable benefits.

What This May Mean for Consumers

The implications of this study are significant for people and physicians who treat migraines. Beyond diagnosis, migraine is more than a medical condition—its constant presence dictates when and how people can work, study, and socialize. The Click Therapeutics data suggest a new avenue of relief that is readily accessible and shows the potential to reduce the burden of migraine in daily life.

In digital health, data is key.  Julien de Salaberry, CEO and founder of Galen Growth has often emphasized: “Data is the defining difference in how we can transform digital health into a category with the same rigor and trust as traditional biopharma.” This sentiment captures the critical role that data plays in not just validating the efficacy of digital therapeutics but also in driving their adoption and integration into mainstream healthcare​.”

Moreover, the trial was designed to be used alongside existing medications, which could assist people who feel they have already exhausted their treatment options. This is important for those who experience ongoing migraine symptoms despite the use of preventive, newer migraine medications. Digital therapeutics with demonstrated data may provide an added layer of treatment that doesn’t require the introduction of more drugs or drug-related side effects.

Future of Migraine Treatment and Digital Health

This trial’s success is more than a win for Click Therapeutics—it signals what’s possible in digital health. In demonstrating that a digital intervention can demonstrate clinical outcomes in a condition as debilitating as migraine, CT-132 may have set the bar for digital therapeutics and offers private and public payers reason to become excited about the category.

As more digital therapeutics enter the clinical landscape, their ability to integrate with and enhance traditional treatments will be crucial to their success. This trial shows that digital solutions can do more than provide “feel-good” supplementary support—they can drive measurable improvement in patient health. The data are essential to showing that hype cannot be a clinical option; digital health must deliver high evidence before being considered a serious patient option.

By setting this new precedent for clinical validation, Click Therapeutics has contributed to a more significant shift in how we think about digital health. It’s not just about innovation for its own sake—it’s about how technology can change how we manage health when designed with scientific rigor and people’s needs in mind.

The post Forget Hype – Digital Therapeutic Data Show the Category Can be Held to High Clinical Standards appeared first on Medika Life.

Medical malpractice “standards of care” are the generally accepted norms and practices that healthcare professionals are expected to follow when providing medical treatment to patients. These standards are based on the medical community’s collective knowledge and experience, as well as on established medical guidelines, protocols, and best practices. It’s the basis for our expectation of quality care, or at least average care.

The specific standards of care that apply to a particular case depend on various factors, such as the patient’s medical condition, the nature of the treatment being provided, and the relevant laws and regulations. For example, a doctor performing surgery would be expected to follow established surgical protocols and guidelines, while a psychiatrist treating a patient with depression would be expected to follow established guidelines for the treatment of mental illness. In any instance, if often is a human standard — as a personal judgment or interpretation of an aspect of technology.

This leads to a fundamental medical and legal question: How do we define and debate the evolving standards of care in the context of available medical technology—particularly artificial intelligent and platforms like ChatGPT? 

The first and critical perspective is the liability for using artificial intelligence and machine learning in medicine. While certainly in flux and given the rapid emergence of GPT, the concerns are significant and relevant. And even papers published only months ago fall short for a comprehensive and timely discussion. A 2021 paper provides a succinct analysis.

The relatively unsettled state of AI/ML and its potential liability provide an opportunity to develop a new liability model that accommodates medical progress and instructs stakeholders on how best to respond to disruptive innovation.

These issues are arriving quickly than expected and the inertia of progress will demand action. But it’s essential to look beyond this point in time and consider the trajectory of AI in medicine. There’s little doubt that AI will become “augmented intelligence” that will expand the cognitive domain of all clinicians. Artificial intelligence and language models like GPT have the potential to advance the practice of medicine by helping clinicians make more accurate and informed decisions. AI can assist in medical imaging, clinical diagnosis, and other areas where data analysis is critical. 

In fact, one can argue that AI in medicine is here. Even Harvard Business School recognizes the fundamental reality of AI in medicine today.

Medical artificial intelligence (AI) can perform with expert-level accuracy and deliver cost-effective care at scale. IBM’s Watson diagnoses heart disease better than cardiologists do. Chatbots dispense medical advice for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service in lieu of nurses. Smartphone apps now detect skin cancer with expert accuracy. Algorithms identify eye diseases just as well as specialized physicians. Some forecast that medical AI will pervade 90% of hospitals and replace as much as 80% of what doctors currently do.

Radiology is another good example where AI is driving significant changes. From workflow to post-scan image reconstruction, radiology is at the leading edge of how AI-based medicine is shifting from an option to an imperative. And today, there are over 500 FDA approved AI algorithms with the vast majority in radiology.

A fundamental question that emerges: what is the expectation of care are given a growing body of evidence for the utility of AI? Should every differential diagnosis have a “computer assist” as part of the process? Or should the distant lub dub of a heart sound live only in the ear of the clinical or be cognitively amplified by technology? And most importantly, what are the consequences for failing to leverage lifesaving technology that has clinical validation and availability?

Today, new questions will be asked regarding the best care, the available care, and the standard of care that medicine will be held up to. New standards and expectations for excellence will challenge the core capabilities in the practice of medicine. The cognitive domain of the clinician—once held as sacrosanct—will come under scrutiny as AI offers the accuracy and speed that is fundamental to care.  The path is defined by ambiguity.  But what maybe be most important about that early path are the guardrails that are put in place for all stakeholders.

The post Physicians Aren’t Becoming Obsolete, The Standards Of Care Are appeared first on Medika Life.

Healthcare ethnography can help your hospital to discover front-line insights to transform patient care and the patient experience and save money.

In some places, outdated industry standards have become ritualized. A proactive approach to innovation and improvement is not always possible for hospital staff immersed in their daily routines.

Ethnography offers your hospital a solution to achieve and maintain operational efficiency in what is often a disruptive healthcare environment.

What is Ethnography?

Ethnography studies the culture and habits of people in specific situations. In healthcare, it can be applied to:

• Explain discrepancies between what patients say and what they do.
• Identify needs that people can’t articulate explicitly.
• Describe both usage and meaning of healthcare services.
• Put a human face on market data through real-life stories.
• Evaluate current products or services or create brand new ones.
• Help collect and organize multiple viewpoints and represent patients in an unbiased manner.
• Directly provide patient models that can quickly generate many good ideas.

Gaining front line insights from the viewpoint of patients, their families, and carers is essential to improve the quality of patient care. Our ethnographers use this qualitative research methodology to understand how to improve individual departments within your hospital, leading to greater patient and family satisfaction. The care coordination within a bundled payment model is also enhanced.

Our holistic approach involves gathering subjective insights to accompany data analytics and equip your hospital with the tools it needs for continuous innovation and improvement.

Our Process

The first part of the process is to illustrate a Patient Journey Map™ to identify existing challenges within your hospital. Our experienced ethnographers then collaborate with your team to create sustainable solutions.

One pathway to this process (VIE Healthcare), is to adopt a holistic approach that engages employees, patients, and their families by examining and analyzing their behaviors, attitudes and emotions.

The result is the discovery of valuable front line insights to empower your organization with opportunities that innovate and improve products and services to meet those needs.

Our team of ethnographers can uncover and solve hidden, complex issues in the delivery of your care and operational performances across your hospital, which can result in millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Our process involves:

• Engagement with, and interviewing your employees, allowing them to contribute individual insights and ideas. This helps us to recommend improvements and enhance patient care.
• Shadowing surgical cases from the front line to observe the decision-making process and staff performance. This gives us the insight to identify inefficiencies or areas where shortcuts are made often due to a lack of effective training or awareness of regulations.

Benefits of Ethnography in Healthcare

In summary, ethnography offers numerous benefits in your hospital, including:

• Target the actual needs of patients and families, saving valuable time and resources.
• Identify process improvements that have a tangible effect on your staff’s daily activities.
• Improve staff satisfaction by allowing them to be heard and addressing their needs.
• Redesign care through a collaborative approach for patients, families and staff.
• Multi-disciplinary care coordination throughout the care continuum.
• Improve patient satisfaction scores that directly impact bundle payments and reimbursement.
• Transform the patient experience.
• Reduce your hospital purchased costs.

Ethnography for Exceptional Patient Care

The insights we discover during our analysis reveal the unspoken needs of your patients and families to transform the patient experience and deliver a smoother patient journey through your organizational boundaries.

Our insights reduce errors, duplications and delays often experienced during processes such as “hand-offs.”

The result is improved health outcomes and a more enriching experience for patients and their families, positioning your hospital as a thought leader in the healthcare sector. As value-based care comes to the forefront, it becomes an essential part of driving margin improvement for the survival of your hospital.

The post Healthcare Ethnography: Discover Front Line Hospital Insights appeared first on Medika Life.

I won’t lie, during the height of the pandemic, leaving bedside clinical practice crossed my mind. As the darkness of Covid-19 surrounded me, as the death and destruction suffocated me, I also asked myself whether I should close up shop and do something else.

Indeed, there are other things I can do in healthcare that don’t involve risking my life day in and day out with Covid-19. Yet, I never went through with it. The call to the bedside was just too strong.

Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve only ever wanted to be a doctor. It’s all of which I’ve ever dreamed. When I applied to medical school, all the odds were working against me, and when I got the notification of my acceptance (off the waiting list, I might add), it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

And so I’ve tried to never take my being a doctor for granted. I try to live a life of gratitude for being chosen for this profession each and every day. And when the thought of leaving did enter my mind, it was quickly eliminated because, I just can’t see myself doing anything else.

I enjoy taking care of patients too much. I enjoy battling the pathophysiology of critical illness too much. I enjoy being able to watch patients come near death and make it out alive and well too much.

Now, it’s not like I haven’t seen death before. I’m an ICU doctor. I see death all the time. With Covid, it’s different.

Covid has brought a scale of death and destruction I’ve never seen before. Never before have I taken care of patients with such a contagious illness that has made me terrified of getting it or — much worse — bringing it home to my family. Never before have I seen an illness that literally tortures its victims to a painful and horrible death. Covid has changed me as a Physician forever.

But Covid has not beaten me down to the point of actually leaving the bedside. The call is just too strong.

No doubt, as the Summer comes to an end, and the Fall and Winter set in, I am scared of a resurgence. I am scared that we will get overwhelmed once again with patient after patient after patient with frightening illness. I am scared that we will, once again, face the darkness we faced in the Spring. That fear is constant, and it’s a menace that pervades everything I do.

But the call to the bedside is just too strong. The call to care for the sick is just too strong. The call to witness the Healing of the Lord is just too powerful to ignore.

Perhaps one day, things may change and I will leave the bedside once and for all. Perhaps one day, I will hang up my scrubs once and for all. Today is not that day. That’s because, the call to the bedside is just too strong.

The post Covid Made Me Think About Leaving Medicine appeared first on Medika Life.