Personalization in Healthcare: A Conversation with Kate McAdams

Healthcare organizations, including hospitals, clinics, and health insurers, face complex challenges in personalizing communications. Balancing regulatory compliance with engagement and operational efficiency requires careful planning and execution.

To explore how personalization strategies can address these challenges, I spoke with Kate McAdams, a Principal at Slalom specializing in data-driven communications and journey orchestration.

Kate shared her perspective on the growing role of data in healthcare, emphasizing that personalization is about more than technology. “It’s not just about plugging in a new platform,” she said. “You need the right tools, but you also need alignment across teams and thoughtful processes that ensure a seamless experience. It’s about sending the right message at the right time while meeting individual needs and maintaining compliance.”

This approach set the stage for our conversation, which covered predictive analytics, system inefficiencies, and the importance of collaboration in creating unified communication strategies.

Kate explained that healthcare organizations are moving beyond broad, one-size-fits-all messaging to embrace more dynamic approaches. By using predictive models and tools like customer data platforms (CDPs) and journey orchestration engines, they can create personalized strategies tailored to specific needs. “It’s no longer just about segmenting by demographics. Organizations are now using data from claims, past visits, and social determinants to guide people toward healthier decisions, like scheduling screenings or participating in wellness programs.”

“It’s no longer just about segmenting by demographics. Organizations are now using data from claims, past visits, and social determinants to guide people toward healthier decisions, like scheduling screenings or participating in wellness programs.”

She noted that effective personalization requires a unified communications ecosystem. “This isn’t about running isolated campaigns,” she explained. “Every touchpoint needs to work together cohesively. Overlapping or conflicting messages can create confusion and erode trust.”

Although the potential of personalization is clear, Kate highlighted several barriers that organizations must overcome. Inefficient data systems are a major obstacle. “A lot of organizations are still reliant on static data,” she said. “Manually pulling and uploading files into a CDP slows everything down, and the data is often outdated by the time it’s used.”

Regulatory compliance presents an equally significant challenge. Healthcare organizations must handle personal data with extreme caution. “You cannot single out individuals based on specific conditions unless you have proper consent,” Kate explained. “Instead, you can create messages that are broad enough to comply with regulations while still being meaningful. For example, promoting health education resources for multiple conditions is a compliant way to offer tailored information.”

“You cannot single out individuals based on specific conditions unless you have proper consent...Instead, you can create messages that are broad enough to comply with regulations while still being meaningful...Promoting health education resources for multiple conditions is a compliant way to offer tailored information.”

Overcoming these challenges requires not only technological solutions but also strong cross-departmental collaboration. Collaboration across departments is essential to success. Campaign managers, data engineers, data scientists, and legal experts all play key roles in ensuring personalization strategies are both effective and compliant. “Everyone needs to be on the same page about the strategy and the boundaries.”

Fragmentation within healthcare organizations can also hinder personalization efforts. Departments and business units often operate independently, leading to overcommunication or inconsistent messaging. “To fix this, leadership must prioritize alignment,” Kate said. “Shared calendars, communication limits, and strategic oversight are essential. You can’t leave this to individual teams and expect cohesive results.”

Technology also plays a role in addressing silos. “Journey orchestration platforms can centralize communications across channels and teams, but tools alone are not enough. Success depends on having the right people and processes to support them.”

“To fix this, leadership must prioritize alignment...Shared calendars, communication limits, and strategic oversight are essential. You can’t leave this to individual teams and expect cohesive results.”

When done well, personalization delivers value to both organizations and the people they serve. Kate shared an example of using predictive models to recommend virtual care options. “For someone in a rural area without easy access to clinics, data overlays like zip codes and care preferences can help identify who might benefit most from virtual care. It’s not just more convenient; it can also be more cost-effective.”

She emphasized the broader impact of personalization on public health. “This isn’t just about boosting engagement. It’s about improving access, encouraging preventive care, and helping people manage chronic conditions more effectively. Personalization has the power to transform lives while reducing costs for providers and payers alike.”

“This isn’t just about boosting engagement. It’s about improving access, encouraging preventive care, and helping people manage chronic conditions more effectively. Personalization has the power to transform lives while reducing costs for providers and payers alike.”

As our conversation concluded, Kate offered practical advice for organizations embarking on personalization efforts. “Start with a clear strategy,” she shared. “Define your goals, map out the patient or member journey, and ensure you have the right tools and people in place. Testing on a smaller scale before scaling up can save time and resources in the long run.”

Her final recommendation focused on adaptability. “Healthcare is constantly changing. Regulations, priorities, and member needs shift frequently. Build systems that can adapt to those changes.”

Talking with Kate underscored that personalization is both a challenge and an opportunity for healthcare organizations. By investing in thoughtful strategies and fostering collaboration, they can unlock the full potential of data-driven communications while delivering meaningful results for the people they serve. As healthcare continues to evolve, the ability to deliver personalized, timely, and compliant communications will remain a critical differentiator for organizations seeking to improve outcomes and build trust with those they serve.

Key takeaways from Kate’s observations:

• Develop a clear strategy: Define your goals, map out the patient or member journey, and ensure you have the right tools and people in place before embarking on personalization efforts.
• Unify communications across channels: Ensure every touchpoint works together cohesively using tools like customer data platforms (CDPs) and journey orchestration engines to avoid confusion and erode trust.
• Address regulatory compliance: Handle personal data with caution, using broad messages that comply with regulations while still being meaningful, such as promoting health education resources for multiple conditions. Confine condition-specific messages to HIPAA-compliant, secure messaging platforms.
• Invest in journey orchestration platforms: Centralize communications across channels and teams to achieve cohesive results, but remember that tools alone are not enough – success depends on the right people and processes.
• Prioritize alignment across departments: Use shared calendars, communication limits, and strategic oversight to overcome departmental silos and ensure cohesive results.
• Test and adapt personalization strategies: Test predictive models on smaller scales before scaling up, and build systems that can adapt to changing regulations, priorities, and member needs.
• Integrate personalization into clinical workflows: Use data-driven insights to inform clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes, such as identifying patients who may benefit from virtual care options using data overlays like zip codes and care preferences.

Kate McAdams is a Principal Consultant focusing on marketing technology consultant at Slalom. She has over 15 years of experience spanning Marketing Operations, Demand Generation, and Marketing Automation She holds a gaggle of professional certifications, and I can no longer keep up with the list.

Slalom is a global consulting firm that helps people and organizations dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all.