Swaay.Health LIVE 2025 did not disappoint. The event brought together like-minded marketing and communications professionals from tech companies, health IT firms, hospitals, media outlets, payers and non-profit organizations for a three-day event focused on education, discovery and networking.

At this year’s event, sessions and panel discussions centered on marketing, PR and communications sparked conversations and critical thinking about the most challenging aspects of our fields. As many health systems, hospitals, payers and providers face uncertain times ahead, having sessions focused on how communications play a vital role in moving brands forward was not only insightful, but inspiring.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or someone just starting out, here are our three key takeaways from Swaay.Health LIVE that were top of mind for healthcare marketers, PR and communications professionals – and advice to overcome the industry’s challenges.

The Need for Storytelling – Patients are Listening and Reading

Day 1 kicked off with a powerful keynote from Shereese Maynard, a patient who was able to navigate the complex intricacies of a hospital when she needed immediate care. She credits marketing and communication efforts working behind the scenes to perfect messaging, pitch stories, and create content on social media that help explain the many patient platforms and solutions patients and clinicians use throughout a patient’s care journey. Without this information, patients would never know what to expect, what questions to ask, or how to navigate a hospital, doctor’s office or health system to get the valuable information they need during a time of anxiety and concern.

As marketers and communication professionals, we often default to pitching the media or creating content that targets the solution rather than the impact to patients, and while tutorials are needed, we need to shift the focus to impact and bring these complex systems to life. When thinking about how to tell a company’s story, focus more on the end user and how a solution helps them when in need. Make it simple and remember, “From labs to lives, healthcare IT isn’t about code, it’s about care. The care of millions of people who are counting on you.”

To Attend or Not Attend? That is the Burning Question

It’s no secret that sponsoring or attending a conference such as HIMSS, HLTH or ViVE is pricey, but is it worth shying away from altogether? Many experts say NO! However, it is important to spend the time to evaluate and assess the value. When building out your strategy, consider the following:

• What are your goals, what is your focus, and what is your audience?
• Align values to initiatives and how and where you want to grow your business
• Is it new or have you previously attended? And if you attended, did you get qualified leads that drive results?

These are just three considerations when creating a marketing and communications strategy for the year ahead – and don’t do it in a silo. Bring in your sales and executive team to be a part of the discussion. After all, these extended team members will be the ones working the show floor, nurturing existing relationships while building news ones, and potentially speaking at a main stage event.

Once you have aligned on which conferences you will attend, sponsor, or both, next up is to ensure you are firing on all cylinders:

• Large investment: Engage several pillars to ignite the fire of awareness – the sales team, social media channels, and people on stage (executives and customers) Also, be sure you’re activating in the booth.
• Be “present” without being on-site:  Engage with your marketing and communications team to develop a strategy that involves running digital content at the events, staying relevant and plugged in across social channels, and conducting outreach to media who are registered to attend or who have covered it in the past.
• Conduct Media Outreach: Pitch registered media for on-site or pre- / post-conference interviews to schedule interviews and extend the reach of your message and presence.

The key takeaway – don’t sell yourself short. Conferences are vitally important to be a part of – either on-site making a splash, or through a well-defined digital strategy that couples nicely with good ole’ fashioned media relations.

Landing the Coveted Earned Media Placement

A million-dollar question for those in the marketing and communications industry continues to be, “how do you land coverage in earned media?”  With the evolving media landscape, it is more important than ever to understand the media, how reporters and editors work, how they like to be pitched, how often they write, what types of stories they like to write, etc. Key takeaways include:

• Don’t Be Lazy: Make sure you do your research; the publication and its audience, the reporters, the editors, past coverage, etc. For example, you never want to send a gardening pitch to a healthcare reporter. Do enough research so that you have some past articles for reference, and you know how companies (i.e. vendors) are covered. 
• Thought Leadership is Thought Leadership: The big takeaway here – reporters and editors agree that thought leadership content is still prestigious whether it’s earned or sponsored.
• Where Do Reporters Get Their Ideas: The good ole’ fashion way – through pitches, random conversations with family, friends, people they happen to run in to, what’s happening in the world, conferences – nothing is off limits. The key here is to be creative. Think about everyday conversations you have, you read, or you see on social and tie them to something bigger than a platform or solution. Show the impact your solution has on the target audience, patients and the industry.

Swaay.Health LIVE provided an opportunity for leading healthcare thought leaders and industry experts to gather and share insights and difficulties but also come together to ideate on what’s to come. With so many like-minded individuals interested in understanding how marketing and communications can continue to help us navigate the evolving world of media consolidation, it’s no wonder that Swaay.Health LIVE continues to grow and is the largest gathering of its kind for the healthcare community – we’re already looking forward to 2026!