There’s too much change in healthcare, as well as too many constraints, to just follow customers’ wishes. Rather, we need to dig deeper… and start examining what they really need.

Jobs to be Done is a way to understand what actually drives patients and clinicians. By digging deeper than surface-level demands, these insights enable healthcare companies to find new ways to excel, as well as what might be de-prioritized. Life science companies can find new levers to generate demand, providers can uncover new ways to drive profitable procedures, and payers can discover new means of improving members’ experience.

Innovation authority and pioneer of Jobs to be Done, Steve Wunker, will guide you through the process healthcare companies are using, building on his bestselling book Jobs to be Done: A Roadmap for Customer-Centric Innovation.

Through stories, interaction, and simple principles, Wunker shows audiences how to totally change their perspective on their business. Do you define your business by what you supply, or by what Jobs your customers are trying to get done?

- Presented by Steve Wunker

Medical device usage testing has been traditionally and reliably conducted in person, allowing participants to engage with the device. Three case studies will be presented illustrating different approaches to medical device testing: in-person, mixed methods, and entirely online.  The presentation will discuss the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of each approach and how a little pre-planning and flexibility can ensure successful outcomes when online is part of the mix.  

Attendees will take away:
- Comparisons of different approaches to medical device testing
- Methods to maximize research insights when conducting medical device testing virtually

Presented by: Caroline Volpe, Compass Market Research

Understanding the perspectives of diverse populations in healthcare research requires more than traditional methodologies it demands cultural intelligence, creativity, and authentic connection. In this session, (presenter), an accomplished marketer, master qualitative researcher, will share exclusive insights from qualitative research conducted with client-side healthcare insights practitioners. Attendees will explore practical strategies for designing inclusive studies, building trust in sensitive discussions, and amplifying patient voices in ways that resonate across stakeholders. Together, we'll uncover how honoring diverse stories can lead to more meaningful and actionable outcomes in healthcare.

Three Key Takeaways:

(1) Inclusive Research Design: Learn practical methods for engaging diverse and hard-to-reach populations with cultural intelligence and authenticity.
(2) Fostering Trust: Discover strategies for creating safe spaces that encourage open and honest dialogue on sensitive healthcare topics.
(3) Amplifying Patient Voices: Explore creative approaches to elevate patient perspectives and translate their stories into actionable insights that drive meaningful change.

- Presented by Cynthia Harris, 8:28 Insights

We welcome you to engage 1:1 with peers showcasing innovative and inspiring projects. Here's a sample of what you'll see...

GLP-1 Research: Humanizing Real-World Claims Data
What’s driving GLP-1 usage—and why are some consumers stopping? Prime Therapeutics shares how it blended claims data with consumer and provider insights to uncover the “why” behind the trends. Learn how targeted research and clinical collaboration revealed key motivations, barriers, and outcomes in this fast-evolving space.

Neurodiversity: Is it the invisible comorbidity you're not considering? 
Understood.org, a nonprofit supporting neurodivergent individuals, will aim to change that. Despite surprisingly high prevalence rates, the impact of neurodivergence on a patient's journey and treatment plan for other conditions is often overlooked and understudied.  Join the Understood.org research team at our table to learn more about how neurodivergence is connected to the patients you care about!  

Transforming Healthcare Through Cultural Competency
Learn how Texas Children’s Health Plan used cultural competency and qualitative research to improve pediatric and mental health services for underserved Hispanic and African American families in Houston. Gain practical strategies for engaging diverse communities, reducing care barriers, and applying research-driven, inclusive approaches to improve outcomes and satisfaction in your own organization.

In this session, we will explore healthcare market research under the lens of privacy requirements and the emerging role of AI, dissecting key regulations and discussing how compliance and risk mitigation may evolve in the near term. With the expectation that government spending priorities, regulatory focus, and the legal landscape will continue to shift amid political headwinds in the US and abroad, this session aims to help you anticipate how your organization and the insights industry may be affected, navigate those changes, and mitigate the risks of uncertainty in these volatile times. Join us to deepen your understanding of privacy requirements, prepare for AI as a norm of professional services, consider ethics as risk mitigation, and prepare to thrive in the dynamic regulatory landscape. 

Most of us have heard about how AI is helping with research methodology and analysis. But what about storytelling? AI-driven persona development and narrative-building tools are revolutionizing how we bring quantitative segments to life, creating rich, empathetic profiles to help us understand and connect with our audiences on a deeper level. We'll present best practices for using AI image generation, AI video, and AI chatbots to bring patient research to life, and present a detailed case study from a diabetes segmentation. 

You'll learn:

- Practical tips for using AI image generation tools

- Best practices for AI chatbots

- Benefits and limitations of each method

Presented by: Jason Kramer, Vital Findings

HCPs can be "frequent fliers" in market research, resulting in them falling back on polished, familiar answers to frequent research topics. 
We will review how (agency) incorporates the patient into HCP research to help break HCPs out of these answers, allowing us to: close the gap between stated vs. actual behavior, drive enhanced HCP engagement, break HCPs outside of their science brain, and increase team engagement. 
We will review several research techniques (along with a few case studies) that leverage the patient voice in HCP research, along with an overview of best practices of when they're most appropriate: Patient Actors, AI Avatars, Bridge Groups, and WorldBuilding.

- Presented by Jeff Whiteside, The Link Group & Shawn McKenna, Senior Director, Analytics, Currax Pharmaceuticals

Many healthcare marketers wish they could be a fly on the wall to observe the HCP-patient interaction in the treatment room. Having a better understanding of how specific topics are raised, who initiated the discussion and how a decision is made can provide invaluable insights for brands. 
In this presentation, we will demonstrate how we capture audio recordings of very targeted visits, coupled with post-visit interviews with both the HCP and the patient to dig in deeper. We will present a case study where we conducted this research globally in a fully compliant manner. Learning from this case study include:
1) It is possible to glean insights at the point-of-care and understand the why behind some of the decisions that are made. 
2) Often assumptions about why your brand is not being prescribed are incorrect.
3) Having this patient-centric information is key to better positioning your product for the right patients.

- Presented by Ellen Gordon, KJT

In this hour-long presentation and interactive seminar, David Intrator introduces attendees to the basic concepts of effective storytelling and how they can apply to healthcare communications across all media.

“What Does It All Mean?” explores what a story actually is (and what it’s not), along with the importance of having a Unifying Idea that holds the story together and a Story Structure that moves it forward. Numerous real-world examples from marketing communications, including those from healthcare, will be shown to illustrate these concepts. 

Additionally, attendees will get the chance to create a rough draft of a story, assisted by a structural outline. Some of these will be shared with the group and discussed. 

All in all, they will leave with a stronger idea of a what a story is, a way of thinking that will help them turn a collection of insights into a coherent narrative whole, and practical experience in creating a story of their own. 

- Presented by: David Intrator, RTi Research