The new Humanizing Brand Experience data is the most pointed version of a finding the industry has watched for a decade. Engagement in health is up 12% year over year, past the pre-COVID peak. Engagement with healthcare, measured by avoidance of care unless someone is sick or injured, did not move. Even the most engaged consumer segment in the study still reports 42% avoidance.
The two trajectories have separated. The space between sick visits is where the consumer relationship now lives, and almost nothing in a health system’s operating model is built to compete there. The wellness economy hit $2 trillion in the US last year. Hims & Hers closed 2025 at $2.35 billion in revenue with 2.5 million subscribers and a stated 2030 target of $6.5 billion. Hospitals closed 2025 at a 1.3% median operating margin. The companies competing for the space outside the exam room are designed from day one to monetize a continuous relationship with a healthy person. Health systems are designed to monetize episodes.
Chris Boyer and Reed Smith walk through why the gap is structural rather than a marketing problem, then close with David Middendorf at Monigle on what Volume 9 actually says about where consumers are right now.
- Why engagement in health and engagement with healthcare have decoupled, and what the avoidance number among the most engaged segment actually means
- The structural reasons the operating model can’t win this space, from P&L logic to service-line measurement to where wellness programs sit on the org chart
- The DTC and subscription brands that took categories that used to be referrals inside a health system, and built continuous relationships around them
- Why a majority of consumers now believe a technology company is more likely to revolutionize healthcare than a traditional system or provider
- Trust, local knowledge, the provider relationship, the clinical record, and what it would take to actually deploy those as competitive advantages
- David Middendorf on the “window not a wave” framing, AI as connective tissue for what Monigle calls a Living System of Experiences, and the three keys to the future: listening, personalization, wellness
David Middendorf leads the Humanizing Brand Experience research at Monigle. Volume 9 is the ninth annual installment of the firm’s flagship study of healthcare consumer behavior. He joins the show to walk through what the new data is saying and what health system brand and experience leaders should do about it.
If your strategy deck still treats the space between sick visits as future state, the disruption has already happened and you missed it.
Mentions from the Show:
- Monigle, Humanizing Brand Experience Vol. 9: Healthcare Edition, 2026: https://www.monigle.com/insights/humanizing-brand-experience-volume-9-healthcare-edition
- David Middendorf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-middendorf-195b924/
- Monigle: https://www.monigle.com/
- Global Wellness Institute, Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025, November 2025: https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2025-global-wellness-economy-monitor/
- Global Wellness Institute, US Wellness Economy Reaches $2 Trillion, March 2025: https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/press-releases/gow-us-econ-valued-at-2trillion/
- Kaufman Hall, National Hospital Flash Report, December 2025 data, February 2026: https://www.kaufmanhall.com/insights/research-report/national-hospital-flash-report-december-2025-data
- HealthLeaders, Hospital Margins Stabilize as ‘New Normal’ Takes Hold, February 2026: https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/ceo/hospital-margins-stabilize-new-normal-takes-hold
- Hims & Hers Health, Q4 and Full Year 2025 Financial Results, February 2026: https://investors.hims.com/news/news-details/2026/Hims–Hers-Health-Inc–Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx
- TP481, Building the Schema App With Martha Van Berkel: https://touchpoint.health/podcast/tp481-building-the-schema-app-with-martha-van-berkel/
- TP488, A Marketing-Led Approach to Patient Reactivation: https://touchpoint.health/podcast/tp488-a-marketing-led-approach-to-patient-reactivation/
- Reed Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reedtsmith/
- Chris Boyer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisboyer/
- Chris Boyer website: http://www.christopherboyer.com/
- Chris Boyer on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/chrisboyer.bsky.social
Reed Smith on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/reedsmith.bsky.social
