#216 - Patient Acquisition Starts With Operations

Healthcare marketing doesn't have a lead problem. It has an operations problem. In this episode of Ignite, Ashley Petrochenko, VP of Brand Marketing at Cardinal, sits down with Colleen Mulder, a Multi-site, Private Equity Marketing Consultant and Fractional CMO, to explore why patient acquisition depends on far more than great marketing. Colleen shares how the fastest-growing healthcare organizations align marketing, operations, finance, and providers to turn patient demand into measurable business growth, instead of losing patients somewhere between the click and the appointment. You'll walk away with: Why patient acquisition depends on operational readiness, not just marketing spend How to measure marketing using completed visits, revenue, and EBITDA instead of vanity metrics Why referrals and direct-to-patient marketing should work together across one patient journey A practical framework for scaling campaigns across multiple locations without creating operational bottlenecks If you want to prove marketing's impact beyond leads and build a stronger healthcare growth engine, this is the episode to queue up next. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Colleen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-mulder-94717310/ Marketing + Operations: Why Total Alignment is Vital to Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-operations-alignment/ Why Capacity-Driven Marketing Is Non-Negotiable  - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/capacity-driven-marketing-media-investment-strategy/ Is Your Organization Actually Ready for Marketing? - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/marketing-readiness/ What is a Patient Journey? Examples to Grow Your Practice - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/