Full Transcript of QnA on Healthcare Patient Engagement & Aquisition in 2025: [WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE]

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Shruti Mehrotra: Hi everyone and welcome. I'm thrilled to kick off today's fireside chat hosted by Aarogram. Whether you're joining as a practice owner, marketer, or healthcare innovator, you're in for a conversation that is not only timely, but full of actionable insight. We are at a pivotal moment in healthcare.Patient behaviour is evolving. Today's patients are digitally savvy, value transparency, and expect a seamless consumer-like experience. From the healthcare providers, they're researching care options online, comparing practices, reading reviews, and even estimating out-of-pocket costs.. all before even picking up the phone or visiting.

This shift is creating both a challenge and an opportunity for independent practices. Thriving healthcare businesses are meeting patients where they are online informed and in control. That means rethinking the front door of care and digital channels are now that for front door. What's also exciting is how AI is accelerating this transformation from automating first touch communication to streamlining intake and estimating patient costs.AI is not just making digital engagement easier. It's making it smarter. Today we are going to explore all of this with a stellar panel of experts, Dr. Avinesh Bhar who is a practising physician and founder of Sliiip, Lane Rizzardini from Sleep Apnea Leads and Kashyap Purani, founder of Aarogram. I'll let them take it from here. Over to you, Kashyap.

Kashyap Purani: Thank you for the introduction, Shruti. I'm really excited. We have very special guest today and I've known Dr. Bhar for a long time. So he is ahead of the curve among the, all the providers I know. So very I'm really excited to get his perspective.And then we have Lane, who has a very interesting and unique work, and he works as a efficient marketer. So I'm really curious to see his, take his perspective as well.

So let's kick off this conversation, and. As should you say, the topic is very relevant this days.Actually the topic has been old. We have talked and discussed about the, digital channels to acquire patients and get patients  for a long period of time, but there are a lot of other macro level changes are happening, so that makes it more relevant this period here. So that's why I know it's a very.Right time to, take another look at it and look at it from different perspective at how, especially technologies and everything shaping. So let's just dive into it. I would like to start with Dr. Barr. If you could share a little bit about your background, how you first became involved in telehealth and what sparked your interest in using this digital tools to interact with the patients.

‍Avinesh Bhar, MD: The name it's actually spelled Sliiip, but it's pronounced sleep. Was the cheapest way for me to buy the word sleep. The idea was a born out of necessity. I was initially after fellowship, I started practice in  middle of Georgia. And middle Georgia is a rural area, where patients had to travel large distances. And when I was truly honest with myself, what I was doing was in rocket science, it was a lot of listening and trying to solve problems, and you can do that very easily. There was no reason for a patient drive 45 minutes wait over an hour in my waiting room just to me solve their problem in five minutes.And the large distance I think was easy for Tele. Then the second reason that makes it stronger is that I hated the healthcare system I worked for and didn't like the fact that I did not have a voice in managing patient care. It was very much just like any healthcare system. It minimized the actual ability for practitioners to actually have a voice, to shape things, to make sure that because we are on the ground, we are seeing patients, we know what they need. And I say, we know, but again, it's, we're much closer to the problem.

And it was difficult for us, for me to bring about change.And that's where Covid happened and those three things came  together and it was an easy decision to go with Tele. So we started the practice up in 2020. And the reason why digital tools are important is because patients are demanding it. If they didn't, if digital tools like your services for price transparency wasn't something patients demanded, we wouldn't be using it.So it has to be in terms of what our patients need to understand their journey. And if you look at surrogate industries or in the whole field, like you look at outside healthcare. You see the way customer-centric approach is the only way to do business and healthcare seems to think we're special. We're not. Patients actually need us the most. We have to be the most consumer-centric because patients are reaching out to us in their most vulnerable time with something that hits them really close to home, their health, the ability, their mortality.

And when you think about that, it doesn't make sense that healthcare lags behind when it comes to patient or consumer centric care.Because it needs to be the one that leads the way. That’s why stepping out from under the hood of the healthcare system—and being able to listen to problems and realize there are solutions out there—was so important.I remember receiving a marketing email from Aarogram back in the day. I replied immediately: “You have my attention. What do I need to do to move forward?” It was easy because the pitch was simple. It was exactly what patients wanted.Now, we're trying to implement this in our own practice because we see similar changes happening across healthcare. It's slowly becoming the norm for patients to expect and understand a simplified process. And we need to meet those expectations.We can’t change the insurance system—we don’t have that power.

What we can change is how we interact with it. We end up being the middleman. Insurance companies are our payers, and patients are our customers. And our customers want transparency. Insurance companies often reduce transparency, so it’s on us to deliver what patients need in order for us to survive.This isn’t about charity. It’s about survival—and about actually providing care. We believe in our brand of care, and we want to bring that to more patients. To do that, we have to speak the language patients understand.And when I talk about patients, I don’t mean some separate entity. Patients are us—they’re you and me. You order something on Amazon, click a button, and you know it’ll arrive in two days. That’s transparency. You know the cost. So why can't healthcare be like that?I used to make excuses—“Healthcare is different.” But if you put a gun to my head and ask, “Is it really?”—the answer is no. We need to do better. That’s where the push for change comes from.Many brick-and-mortar practices are essentially local monopolies. There are only so many practitioners with a certain skill set in a given area. So even if you misbehave, there’s limited consequence. You can still run a business and provide mediocre, customer-agnostic care and get by.But if we want to deliver care at scale, we have to meet patients where they are. It makes no sense not to have this level of transparency, especially when we have digital tools like Aarogram.That was my starting point.

‍Kashyap Purani: I wanted to first,go to Lane and learn a little bit from his journey because the journey is interesting as a physician marketer. Perspective. I that is a world like not many people are, especially even like in the healthcare world, may or may not be aware of how it's done and where where it can at the value.So I wanted to ask lean how did you get started? How and where and what made you get started working on the patient communication, especially applying digital marketing to healthcare.

‍Lane Rizzardini: Yeah, thank you. I own a company called Sleep Apnea Leads, where we help dentists get more sleep patients through every stage of their journey in dental sleep medicine.We started in 2020, working with our first sleep dentist in Austin, Texas. The funny thing is—it was never that hard at the beginning. I've been in digital marketing for 15 years. I come from a background where I can build Google Ads campaigns myself, and my partner builds websites. We know how to do everything needed to be successful.When we first got started, it wasn’t difficult to get leads—patients were filling out forms and making phone calls. It was fairly easy. We tracked everything and thought we were doing a great job.But what we found, especially in the sleep and healthcare space, is that the challenge wasn’t getting leads—it was getting patients to actually come in, get in the chair, and move forward with treatment. It was bizarre how hard people worked to avoid taking the next step.If they didn’t understand the financials…If you didn’t take insurance…If the testing process wasn’t clearly explained…If they had to go somewhere else…Any confusion made it incredibly difficult to get them to move forward.Dr. Bhar, you touched on something so important—we have to focus on being patient-centric, offering solutions that are truly for the patient, not just what’s convenient for us or our offices.

From my perspective, we’re focusing on speed—speed to access the right information, tailored to where the patient is in their journey.We have AI now. We have ChatGPT. Patients are increasingly trusting what social media or tools like ChatGPT or Gemini tell them about their medical options. They want information immediately. They don’t want to pay to come into a doctor’s office just to get answers they feel they should be able to find on their phone.So how do we provide that? We build our websites very specifically:

• If you’re offering CPAP alternatives, the page should speak directly to that.

• If someone is just looking for testing, they need different information.If the page they land on doesn’t immediately address their needs, they’ll leave. They’ll just click the next blue link.Even more important: What happens after patients are ready to move forward?
‍• Are you answering your phone?
• When someone fills out a form, how quickly are they getting a response?
• Is it a real interaction—someone from the office who can answer unique questions?They want to know:• Do you take my insurance?
• How much does it cost with insurance?They expect answers immediately.But the problem is: humans can’t do that consistently.The stats I always go back to are:

• 90% of consumers rate an immediate response as critically important in customer service.• If you respond within five minutes, your conversion rate is 8x higher. Why? Because people expect that now. Think about the last time you needed bids for work on your house. You probably filled out three forms, and the first person who responded likely got the job—assuming they were in the right price range.It’s the same here. If you respond quickly, you’ll get more patients. But your staff can’t always manage that.That’s where AI comes in.

That’s what tools like Aarogram can do—instantly check insurance, confirm coverage, and give patients the answers they need to move forward. We use an AI agent called Sarah that immediately replies to text messages and form submissions.I can’t overstate how drastically this moves people forward in their journey. Once they have the information they need, they stop shopping around. They’re booked. They’re ready to come in.That’s what we’re focusing on in this space:How fast can you get patients the information they need to make a decision, start treatment, and get help?

Avinesh Bhar, MD: And I think, to build on that as well, what I find is that even reacting is sometimes too late. Understanding what the patients already want to know—that’s what you all are doing.The materials you have and how you get Sarah to answer questions—these are the questions that patients are undeniably going to ask. They’re going to ask about cost. They’re going to want to know whether their insurance covers it. They’re going to want to know how fast they can get care. And so, you already know what those things are.We have to put this information out there so they can access it. In situations where they need information at that moment, it’s about having the right tools in place. But yeah, you’re right—we really have to meet them at that point.And sometimes it’s things where I go, “Oh my God, yes—why didn’t we think of that?” Like, it makes total sense that certain information should be included in the welcome email. Of course it does. And now we know it.So why don’t we go ahead and preempt that? That way, my office doesn’t get hit with more phone calls that could’ve already been answered via text, email, or a chatbot that can go in and respond to those questions.I think your point is valid, and I’d even take it further. I see you’re already doing that with your materials and how you market with dentists—understanding what your market needs and then providing that information beforehand, so patients can go:“Yep. Yep. That’s my question. Boom. Let’s book an appointment.”

‍Kashyap Purani: So I think that behind all of this, I see the strong theme of being like more consumer-centric care is happening. And and patients are acting as consumers and they are also expecting to be treated as consumers. So all those things you say, they want.Everything fast. Patients want all the information upfront. They want to have somebody respond to them on demand, and they also want the provider to be actively reach out, right? So all those things may feel like new ideas for healthcare, but if you look outside of healthcare, it's a normal concept.Nothing out of expectation, for other industries, it's just that healthcare is catching up on those things. But then, in healthcare there are other factors as well. You are talking about providing medical care. So that could be  we have to take care of patient data.The security risk and the safety and data security, safety. And then you also have different kind of populations who may or may not be comfortable using this technology tools. So in your experience, Dr. Bhar do you think that patients' journey have only become comfortable using technology tools or you still have some population who will require some kind of hand-holding, or kind of guidance to utilise their tool, this tools for their advantage?

‍Avinesh Bhar, MD: I think the 80/20 rule applies. Most of your patients will fall into the 80%, but it's the 20% that need your focus—those are the ones that are hardest to convert. That’s where digital tools help, because you need to free up time for your staff to actually do the handholding for those who need it.For the rest of the population—those able to navigate independently—we’re seeing increasing digital adoption. The number of elderly Medicare patients with smartphones in 2016 versus 2020 versus 2024 has dramatically increased. Every grandparent is now getting a smartphone for Christmas if they don’t already have one.That’s allowing more patients to jump on board, but not everyone is slick, easy, or savvy with navigating these tools. They may trip up during onboarding. That’s why you have to simplify and just deliver information in the most accessible way possible.You don’t want to "dumb it down," but you do need to ask: What does a patient really need to know? How do I deliver that information so it’s readable, legible, and easy to understand? Is the font big enough? Are the texts and emails clear? Does it take the least number of clicks to get the answer?You're building this for the largest common denominator. By doing that, you can manage your 80% efficiently. That efficiency is what gives you the time to actually support the 20% who need more attention.

‍Kashyap Purani: Yeah, makes sense. What about your world, Lane? I know digital marketing has been around in other industries. How are you applying those methods and best practices to your kind of work?And as a follow-up: Do you think those methods and best practices can apply to other types of healthcare services or specialties? Do you wish more providers knew what you know now—to their advantage—not just in acquiring patients, but in serving them better?

‍Lane Rizzardini: Absolutely. I think we underestimate how tech-savvy the population is, especially the older generation. My dad switched to an iPhone just so he could FaceTime with the grandkids. They all know how to use their phones.Using customer-centric communication methods is key. For us, the big one is text messaging. Texts have a 95% open rate compared to emails or chatbots. Everyone knows how to text—and they all open their messages. Nobody likes unread texts. Having your systems interact with patients via text is, in my opinion, now the preferred way for people to engage—not just with healthcare providers, but with any business.If you can just text your provider, that’s incredibly valuable and convenient. It’s on-demand, reliable, and doesn’t have deliverability issues. It's just the preferred communication method.So yes, I encourage healthcare providers to implement text messaging. Just let patients text you. The interaction rates are significantly higher.That said, phone still works—especially for the older generation. They’re more likely to place a call. But you’ve got to answer your phone. Studies show we miss about 35% of calls in medical offices. If you miss a call, that patient is gone. They've moved on to someone else.I think we overcomplicate things. Just ask yourself: What do I personally find convenient? Then apply that to your practice. That’s how you get more patients and make care more accessible.

‍Avinesh Bhar, MD: Yeah, definitely. Even for us—as much as Kash says we’re ahead of the curve—we fail every day. We screw up all the time. But we pay attention to our mistakes, because we know that if we don’t, we won’t survive. Survival depends on learning and adapting.As Lane said, it’s the simple things. Answer the phone. Provide answers. That’s it. Nothing fancy. Just do the right things.Then use your digital tools to supplement—to accelerate or augment—what your staff delivers. Whether it’s a phone call or a text message, the tools help ensure the right information gets delivered.We recently received negative feedback from a referring office, and while I was frustrated at first, they were right. We had to change. That’s what listening to your customers is about—meeting them where they are and making the experience smoother.So yes, I wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic about Lane’s comment if I hadn’t experienced it firsthand recently. It’s so true: Do the simple things right.

‍Kashyap Purani: We still have some really important insights to uncover. And I know I asked this earlier to Lane, but I want to ask you too, Dr. Bhar, since you’re very active on social media. I see your posts every day—they’re engaging and informative. You’re not the only one, either; more providers, especially in the sleep space and other specialties, are becoming more active.As Lane mentioned earlier, there was a time when patients just showed up due to unmet demand. There’s still unmet need, but now there are new expectations, and new digital channels are at play.Do you have any tips for other providers on how they can utilize SEO, websites, social media—even advertising?

‍Avinesh Bhar, MD: Oof. That’s been an expensive lesson. We're still learning and nowhere close to where we need to be. But I appreciate the comments on the posts.It reminds me of the electricity analogy. When electricity was first developed, some companies said, “We're not an electricity company.” But eventually, everyone became an electricity company. Everyone needed it to function. Same with SEO.If you’re not doing SEO, you won’t be in business in the future. It’s not just a marketing tool—it’s a survival tool. Especially since we are digital and virtual, SEO is our only signboard. We don’t have a physical office with signage. We have to let patients know we exist somehow.Online, there’s so much noise. If you’re driving and see a billboard, it’s one of a few. Online? It’s endless: Buy this. Do that. You need to target the right audience and speak their language.As Lane said, lead generation is easy. It’s converting that lead into an actual appointment that’s hard. Patients show interest—then delay or disappear. That’s why pricing plays such a crucial role.Using tools like patient price estimation software and benefits verification software allows you to answer the financial questions that are often deal-breakers. You must answer those questions clearly and quickly. If you don’t respond within minutes, you lose the patient. It’s that competitive.Even local physician and dental practices must become more SEO-savvy. Without that, survival is tough.

‍Kashyap Purani: Exactly. When we talk about the patient as a consumer, no journey is complete without discussing payment and pricing.In healthcare, pricing is incredibly complicated. Patients get angry at insurance companies—and so do providers. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. Until there’s a better system, we need to work within what we’ve got.Still, pricing is essential to the consumer journey and should be part of the patient’s care journey. Yes, every patient has a different insurance plan. Many factors determine their out-of-pocket cost and how much insurance will pay.But if providers use patient price estimation software and benefits verification software to be transparent and upfront, it can actually become a trust-building tool.How you communicate pricing—from lead generation to appointment—matters. Patients want clarity. When you provide that clarity early, you build credibility and help them move forward with care confidently.

‍Lane Rizzardini: I think it's one of the first three questions that patients ask, and it's the biggest dealbreaker if you don't answer it correctly. We've heard way too many phone calls like this. There's one I’ve almost memorized because I talk about it so much. A guy calls and says, “Hey, I see you have oral appliances. I’d love to get one. I have CPAP, but I’d love something like this for travel. How much do these cost?” And our client replies, “$5,000.” The guy says, “Oh, okay. Bye.” And that was it. From a marketing perspective, I know it came from Google Ads, and I’m thinking, that was it. Nothing could’ve been a more ideal lead, and we just lost it in one second because we didn’t know how to answer that question more elegantly.Instead of just blurting out the cash price, they could’ve said something like, “Let’s talk about your insurance first. We typically do a consultation to understand where you are in your journey. Pricing depends on a lot of factors—let’s have a conversation, get your background, and your insurance information. Then we can give you a more accurate idea.” Talk about financing options. Anything other than just throwing out a number.If you don’t have a program like Aarogram that can provide pricing immediately, we usually err on the side of acknowledging the question and showing which insurances we work with. We put the logos on the website—people need that visual checkbox. No one reads anymore; you need visuals. It’s not enough to say you’re a diplomate of the ADSM—you have to show the logo.Those insurance logos give patients a sense of reassurance. It tells them: “Yes, we work with your insurance.”And if you don’t have a tool that can give real-time pricing, then at least say, “That depends on several factors. We want to make sure you talk to the doctor so we can give you an accurate price.” That approach is so important.It’s one of the most critical things people often miss—how to answer that question well. That’s where a service like Aarogram can help, especially if you’re in-network. If not, having financing options and the ability to communicate why the price is what it is matters just as much.You're not just selling an appliance that looks like a mouthguard to the patient. It's much more than that.

You're selling 15 more years with their grandkids, or more energy every day. That’s the benefit. When you help patients see that value, the price starts to make more sense.

‍Avinesh Bhar, MD: Yeah, that’s true. I hate to say it, but mattress companies have it so easy. By the time patients come to us, they've already spent thousands of dollars trying to fix their sleep. Then they come to us and say, “Wait, this is going to cost $200?” I’m thinking—you just dropped five grand on a mattress that didn’t do much except make you maybe feel a bit better. We’re treating a medical condition here.Like you said, don’t just throw out the number: “Oh, it’s $5,000.” The real job is to understand what each patient actually needs. Every person has a different pain point. I had a patient once who finally agreed to use CPAP only because I mentioned it would help reduce the bags under her eyes. That’s what got her. Not the blood pressure. Not the risk of heart disease. She didn’t care about any of that—just the eye bags. And once that clicked, she was all in.You have to connect with patients where they see value. Too often, we hide behind our degrees—“I’m a doctor. I’ve been trained. You should listen to me.” That era is over. If you’re still practicing like that, you should probably retire soon.We need to do a better job of connecting the value of what we offer with the product we’re delivering. This isn’t just a widget—it’s life-changing. I’m a sleep apnea patient myself. I know the value.

When a patient says, “Oh, it costs how much?” I tell them, if you break it down to daily cost, this is probably the cheapest thing you’ll ever do for your health. You’ll wake up feeling better every day compared to your life without it. Are you really not willing to spend 50 cents a day?People spend $2.50 on a Starbucks latte without thinking twice. But 50 cents a day for your sleep? That makes far more sense. Unfortunately, we’re not always making the case the way we should.Healthcare has long been about: “Come to us when you’re sick, we’ll fix you.

Don’t ask about the cost. If you do, we’ll send you to collections.” That’s not going to work anymore.We have to explain where the patient will actually see benefit, and connect that to the cost. That’s where transparency comes in. Maybe the full price is $5,000. But if you go through insurance and meet your deductible, it could be a lot less. Or if you use financing, here’s what the monthly cost looks like.Once patients understand that, they start thinking, “Oh, okay. That makes sense.”Digital tools like Aarogram help a lot with this.

They make it easier for staff to navigate the complexity. Even I get confused—when I got my son’s healthcare bill, I couldn’t figure it out, and this is what I do every day! So imagine how it feels for someone less familiar with the system.When patients don’t get clear pricing, they make quick assumptions. They don’t factor in how much better their life might be with proper treatment. They just see the dollars and think, “Here’s another money grab.”But we’re not selling lavender oil. We’re selling real, evidence-based treatment.

‍Kashyap Purani: Yeah, thank you for putting pricing in perspective and giving that full context. That’s something we at Aarogram try to keep in mind every day—where we are in the system, what problem we’re solving, and how it impacts all stakeholders. I appreciate both of you sharing those insights.We’re just about out of time. I wish we could keep going, but hopefully, we can continue this conversation another time. This was fascinating—I learned a lot, gained new perspective, and really enjoyed hearing all the stories you both shared.Thanks again for joining us.

‍Shruti Mehrotra: Hi, thanks to both of you for joining. That was such an intriguing conversation to be a fly on the wall for. I’d love to invite you back so we can take this discussion even further.I’ll leave links to each of your businesses in the comments below. If anyone wants to schedule a consult with Dr. Bhar, I’ll share his website. If you want to talk to Lane or reach out to us at Aarogram, we’ll include all the details.Please also check out our podcast and newsletter—we’ll leave subscription links as well. See you soon.