SHSMD Connections 2025 is the premier national event for healthcare strategy leaders, bringing together experts in marketing, communications, digital, public relations, planning, and business development. Held this fall in Dallas, the conference offers three days of forward-looking sessions, hands-on learning, and meaningful networking with peers from across the country. Attendees will leave energized and equipped with fresh ideas and practical strategies to drive growth and transformation in their organizations.
BPD will be in attendance and we’re excited to connect. As a strategic partner to healthcare’s leading brands, we look forward to sharing our latest thinking, learning from industry peers, and exploring how we can help you move faster, think smarter, and make a greater impact in the communities you serve.
October 13, 2025, 8:00 AM CT
Why Decisive Brand Strategy in M&A Creates Financial Value and Market Clarity
BPD and BrandActive have worked side by side for years, helping health systems navigate the intersection of brand, value, and transformation. Together, we believe health systems have a powerful, often overlooked opportunity: to uncover strategic, financial, and brand value by integrating brand decisions into M&A exploration and negotiation. When those decisions are made as part of the deal, not after it, health systems can capitalize costs, improve EBITDA, and accelerate brand value.
Learning Objectives
1
Learn why most organizations miss huge opportunities by not making a brand decision during an M/A deal
2
Understand that beyond diluting brand value and cultural cohesion by delaying brand decisions, organizations also miss an opportunity to improve their EBITDA by millions
3
Learn the value of developing a brand strategy as part of your M/A strategy, and how to leverage that brand strategy as part of your M/A deals
Featured Speakers

Chris Bevolo is the Chief Transformation Officer at BPD, where he helps healthcare’s leading brands reimagine their roles, reinvent their businesses, and transform their impact on the industry. Prior to joining BPD, he served as CEO of Revive, a healthcare agency acquired by BPD in 2023.
For more than 25 years, Chris has advised hospitals, health systems, and healthcare organizations on strategy, branding, marketing, digital innovation, and change management. An award-winning author of seven books, including Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital and Joe Public 2030, his insights have shaped the future of healthcare marketing. A sought-after speaker and industry thought leader, Chris regularly presents at top conferences and contributes to leading publications.
Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

Philip Guiliano is a Founding Partner of BrandActive, a management consulting firm focused exclusively on financial analysis, implementation strategy, and logistics of rebrand implementation. For the past 20 years, he has led the growth of the firm—creating a sustainable revenue engine, defining new service offerings, formalizing deep partnership channels, and shaping how BrandActive delivers global rebrand implementation and marketing operations programs. Through this, Philip has had the pleasure of working on some of the world’s largest rebrands, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate splits for clients including Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, GE, Siemens, HCA, CVS, Pfizer, Merck, Intel, Microsoft, Google, and hundreds of others.

Stop by booth #346 & chat with a few BPDerrrs
The BPD team will have a booth on the exhibit floor during the conference. Stop by to chat with our team about your marketing challenges, gain insights into recent industry trends, or just say hello. If you’d like to set up a designated time to chat with a team member, please reach out to partner@bpdhealthcare.com.
October 14, 2025, 10:25 AM CT
Is Rome Burning? The Future of CMOs
Health systems are facing mounting challenges—an aging population, labor shortages, and financial pressures—that threaten the role of the CMO and marketing itself. This panel will bring together healthcare marketing leaders to explore both the existential threats, and real opportunities, the future holds. Panelists will discuss the transformative impact of AI on marketing, the evolution of the CMO role outside healthcare, and how shifting healthcare economics influence priorities. Attendees will gain actionable insights to position marketing as a strategic driver of organizational success in a rapidly
changing landscape.
Featured Speakers





Chris Bevolo is the Chief Transformation Officer at BPD, where he helps healthcare’s leading brands reimagine their roles, reinvent their businesses, and transform their impact on the industry. Prior to joining BPD, he served as CEO of Revive, a healthcare agency acquired by BPD in 2023.
For more than 25 years, Chris has advised hospitals, health systems, and healthcare organizations on strategy, branding, marketing, digital innovation, and change management. An award-winning author of seven books, including Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital and Joe Public 2030, his insights have shaped the future of healthcare marketing. A sought-after speaker and industry thought leader, Chris regularly presents at top conferences and contributes to leading publications.
Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

As Chief Consumer Officer at UNC Health, Victor Reiss leads enterprise strategy for consumer insights, growth marketing, brand, community engagement, and communications. Guided by his belief that the future of healthcare will be defined by how we honor people’s time, he sees every moment returned to patients, families, and communities as an opportunity for healing, connection, and living more fully. Previously, he served as System Vice President of Growth Marketing and Consumer Insights at UNC Health. He has also held leadership roles at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and spent more than a decade at FedEx.
Victor is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, serves on the board of the UNC Health Physicians Network, and holds an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and an undergraduate degree from Butler University.

In her enterprise-wide leadership role, Tanya is responsible for shaping and elevating the University’s brand and reputation across healthcare, education, and research. She leads efforts to unify and amplify the institution’s message so that students, patients, faculty, staff, and the broader community clearly understand and experience its unique value and mission.
Previously, she served as Vice President for Patient Engagement and Chief Marketing Officer at Penn Medicine, where she oversaw brand strategy, digital engagement, CRM, physician outreach, call center operations, and customer analytics. She also integrated marketing functions across regional entities and implemented agile planning to drive measurable growth. Earlier in her career, as Chief Marketing Officer at UCLA Health, she launched global branding efforts, award-winning influencer campaigns, and advanced marketing attribution models—positioning complex academic systems as leaders in innovation, digital transformation, and data-driven marketing.

Matt Gove is Chief Growth Officer for QuickMD, one of the fastest-growing telehealth providers in the U.S. and the country’s largest provider of medication-assisted treatment for patients with opioid use disorder. He previously served as Chief Marketing Officer for Summit Health-CityMD before its $9 billion acquisition by VillageMD in 2023, and as Chief Consumer Officer for Piedmont Healthcare, where his team established a reputation as a national leader in consumer-centric marketing and digital experience design.
Earlier, Matt was a core member of the executive team that engineered an $80 million operational turnaround and raised more than $300 million for capital improvements at Grady Health System, Atlanta's safety-net healthcare provider.
BPDerrrs attending







Chelsea is a seasoned content strategist with over a decade of experience shaping healthcare narratives across digital, traditional, and emerging platforms. Before joining BPD, she built her career as a journalist and digital strategist, bringing a multifaceted perspective to healthcare communications. At BPD, Chelsea wears many hats — storyteller, strategist, and editor — helping brands determine what stories to tell and how to effectively engage their audiences. She holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and is deeply passionate about crafting narratives that resonate with communities and align with evolving health policy.
Outside of work, Chelsea enjoys playing tennis and is on a mission to visit all 50 states before turning 40.

Emily is a client service leader with over a decade of agency expertise, leading national and global accounts within a variety of industries. An expert on her clients’ business, Emily brings a balance of ambition and calm under pressure that makes her a trusted partner for both client and agency teams alike. After-hours, you can find Emily hiking the Tennessee trails with her sock-eating pup Tilly or restaurant-hopping through Nashville, looking for the spiciest items on the menu.

As a VP, Strategy at BPD, Caroline helps brands connect more deeply with their audiences through insight-driven campaigns that change minds and inspire hearts. A strategist and creative partner, she guides organizations to better understand their environments and culture, translating those insights into purposeful, effective marketing. She has delivered award-winning work for some of the world’s largest consumer and healthcare brands, earning SABRE and Effie recognition along the way.
With a background in behavioral science and cultural anthropology—and a healthy obsession with emerging trends—Caroline blends rigor and curiosity to uncover the human truths that drive impact.
Caroline is passionate about floristry for all the same reasons she's a strategist—bringing colorful pieces together to create a balanced, inspiring whole!

Taylor brings 18 years of account service experience in brand and shopper marketing. Most recently, she worked at TMA (The Marketing Arm), where she helped build the State Farm and Frito-Lay brands.
Outside of work, Taylor enjoys cooking with her 2.5-year-old son, Sullivan, attending concerts with her husband, Ryan, and watching Bravo with her Shorkie, Margaux. She is always planning her next trip, with some of her favorite destinations including Ireland to see a Notre Dame game (Go Irish!) and Japan, where she celebrated Christmas with her entire family.

Erin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Nebraska Wesleyan University and has over 12 years of experience in transforming healthcare experiences. With a strong passion for utilizing data and technology to enhance brand strategies, Erin excels in building relationships, identifying clients’ most critical challenges, and aligning tailored solutions to drive success.
Outside of her professional work, Erin enjoys spending time with her husband, two children, and their miniature dachshund. Her personal interests include travel, Taylor Swift, and NASCAR, reflecting her diverse passions and dynamic approach to both life and work.

As Senior Manager of Brand Events, she leads end-to-end planning and execution for conferences and company-sponsored events, ensuring seamless logistics and impactful brand activations.
She manages the company’s presence at industry conferences—from sponsorships and speaker coordination to exhibit booth logistics and team participation. She also oversees external event planning, including venue selection, vendor negotiation, on-site execution, and budget management.
In addition to live events, she supports webinar logistics, promotional materials, and branded swag production. She collaborates with marketing and business development teams to support pitch efforts, manage budgets, and amplify brand visibility across all touchpoints.
The Future of the CMO
Marketing’s value in health systems is under siege.
What began as a quiet elimination of CMO roles across top health systems is now a full-blown reckoning: healthcare economics, financial pressures, and the rise of AI are forcing healthcare marketers to face new realities, or face dwindling influence, budgets and job security.