Money Talks: How AI and ROI are Shaping the Future of the Healthcare CMO
Money talks in the C-suite — and if marketing can’t prove its value in real dollars, it risks being ignored. In this episode of The No Normal Show, Desirée Duncan and Chris Bevolo discuss why ROI has become the ultimate survival skill for healthcare CMOs, and how leaders can turn financial fluency into lasting influence. The conversation weaves through the latest on ChatGPT-5, the looming health insurance cliff for young adults, and Desiree’s two-year cross-country “try before you buy” city tour — all while keeping a sharp focus on what it will take for CMOs to thrive in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
ChatGPT-5, Hype Cycles, and Overreactions
OpenAI’s latest rollout for ChatGPT-5 has left some users a bit disgruntled. Some users say it’s less “friendly,” and others miss the personality of GPT 4.0, sparking questions about whether the problem is the technology or our growing dependence on it. Chris cautions against overreacting to early quirks, drawing parallels to iPhone launches and sports fans declaring dynasties over after one bad game.
The Health Insurance Cliff at 26
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report has young adults worried about losing insurance coverage at 26. Desirée and Chris discuss how shifts in the job market, gig work, and the end of certain ACA subsidies could leave more people uninsured — a burden that inevitably lands on providers. For CMOs, this seems to be a business reality that impacts patient volumes, payer mix, and long-term strategy.
Climbing the ROI Mountain
What’s the financial future like for the healthcare CMO? Chris revisits a challenge he’s been writing about for nearly two decades — calculating and defending marketing ROI.
- The formula: Net revenue minus marketing expenses, divided by marketing expenses, times 100.
- The metric that matters: Contribution margin — not gross charges, not net patient revenue.
- The alignment needed: Agree on definitions with finance before you even start tracking.
Even with the right systems in place, the work doesn’t stop. Many marketers “climb the mountain” only to find the C-suite underwhelmed: “Thanks for the extra $500K, but we’re a $5B organization looking at billion-dollar acquisitions.” The answer? Aggregate your wins and show enterprise-level results that can’t be ignored.
So what are the opportunities that CMOs can use today to survive and thrive in the midst of an environment of budget cuts, leadership churn, and heightened scrutiny? CMO leaders who are able to fight through the noise are those who:
- Speak the language of finance as fluently as they speak brand.
- Prove not just campaign success, but enterprise impact.
- Turn financial data into strategic leverage at the decision-making table.
In healthcare marketing, ROI is a survival skill. And in a room where money talks, the marketers who can show their material value will be the ones still in the room when the big decisions get made.
Download our latest report, The Future of the CMO, to find more key insights to help you prove your value to the c-suite: https://bpdhealthcare.com/insights/guides/the-future-of-the-cmo/
Read the transcript
