Getting Clinicians and SMEs to Say Yes to Healthcare Marketing

Healthcare marketers want clinicians and subject matter experts front and center. But when it’s time to involve them, calendars fill up and responsibility gets passed around. One organization stepped back, rethought how SME engagement actually works, and now has a waiting list of experts eager to contribute.

This conversation brings together Alexandria Diaz, VP of Marketing at Ventra Health, and Marnie Hayutin, Founder & CEO of Writing.Health. They share how clear expectations, visible outcomes, and real collaboration turn SME participation from a struggle into a system.

What This Conversation Revealed

• SME engagement breaks down when marketing treats their time as assumed instead of earned
• Collaboration works better when strategy and storytelling happen in the same room
• Experts participate more when they can see what their contribution becomes

For Diaz and Hayutin, SME engagement starts with expectations set early and made explicit.

“I set expectations as far in advance as possible,” Diaz explained. “I let them know exactly how much time is required of them – from the interview to the review process or whatever else is needed. I don’t want surprises along the way.”

Clear expectations are reinforced by Ventra Health’s internal culture.

“Ventra Health has a culture of respect that is quite remarkable,” Hayutin noted. “If they sign on to do something, they work together to get it done.”

That respect extends to marketing work as well.

“Our people are always willing to share,” added Diaz.

Rather than treating interviews as a handoff or extraction exercise, Ventra brings marketing and writing into the same conversation from the start.

“We do the interviews jointly,” Diaz said. “That helps a lot. We don’t do our own thing and then throw it over the fence to our writing partners. It’s a collaborative process. We’re in the calls together. We’re asking the questions together.”

Hayutin sees the downstream impact immediately: “Doing it together means we cover the topic faster. It’s very efficient. There’s no rework. There are no additional questions that we should have asked.”

Bringing everyone together, and coming prepared. respects the SME’s time and expertise. The interview becomes one-and-done. Less cleanup. Less rework.

At many organizations, SME effort disappears into a black box. Over time, that silence erodes willingness to participate again.

Diaz was direct about what changes that dynamic: “Sometimes you have to show your value before people can appreciate it. If you give 30 minutes of time today, there will be this fantastic blog six weeks from now, and you’ll get all the praise for it.”

“Promote the outcome so people understand it’s not just a blog,” Hayutin added. “Show how it fits into the overall plan and what they’re contributing to.”

Closing that loop turns content from an abstract ask into a visible return.

On paper, this all sounds straightforward: be clear with expectations, collaborate early, and close the loop so experts can see what their time actually produced. In practice, very few healthcare marketing teams do all three consistently.

Instead of treating expertise like a tradable asset, Diaz and Hayutin approach SMEs as true partners. Showing up together for interviews sends a simple but powerful signal: your time matters, and so does your perspective.

That approach explains why, at Ventra Health, clinicians and subject matter experts aren’t being chased for content, they’re lining up to contribute.

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How do we get clinicians and SMEs to engage without constantly chasing them?
Sustained engagement breaks down when participation feels open-ended or disconnected from outcomes. Clear expectations, visible results, and respectful use of time are key to engagement, not repeated reminders.

What’s the most common mistake marketing teams make when working with internal experts?
Many teams treat expertise as something they can tap on demand, rather than something that needs to be earned and maintained. When experts don’t see how their input is used, trust erodes and participation drops.

Where does SME collaboration typically fall apart in healthcare organizations?
Breakdowns often happen between interviews and publication, when context is lost or follow-up is inconsistent. That is “collaboration friction” and makes future participation less likely, even when the content itself performs well.

Learn more about Ventra Health at https://ventrahealth.com/

Learn more about Writing.Health at https://www.writing.health/

Writing.Health is a sponsor of Healthcare Scene