This article was written by Laura Lee Jones, Founder and CEO of LionShare, Inc. A University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate, Laura Lee founded LionShare in 1995 and has dedicated her career to healthcare analytics and marketing. Under her leadership, the “Best Places to Work” award-winning team has helped hundreds of hospitals connect data to outcomes using CRM and marketing automation. In 2024, she was honored with the John A. Eudes Vision & Excellence Award for her lasting contributions to healthcare marketing. 

Ask ten healthcare marketers how they define return on investment, and you’ll likely get ten different answers. Patient volume. Retention. Market share. Contribution margin. The list goes on — and none of them are necessarily wrong. But in an industry where precision matters, loosely defined ROI makes it hard to evaluate success, build business cases, or justify marketing investments.

So how can we close the gap between marketing metrics and meaningful financial results?

It starts with redefining what ROI should actually measure.

The Problem with Proxy Metrics

For years, marketing teams have relied on proxy metrics like impressions, engagement, and acquisition to show value. But as more organizations invest in CRM platforms and data integration, those surface-level numbers fall short.

Clicks don’t mean conversions. And acquisition alone doesn’t mean growth. A new patient who never comes back may check the box for volume, but not value.

The ROI That Actually Matters

True ROI is about what happens after someone books an appointment. It's about tracking the full journey from outreach to outcome, connecting marketing efforts to actual downstream revenue.

That requires a more rigorous, data-driven approach:

• Matching campaign audiences to encounter data
• Tying encounters to patient payments and service line revenue
• Factoring in cost of care and marketing spend
• Tracking long-term retention, not just first-time visits

This kind of financial attribution elevates marketing from a cost center to a growth driver.

Why Healthcare ROI is Harder

Unlike retail or e-commerce, healthcare attribution isn’t straightforward. Patients might delay care for months, switch providers mid-journey, or engage across multiple touchpoints before converting. And even when conversion happens, the path is rarely linear.

Privacy regulations further complicate things. With heightened scrutiny around third-party tracking, many legal teams are requiring the removal of pixels and analytics platforms. That might reduce risk, but it blinds marketing.

Without digital tracking, one of the most effective attribution tools disappears. First-party data becomes essential, but not all systems are ready. And without it, connecting marketing to outcomes is nearly impossible.

But settling for partial answers means missed opportunities — and misunderstood impact.

The Better Way to ROI

Healthcare organizations need a smarter approach to defining, measuring, and communicating ROI. That starts by aligning KPIs with business goals, connecting the right data points, and recognizing that real ROI goes beyond clicks and impressions.

It’s about tracing outcomes back to action. Telling the full story of what worked — and why it mattered.