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5 Trends That Will Redefine Healthcare Customer Engagement in 2026

Posted on by John Zimmerer

By John Zimmerer, VP of Healthcare Marketing at Smart Communications

As we enter 2026, healthcare organizations face unprecedented economic and regulatory uncertainty. These disruptions can put a strain on market analysis and strategic thinking. That’s where we can help.

Smart Communications’ 2026 Trends Report identifies five forces reshaping customer conversations across industries. For healthcare, these trends aren’t just interesting, they’re essential. They impact patient trust, compliance, operational efficiency, and member experience.

Healthcare operates in one of the most regulated, high-stakes environments imaginable. Every interaction matters—not just for satisfaction scores, but for outcomes and cost. These trends represent both a challenge and an opportunity to modernize engagement without losing the human touch, scale innovation responsibly, and build trust at every step.

Trend #1: AI-Ready Data Is the Foundation for Innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare, but here’s the truth: AI is only as good as the data behind it. Fragmented data across claims, clinical systems, and engagement platforms creates incomplete and inconsistent information. Rushing to deploy AI without addressing data quality is a recipe for failure—and compliance risk.

The report highlights that 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned after proof of concept due to poor data quality and inadequate risk controls. For payers and providers, that’s a wake-up call.

Actions for Healthcare Leaders:

Imagine a care coordinator preparing for outreach with an AI-generated summary of a member’s entire communication history. That’s the future of healthcare customer engagement, and it starts with clean, connected data.

Of course, AI-ready data is just one piece of the picture. Watch this overview of the healthcare trends shaping customer engagement before exploring the remaining trends below:

Trend #2: Modernization Through Incremental Transformation

“Rip-and-replace” is dead. Healthcare organizations know that replacing core systems overnight is unrealistic and risky. The smarter approach? Incremental modernization. Start with high-friction workflows—prior authorizations, claims appeals, onboarding—and layer in digital-first capabilities.

The report cites a health insurer that improved customer satisfaction and cut call volumes by 80% by modernizing its communications. (Watch the testimonial.) APIs are key here, enabling legacy systems to coexist with modern platforms.

Why It Matters:
Incremental modernization delivers agility, a critical advantage in a world of evolving regulations and consumer expectations. It’s not just about efficiency; it’s about resilience and scalability.

Trend #3: Agentic AI Will Reshape Healthcare Workflows

AI in healthcare isn’t new, but agentic AI is a game-changer. We’re moving beyond chatbots to embedded AI agents that can read, decide, and act within workflows—ideally under human oversight.

For payers, this could mean AI agents handling routine eligibility checks or claims intake, freeing human agents for complex cases that require empathy and judgment. For providers, it could be voice-driven patient registration or an agent helping to coordinate care. This isn’t about replacing people; it’s about augmenting them.

Key Consideration:
Human-centricity must remain at the core. Upskill teams for critical thinking and empathy, even as technology takes on more routine tasks. In healthcare, trust and transparency are non-negotiable.

Trend #4: Security and Trust Will Define the Limits of Innovation

If data is the fuel for AI, trust is the engine. In healthcare, trust isn’t optional; it’s existential. Healthcare consumers need confidence that their information is secure, and regulators demand proof.

The report emphasizes auditability, explainability, and consent management as critical trust signals. Healthcare organizations must show exactly how AI was used in a decision, from data source to output. That means investing in immutable audit trails, governed templates, and centralized archiving systems.

Cybersecurity adds another layer of complexity. As AI adoption grows, so does the sophistication of cyberattacks. Zero-trust frameworks, dynamic encryption, and AI-driven threat detection will become table stakes.

Bottom Line:
Innovation without security is a non-starter. Make compliance and transparency central to every initiative.

Trend #5: Ecosystem Convergence Will Redefine Customer Experience

The boundaries between marketing, service, and transactional communications are artificial, and patients don’t care about them. They want a seamless experience. The report predicts a shift toward integrated ecosystems that collapse silos and enable omnichannel orchestration.

For healthcare, this means moving beyond function-driven or channel-specific communications to connected journeys. A member who starts a journey on one channel should be able to complete it on any other channel without starting over.

Impact on Outcomes:
Fragmented communications lead to missed appointments and incomplete forms. Seamless engagement improves adherence and health outcomes.

The Bottom Line: Responsible Innovation Is the New Imperative

Scaling AI for its own sake is neither strategic nor sound. For healthcare organizations, the path forward is about responsible acceleration, modernizing engagement in ways that enhance trust, improve experience, and deliver measurable value.

Key Takeaways for Healthcare Leaders:

    • Treat data as a strategic asset.
    • Modernize incrementally with APIs and human-centered design.
    • Embed AI agents thoughtfully, with governance and oversight.
    • Make security and compliance central to every innovation.
    • Build integrated ecosystems that collapse silos and connect journeys.

Healthcare is complex. But complexity doesn’t have to mean friction. By embracing these trends, we can create experiences that are compliant, cost-effective, and compassionate.

Read the Full Trends Report

Want to dive deeper into these trends and see how they’re shaping customer conversations across industries? Access the full Smart Communications 2026 Trends Report and start building the future of healthcare engagement today.

Claims Letters That Retain Customers: Draft Editor in Action

Posted on by Eileen Potter

By Eileen Potter, VP of Insurance Marketing at Smart Communications

When a policyholder files a claim, your next move matters. The way you communicate—how clearly, personally, and quickly—shapes their entire perception of your brand. It can be the difference between a loyal customer and one who walks away.

That’s where SmartCOMM™’s Draft Editor comes in. It gives your frontline teams the tools to create personalized, compliant insurance correspondence, without the back-and-forth with legal or IT.

And when policyholders feel heard and understood, they stay.

The Claims Experience: Make or Break for Retention

You know the numbers. After a poor claims experience, nearly 30% of customers consider switching insurers. But for the most part, the claims process doesn’t fail because of policy terms—it fails when communication falls flat.

Here’s what your customers expect:

    • Clarity on what’s happening with their claim
    • Empathy in tone and timing
    • Fast, accurate updates tailored to their situation

Static templates and generic letters can’t deliver that. SmartCOMM can.

How Draft Editor Elevates Policyholder Communications

Draft Editor is built for business users, not developers. It empowers your claims handlers and customer service reps to tailor letters on the fly while staying within brand and compliance boundaries.

With Draft Editor, you can:

    • Pull in policy and claims data to personalize each letter
    • Let users edit only approved sections, preserving legal language
    • Preview and send communications instantly without leaving the core system

The result? Faster turnaround, fewer errors, and a much better customer experience.

Feature Callouts: Built for Personalization and Control

FEATURE

WHAT IT DELIVERS

Data-driven  personalization

Automatically populate letters with real-time data from your core systems, so communications don’t seem generic.

Role-based editing permissions

Give your teams flexibility where it counts—like tailoring the greeting or explanation—without compromising compliance.

Real-time preview

See exactly what the customer will see before hitting send. No surprises, no rework.

Audit-ready communication

Every edit, send, and version is logged for full traceability and regulatory confidence.

Why This Matters for Retention

Even if every interaction across the policyholder journey is seamless, your customers won’t remember that if they have a poor claims experience. And they are likely to talk about that experience to their family and friends. By improving your communications during the claims process, you build trust when it matters most. With SmartCOMM’s Draft Editor, you make every letter a moment of clarity, empathy, and confidence.

That’s not just good service. That’s smart business.

Request a Demo

Want to see how Draft Editor works inside your claims process?

We’ll show you how SmartCOMM helps insurance teams deliver clear, personalized, and policy-compliant letters. Request a demo today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Draft Editor?

Draft Editor is a SmartCOMM feature that lets business users customize parts of a communication without breaking legal or brand rules. It’s ideal for high-stakes correspondence like claims letters.

How does SmartCOMM ensure compliance?

SmartCOMM locks down legally required language while giving flexibility in approved sections. You control what can be edited and by whom, ensuring every letter stays on brand and within regulatory guidelines.

Can SmartCOMM integrate with our existing claims systems?

Yes. SmartCOMM integrates with your core insurance platforms to pull in real-time data, automate workflows, and push communications through preferred channels.

Is SmartCOMM AI-enabled?

Absolutely. SmartCOMM leverages AI to suggest content, surface relevant data, and streamline the document creation process—making it faster and more accurate for your teams. (Learn more about SmartCOMM’s AI assistants.)

5 Financial Services Trends Shaping Customer Conversations in 2026

Posted on by Cindy Griffin

By Cindy Griffin, Financial Services Vertical Marketing Lead at Smart Communications

With the backdrop of global uncertainty in the financial markets, 2026 is sure to be an inflection point for financial services companies, particularly those in wealth management and private banking. As the Great Wealth Transfer marches on, the industry will be seeing trillions moving from older generations to the next generations, and with that shift, there will be changing expectations.

Every year, Smart Communications releases our annual trends report detailing the factors shaping customer conversations globally. In financial services, where customer engagement is evolving alongside regulatory demands, understanding these trends take on heightened importance in an industry where trust, data integrity, and relationship continuity are all mission-critical.

Let’s review the five trends most affecting customer conversations in financial services for 2026.

Trend 1: Data Readiness as the Catalyst for AI Innovation in Financial Services

It’s no surprise to anyone that works in a data-intense industry like financial services that garbage in means garbage out. But with the rise of AI use in the financial services industry, the imperative to have clean, governed, and usable data becomes paramount. Our 2026 trends report supports this view and informs our first trend: Data readiness is crucial to AI innovation. Without a trusted data foundation, AI projects will fail and result in negative outcomes.

The current reality for many wealth management firms and private banks is that client data is fragmented across PDFs, emails, legacy tools, CRM systems, or wherever an advisor might keep their notes. This means that AI cannot safely scale without strong data governance and data provenance.

Both client expectations and regulatory pressure make this imperative clear:

    1. The next generation of wealth holders will demand hyper-personalized experiences.
    2. AI-related regulations will required that data is auditable and data provenance is demonstrable.

Practically speaking, this means that communications like suitability explanations need to be highly tailored to each client and how recommendations were made needs to be memorialized, especially if AI was introduced in the communication in any way.

The bottom line? Financial services firms need to collect structured data right from the start—at the very first point of contact. Once collected, that data becomes the master version that stays consistent as it moves between systems.

This approach pays off in multiple ways. The same reliable data can be used throughout the entire customer journey—from onboarding through ongoing service—making operations more efficient while enabling better personalization. The added benefit is that getting clean data from step one means that AI readiness is built in and not retrofitted later, thus setting a foundation for successful AI innovation in the future.

Trend 2: Incremental Modernization Over “Big Bang” Transformation

For many financial services firms, large scale IT transformations equal significant risk. Regulations like the EU’s DORA, and in the U.S. rules such as SEC Regulation S-P (alongside other cyber/third-party/recordkeeping requirements), raise the stakes by requiring demonstrable controls, rapid incident response, and clear accountability. 

Even when services are outsourced, the regulated firm remains responsible for outcomes. Our 2026 trend report reveals an alternative to “rip-and-replace”: Incremental innovation will become the strategy to successfully implement new technologies while managing risk and reducing tech debt.  

In wealth management, the advisor-to-support staff ratio isn’t scaling linearly. The complexity of new clients grows faster than headcount and systems can handle. And finally, as firms expand and deal with multiple jurisdictions and even more complex clients, the legacy systems are exposed for their fragility.

That’s why many firms are taking the incremental approach to modernization. They’re modernizing conversations first: improving the client and advisor experience where work begins, then layering digital capabilities over existing platforms. Instead of rip-and-replace, firms that combine incremental modernization with an API-led approach ensure seamless interoperability while keeping familiar legacy systems at hand for staff.

When incremental modernization is done well, the outcomes compound:

    • Firms see faster time-to-value because clients are onboarded sooner and service requests are responded to more quickly.
    • API-led integrations allow increased advisor capacity by giving teams back time otherwise spent navigating fragmented tools.
    • Ultimately, incremental modernization lowers enterprise risk while still reducing tech debt through deliberate, stepwise transformation initiatives.

Trend 3: From Chatbots to Agentic AI Embedded in Financial Services Workflows

AI adoption is shifting in the financial services industry. If 2025 was the year of generative AI, 2026 will be the year of agentic AI. Firms that experimented with agentic AI will move multiple agents into production. This highlights our third trend from our 2026 trends report: autonomous and agentic AI will reshape workflows.

What does this mean for financial services?

    • First, we will see AI moving away from standalone chat tools to AI agents handling routine client service requests. This means that AI agents will be able to support tasks in the onboarding of new clients, portfolio or account reviews, and other service requests under specific policy control. 
    • Second, the implications for trust are twofold: First, clients need to trust that AI agents can provide correct information and responses to their requests, which means the data the agents are using must be structured and governed. Second, when AI is used, regulators will want to know, which means that auditability and explainability become paramount.

When financial services firms build reliable AI agents, the business outcomes are evident. Not only will firms see a reduced operational burden as AI agents take on lower-value tasks, but clients will see faster turnaround times to service requests. Ultimately, this allows staff to focus on higher-value, revenue-generating interactions with clients, which increases client engagement and trust. However, even successful firms will need to take care to ensure their regulatory stance remains sound by ensuring that AI use is relevant, explainable, and auditable.

I share more about agentic AI and its financial services implications in the video below:

Trend 4: Security and Trust as the Boundaries of Innovation

Building on the idea of trust, our fourth trend explores how security and trust will define the limits of innovation. Cybersecurity is a perennial area of scrutiny by regulators in the financial services industry. And trust—from clients and regulators alike—underpins the entire operation of financial services firms. Thus, innovation needs to coexist and can only succeed within the twin obligations of trust and security.

Financial services firms handle some of the most sensitive and personal data available. So, it makes sense that regulators make this issue a priority when it comes to examinations, as the SEC has done for 2026. Further, clients want to know that their data is being handled securely. Layering on AI further complicates trust and security as clients want to know when AI is being used and regulators want to know when and how AI is being used. Even if regulation is vague or indeterminate, firms need to prepare for future accountability.

How do financial services firms future-proof their operations so that they are functioning with future accountability in mind? In practice, it means:

    • Agentic AI must be designed like any other regulated capability, with clear controls, transparent decisioning, and evidence you can produce on demand.
    • Consent management needs to be embedded into digital journeys, clearly showing when AI is involved, what data is being used, and what clients are authorizing, with consent captured and versioned.
    • Firms need end-to-end audit trails for every interaction, logging agent actions, data sources, outputs, and handoffs to support internal oversight and regulatory examination.
    • Automation must be policy-controlled rather than opaque, with agents operating inside defined guardrails aligned to firm policy.

Trend 5: Ecosystem Convergence Redefines the FS Client Experience

The client experience in financial services used to be just the interaction between the advisor or client service associate and the client. Today, with the rise of multiple communication channels and ease of doing business through mobile technology, the real client experience now spans:

    • Client services
    • Marketing
    • Operations
    • Compliance

Financial services clients are interacting with each of these areas of their financial institutions, and the full client experience is evolving with it. This brings us to our final trend: client experience is going to be redefined through ecosystem convergence.

While financial services clients don’t think of their experience in terms of a specific department, transaction, or channel, how they interact with their financial services providers across these areas remains a challenge. The client experience is inconsistent due to disconnected systems. Because information is siloed and systems are not integrated, not only does the client experience suffer, but so does the employee experience.

Firms that successfully confront this challenge break down these silos. Cloud-based platforms, API integrations, and omnichannel orchestration provide an advantage to firms by ensuring information is seamlessly shared across the enterprise.

In turn, this information informs a consistent client experience no matter what type of request or channel, and a “white glove” client experience can mean high-touch from a human combined with seamless, intuitive digital experiences. Additionally, breaking down these silos and integrating the tech ecosystem has the added benefit of increasing client trust and regulatory compliance as data governance, client experience, and even AI converge. 

Conclusion: Turning 2026 Trends into Action for Wealth and Private Banking Leaders

Taken together, these five trends constitute one connected concept:

    • Data readiness enables responsible AI innovation
    • Incremental modernization makes change survivable—and thrivable
    • Agentic workflows raise the bar for accountability
    • Security and trust set the guardrails
    • Tech ecosystem convergence increases consistency and trust

For financial services firms, the stakes are higher and the rewards greater because every interaction carries real value and outsized scrutiny.

Firms that modernize these client experience areas will feel the compounding impact: They will onboard clients faster with cleaner data, empower employees with smarter workflows and fewer swivel-chair moments, and scale growth without sacrificing the “white glove” experience clients demand. In 2026, the winners won’t be the firms that adopt the most AI or pursue transformation for transformation’s sake, but the ones that elevate client experience by operationalizing trust and personalization.

Explore the full 2026 Trends Report for deeper insights!

How the 5 Biggest Customer Conversation Trends Will Reshape Insurance in 2026

Posted on by Eileen Potter

By Eileen Potter, VP of Insurance Marketing, Smart Communications

Across both P&C and L&A today, insurers are navigating forces largely outside their control: economic volatility, demographic shifts, climate-related losses, and rising regulatory scrutiny. These pressures aren’t temporary. They’re fundamentally reshaping how carriers operate, compete, and engage with customers.

Traditional operating models—especially those built on legacy systems and fragmented workflows—are becoming harder to sustain. At the same time, customer expectations are being set by digital-first experiences outside of insurance, raising the bar for speed, transparency, and personalization.

Many carriers have automated pieces of underwriting, policy administration, and claims, but critical workflows still rely on PDFs, manual reviews, and rekeying. And while AI is moving from experimentation to production, it often stalls without the right data, governance, and operational foundation.

Smart Communications’ 2026 Trends Report explores the seismic shifts reshaping customer conversations. Here’s how five of those trends specifically apply to insurers and what they signal for the year ahead. 

Trend #1: Incremental Modernization Is the Foundation for What Comes Next

Modernization is no longer a one-time transformation initiative. Rather, it’s an ongoing capability insurers must build to remain competitive.

Large, multiyear “rip-and-replace” projects are increasingly impractical. Product innovation, regulatory change, and evolving customer expectations are moving faster than traditional IT cycles. Instead, leading insurers are modernizing incrementally, layering new digital capabilities, workflows, and data practices on top of existing policy, billing, and claims platforms.

At many carriers, the focus is shifting to high-friction journeys that exist outside of core systems and are still predominantly manual, paper-based processes: supplemental applications, state-mandated forms (including UM/UIM coverage selection), and the intake of additional claims information after FNOL. These areas carry the greatest operational cost, compliance risk, and customer impact. As Bryan Quasthoff, Vice President of Snapsheet, states in this year’s Trends report:

“A better way [to evolve] is to modernize as you go. Bring in the tools that work alongside what’s already there, then start phasing out the stuff that slows you down once the value is clear.”

This approach isn’t just about digitizing manual steps. It’s about rethinking how work gets done: reducing rekeying, minimizing handoffs, and creating workflows that are modular and adaptable. The payoff is faster cycle times, cleaner data, and lower operational risk, without destabilizing the core systems insurers rely on every day.

Modernization becomes less of a project and more of a continuous capability—one that enables insurers to adapt as market conditions, regulations, and customer expectations evolve.

Trend #2: Data Readiness Is the Catalyst for AI in Insurance

When critical data lives in PDFs, emails, and call center notes, it makes it difficult for organizations to scale AI.

This challenge is particularly daunting in insurance, where information still arrives through fax, mail, static forms, and disconnected channels. OCR and RPA help, but they’re not perfect—they can introduce errors, require rekeying, and slow downstream processes.

When data remains trapped in unstructured formats, it limits what insurers can do:

    • Predictive underwriting stalls
    • Claims automation slows
    • Agentic workflows struggle to scale
    • Compliance reporting becomes harder to sustain

Neeraj Gupta, Insurance Consulting Partner at Ernst & Young, echoes this concern in the Trends report, noting: 

“Without strong business sponsorship and measurable impact, AI pilots frequently fail to scale. Inaccurate or incomplete data often leads to unreliable outputs and poor decision-making, making data governance a critical challenge during scaling.”

These limitations are particularly problematic when insurance customers expect speed and accuracy. Furthermore, regulators expect traceability and consistency. Neither is possible without reliable, structured data.

Leading insurers are responding by shifting toward guided digital intake and validating information at the point of entry. This ensures data is accurate, complete, and immediately usable across underwriting, claims, and service, giving AI and automation something dependable to work with from day one.

Trend #3: Agentic AI Will Reshape Underwriting, Claims, and Service

In 2026 and beyond, AI won’t replace underwriters, adjusters, or service teams, but it will reduce the manual work slowing them down.

Today, AI is already being used to support intake, document classification, fraud detection, and triage. The next evolution is agentic AI: systems that can request missing information, validate submissions, route tasks, trigger approvals, and escalate exceptions. As Terry Buechner, Principal Insurance Specialist at AWS, comments in the report:

“Generative and agentic AI is rapidly transforming the insurance industry, with organizations leveraging this technology to drive innovation across multiple areas, including improving the customer experience, streamlining claims processes, and underwriting more accurately.”

This AI shift from passive analysis to active participation in workflows has a twofold result:

    • First, teams spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on complex decisions and customer relationships.
    • Second, insurers can deliver more responsive, personalized experiences without increasing operational burden.

But this only works when the foundation is in place. AI depends on structured data, digital workflows, and clear governance. Without them, AI simply sits on top of broken processes—adding complexity instead of value.

Trend #4: Ecosystem Convergence Will Redefine Insurance CX

Customer experience in insurance is increasingly shaped by how well systems and organizations work together.

Today, communications and data are often scattered across CRM platforms, core systems, claims environments, and contact centers. Customers experience that fragmentation as repeated questions, lost documents, and slow resolutions.

Savvy organizations are shifting toward connected ecosystems that unify intake, workflows, communications, and document access. Prashanth Kulkarni, Sr. Director, Strategic Advisor and Enterprise Solutions, NTT Data, sees this as a competitive differentiator:

“The competitive edge will belong to organizations that combine responsible AI with connected, modernized ecosystems—turning compliance and innovation into growth drivers.”

Leading insurers are embracing this approach, with digital front doors, mobile-first engagement, and real-time integrations making it easier for customers to move seamlessly from onboarding to servicing to claims.

When these systems align, the impact is measurable:

    • Faster claims resolution
    • Higher straight-through processing rates
    • Lower call volumes
    • More productive agents and service teams

More importantly, customers experience consistency: clearer communications, fewer errors, and interactions that feel coordinated rather than disconnected.

Trend #5: Security, Trust, and Auditability Define How Far AI Goes

In insurance, innovation only scales as far as regulators, auditors, and customers are willing to trust it.

Carriers manage sensitive personal, health, and financial data under intense scrutiny. Many organizations still struggle with incomplete audit trails, limited consent tracking, and fragmented records of how decisions are made.

As AI becomes more embedded in underwriting, claims, and customer interactions, expectations rise. Decisions must be explainable, auditable, and reversible. Customers and regulators need visibility into where data comes from, how it’s used, and how outcomes are determined.

This is where governance becomes a differentiator. Insurers that embed transparency, accountability, and compliance into workflows from the start will be better positioned to scale AI responsibly—without introducing unnecessary risk or rework.

The takeaway is simple: AI should accelerate value, not uncertainty. And in a regulated industry like insurance, trust is what ultimately determines how far innovation can go. As Aspire CCS Founder and CEO Kaspar Roos puts it:

“Regulatory adherence represents a non-negotiable business requirement that cannot be deferred without exposing the organization to potentially existential consequences.”

Conclusion: The Insurance Playbook for 2026

Insurance is entering a critical period. Inflation, catastrophe risk, reinsurance costs, demographic shifts, and interest-rate volatility are redefining strategic priorities for insurers. At the same time, customer expectations now expect the same clarity, speed, and personalization they experience in other industries and interactions.

The cost of standing still is real: underpriced risk, inefficient operations, frustrated customers and agents, and lost market share.

What separates insurance leaders in 2026 will be how well they strengthen data foundations, modernize without disruption, apply AI responsibly, and deliver more connected customer experiences. Those that treat communication, data, and workflows as one coordinated system will be best positioned to adapt and lead.

For much more on the areas shaping customer conversation in the year ahead, check out the full 2026 Trends Report.

Elevate Your Strategy: Transforming Customer Engagement in 2026

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications 

As you begin your 2025 planning process, avoid the common pitfall of simply copying your 2024 plan and renaming it. This approach may provide a baseline for budget and growth, but it also sets an unrealistic expectation of delivering 12% more with only 4% additional resources. Such thinking can lead to stagnation, which neither you nor your customers desire. Instead, consider how to position yourself as an innovative changemaker in your organization by executing a well-planned Minimum Viable Project (MVP) in Q1.  

This proactive strategy will transform how you engage with your customers from the very start of the year. With the right support, it’s more achievable than you might think—especially with assistance from SmartSTART. 

Join Forces with a Strategic Partner for Better Customer Engagement 

Smart Communications has been at the forefront of customer engagement for years. Whether you refer to it as CCM, IXM, WCA, DTM, or even a CX Platform tailored for highly regulated industries, our team has helped organizations like yours enhance customer conversations for decades. In today’s fast-paced, data-driven environment, your managers need to see rapid results. To effect real transformation, you must deliver measurable outcomes quickly and demonstrate your ability to acquire and apply new skills in service of your customers. Smart Communications offers you the opportunity to rapidly execute a successful project, building the confidence of an organization eager for change. Our SmartSTART program allows you to plan a project that aligns with the timelines and budget expectations of your managers, minimizing risk while ensuring clear outcomes.

What is SmartSTART?

The SmartSTART program from Smart Communications is a Professional Services offering designed to help new customers successfully implement the SmartCOMM™ solution within a six-to-eight-week timeframe. This program provides a best-practices framework, focusing on rapid configuration, template authoring, and the production of live customer communications. It offers a clear project plan, including solution design and testing, and ensures customers have a working use case ready for deployment. SmartSTART enables organizations to quickly realize value, reduce risks, and build confidence through efficient, scalable, and omnichannel customer communication solutions. To view more features, visit the SmartSTART page at the link below. 

Other common approaches put lengthy services contracts on top of large up-front software investments that may require you to pay for a year or more before you get into production.  The SmartSTART program is focused on design and requirements gathering, rapid configuration of your SmartCOMM tenancy, application of a repeatable template authoring guide, establishing reusable content, and generation of document output to deliver to your clients. At the end of the project, you have a successful project that is ready to show up on a management dashboard in green. That earns confidence from the organization and puts attention on successfully transformed communications. You will start to get fans, and colleagues from other departments asking you how you accomplished a transformation so quickly.  

A Unique Approach to Success 

On average, SmartSTART projects are completed in six to eight weeks. At the project’s conclusion, you and your peers will have production-ready work, the skills to scale your efforts, and the confidence to tackle additional challenges—all while utilizing the Conversation Cloud™ for transformed customer communications. You will also benefit from the support of the Smart Communications team. Each SmartSTART project draws on our extensive experience from hundreds of collaborations, allowing us to help you both navigate and anticipate challenges. Our guidance is especially valuable during the early stages when many organizations struggle to avoid repeating past mistakes with new technologies. SmartSTART is specifically designed to enhance your omnichannel engagements using the latest SaaS solutions. 

Start Planning for Quick Wins in 2025 

If you begin planning now, you could realize your first success in Q1, setting a positive tone for 2025. An early victory not only garners attention but also enhances collaboration among colleagues with diverse skills, improving your overall customer experience. You may discover just how much technical debt has previously held you back. A new cloud-based approach to omnichannel design, shared content, and collaboration empowers your team to bring the right skills to bear at the right time. 

The SmartSTART program reflects Smart Communications’ approach. We are aligned with your goals. We want to see you in production quickly. We want to see you empowered to scale out massive success from your first implementation. With an investment in a six-week program, you can prove to your team that you can transform your customer communications to deliver better experiences, reduce operating costs, and increase your organizational reaction time. After a quick win with a SmartSTART, you will see quick wins everywhere.  

Conclusion: Start Strong and Transform Customer Conversations 

As you embark on the planning process for 2025, resist the temptation to recycle last year’s strategy. Instead, leverage the SmartSTART program to drive meaningful change and deliver rapid results. By positioning yourself ahead of other organizations, you’ll not only enhance customer engagement but also cultivate a culture of collaboration and innovation.  

Begin your journey now and set the stage for a successful year ahead that transforms the way you connect with your customers. Get in touch to see how Smart Communications can help.

Is Your Food More Traceable Than Your Data? Why Data Provenance Matters for AI and Compliance

Posted on by Sally Schulte

By Sally Schulte, Senior Product Marketing Director

When you go out for a meal, you assume that someone, somewhere, could tell you how the ingredients got from the farm to your plate—and prove to you that the food is safe to consume. And strict regulations like the FDA’s Food Traceability Final Rule and the EU’s Regulation 178/2002, coupled with sophisticated tracking systems, mean your assumption is probably correct. From the farm or ranch to the store shelf or restaurant, every step is logged, verified, and auditable.

But what about your company’s data? Like the food you consume, your company’s products and services exist in a heavily regulated market, chock full of checks and balances. But can you provide the same level of traceability for the data flowing through and being consumed by your organization that your local grocers can for the food on their shelves?

For most organizations, the honest answer is “no.” In most cases, the food on your plate is far more traceable than your data—and that’s a growing problem, especially as enterprises race to gain efficiency by sharing data across the organization, use data to drive automation, and feed data to train new AI tools.

This blog explains why data provenance has become a critical requirement for regulatory compliance, trustworthy AI, and sound decision-making. It explores how poor data traceability creates risk as organizations scale automation and AI initiatives, and why tracking data origins and usage is foundational to responsible business processes.

 

The Data Provenance Problem

Roughly 403 million terabytes of data are generated daily (that’s 4.03 x 1020) as part of today’s business processes, with the volume of data stored globally doubling approximately every four years. And there are innumerable data sources: customers, advisors, agents, approvers, third-party contractors, etc. But ask where a specific dataset originated, if it’s been manipulated in any way, or whether it’s up to date, and you’ll likely be met with blank stares.

This lack of “data provenance”—the ability to trace data back to its original source—has serious consequences. Without it, data can’t (or shouldn’t) be trusted. And if data isn’t trustworthy, it shouldn’t be shared, reused, or leveraged to train AI systems that depend almost entirely on quality inputs. (Related reading: “Why Data Quality and Data Literacy Matter—For Everyone in Your Organization.”)

Imagine training an LLM on data that was scraped from unverified sources, or worse, on information that violates data privacy laws or internal policies. The consequences go beyond ethical or compliance issues: The outcomes become technical and strategic nightmares. Models trained on untraceable data risk embedding bias, misinformation, or even legal liability.

 

Why Data Traceability Matters More Than Ever

Traceability ensures that organizations can answer three critical questions about their data:

    1. Where did the data come from? — The original source, owner, and collection method.
    2. How has it been changed? — The transformations, filters, and enrichments applied along the way.
    3. Can the data be trusted? — Whether it meets quality, timeliness, and compliance standards.

Without this lineage, enterprises operate blind. Teams waste time debating data definitions. Business decisions rely on outdated or inconsistent numbers. And AI teams spend more time cleaning and verifying data than building models.

In regulated industries, traceability isn’t just good practice, it’s a requirement. From international laws such as GDPR and PIPL to regional regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the U.S. and the Privacy Act in New Zealand, governments are holding companies accountable, requiring them to prove data origins and usage. Yet even with tight government requirements, full data lineage remains a challenge.

 

We’ve Solved Harder Problems, So Why Not Data?

The irony is that, as a global society, we’ve solved far more complex traceability challenges in other industries. Food, pharmaceuticals, and aerospace all manage supply chains that span continents, yet they can track every component from origin to destination.

If a batch of lettuce is contaminated, it can be traced back to the exact farm and field in hours. If a jet engine part is faulty, it can be identified and replaced before it causes harm.

So why can’t we do the same with data?

The answer lies in legacy systems, siloed architectures, and the sheer speed of data creation. But new tools—including metadata management platforms, data catalogs, and AI-driven lineage mapping—are beginning to change that.

In this context, the interoperability of forms automation solution SmartIQ™ lends itself to being a key factor in this improved connectivity, offering a way to trace precisely when and where information entered the organization, from whom and in what context. Companies can determine what steps were taken to validate identity, and they can replay data submissions in the context in which they were originally submitted.

 

Data Traceability: The Foundation for Responsible Business Decisions and AI Initiatives

As enterprises test the boundaries of workflow automation and explore how to safely integrate AI, trustworthy data will determine who succeeds and who stumbles—because you can’t build responsible business processes with data that can’t be traced to an authenticated, original source.

Just as we demand to know where our food comes from, the institutions protecting our financial and physical investments should demand the same transparency for the data being used to make critical business decisions. If they don’t, our steaks may be more traceable than our spreadsheets, and that should make every business leader a little uncomfortable.

Ready to improve data accuracy and traceability at the source? Explore our “Ultimate Guide to Forms Automation” to learn how you can streamline data collection, enhance customer experience, and ensure data provenance and compliance.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is data provenance?

Data provenance is the documented history of data, revealing its origin, movements, usage, and transformations. Data provenance offers a way to determine when information was provided, how it was provided, and by whom. This ultimately validates data’s authenticity and reliability, which separates it from data lineage (more focused on flow). Data provenance is focused on why and how data was originally created.

2) Why is data provenance important?

Tracing data to its origins and understanding how it has been used or applied is essential to meet today’s regulatory requirements, particularly in the financial services, healthcare, and insurance sectors. Data provenance helps ensure data is valid and can be used with confidence to drive business processes and decisions. Data provenance is also a fundamental pillar of most data governance strategies.

3) How does SmartIQ improve data provenance and traceability?

Interoperability—and the ability to automatically transfer data to the systems and people that need it, when they need it—is essential to improving overarching data traceability. By removing manual intervention and automatically passing data through secure connections, SmartIQ lets critical data provenance details follow information through a process, and those details can be stored and recalled for auditing and compliance in the future if necessary. Read the SmartIQ solution brief.

Reinventing Enterprise AI: Key Takeaways from AWS re:Invent 2025

Posted on by SmartComm

By Simon Tindal, CTO, Smart Communications

This year’s AWS re:Invent made one thing clear: We’re entering an era defined not just by AI adoption, but by AI accountability, observability, and real-world value.

From keynotes to analyst sessions to roundtables with fellow CTOs and CIOs, a few clear themes emerged about where enterprise AI is heading next, and what leaders should be thinking about as they plan for 2026 and beyond.

Here are my key takeaways:

 

1. Agentic AI needs guardrails, not just power

A lot of the buzz this year centered on intelligent agents and their ability to take action, not just generate content. The big question that kept coming up was, “How do we trust agents to act autonomously without losing control?”

AWS introduced new capabilities focused on observability. In practice, that means being able to see what agents did, how they reasoned, and where their behavior drifted from what was expected. This shift from “can we build an agent” to “can we understand and explain what it just did” is a very important one.

For enterprises, especially in regulated industries, this is where AI maturity will be won or lost. It’s not enough for agents to be clever. They need to be auditable, predictable, and accountable.

 

2. Don’t just automate the status quo. Reimagine the workflow.

A recurring message across the event, especially highlighted in a strong session from Forrester, was that simply recreating your current processes with AI is a missed opportunity.

Most organizations begin with the idea of “let’s take this process and make it faster.” That can be a good starting point, but it’s not where the real value is. The more impactful questions are:

    • If we were starting fresh, without the constraints of legacy processes, how would we design this today?
    • What could agents do that we would never expect a human to manage manually?

This mindset shift, moving from basic automation to genuine reinvention, is what will transform onboarding, claims, servicing, and other complex workflows. It’s not about shaving a few seconds off a task. It’s about changing the experience entirely.

 

3. Pricing and ROI are shifting toward outcome-based value

Another theme that surfaced repeatedly was the need for AI pricing that feels predictable. There was a lot of discussion about a long-term goal within the industry: moving from consumption-based pricing toward outcome-based pricing.

That could mean tying value to improved NPS, shorter onboarding times, higher first-contact resolution, or other business metrics that resonate with executives outside of IT.

This evolution will take time, but it reflects an important reality. AI investments are no longer purely experimental. Leaders want to understand:

    • What outcomes will this drive?
    • When will we see value?
    • How predictable is the spend compared to the benefit?

Any AI strategy that cannot answer those questions in straightforward business language will struggle to earn long-term support.

 

4. AI is now everyone’s job, not just IT’s

One theme that came up again and again, both in roundtables and in hallway conversations, is that AI can no longer sit solely within technical teams.

For AI to succeed at scale, it needs to be:

    • Expressed in simple, business-friendly terms
    • Built into the tools frontline teams already use
    • Governed in a way that is transparent and easy to explain

AI may be technically complex, but the experience of using it should feel straightforward to the people closest to the customer.

 

5. Empathy still matters: the Kando principle

One session from Sony really stuck with me. It centered on the idea of Kando, a Japanese word that captures the feeling of being deeply moved or inspired. It’s the sense of awe you get when something delivers exceptional quality or significance.

The core message was clear. Even as automation and intelligent agents become more capable, emotion and empathy still matter. This is especially true in customer communications, where moments of clarity, reassurance, and understanding can define the experience.

Whether someone is applying for a loan, updating a policy, submitting a claim, or handling a difficult situation, how an interaction makes them feel is often just as important as the information being exchanged.

AI can help scale responsiveness and personalization, but it should never remove the human element. The goal is to design experiences that are both efficient and emotionally intelligent.

 

6. SmartIQ Agent at re:Invent: modernizing legacy workflows

One of the highlights of the week was seeing SmartIQ™ Agent featured in the session, “Migrate and Modernize Legacy Workflows to Intelligent Agents.”

The session used SmartIQ Agent to show how organizations can:

    • Move away from static, form-based interactions
    • Use conversational experiences to collect structured data
    • Apply existing business rules and validations in the background
    • Modernize legacy workflows without giving up compliance or oversight

In simple terms, SmartIQ Agent turns complex forms into natural, guided conversations, while still ensuring the data is complete, compliant, and ready for downstream systems.

Watch the session

The full PEX304 session is now available on AWS’s YouTube channel. It’s worth watching in full for the broader discussion on intelligent agents. You can also skip to around the 60-minute mark to see the SmartIQ segment:

 

7. What this means for our collaboration with AWS

re:Invent is always useful for the announcements, but the real value is the alignment it creates.

A few things stood out this year:

    • We’re building on the right foundations with AWS and Amazon Bedrock, especially as observability, governance, and model flexibility become more important.
    • The industry’s direction of travel aligns closely with our focus on practical, transparent, and scalable AI.
    • There is growing interest in packaged, multivendor solutions on AWS Marketplace, which opens up new opportunities for joint innovation.

Our goal remains the same: help organizations modernize customer and citizen interactions with AI that are powerful, compliant, and grounded in real-world workflows.

 

Looking ahead

I left re:Invent feeling both excited and clear-headed. Excited because the progress around agentic AI, observability, and outcome-based thinking is accelerating quickly. Clear-headed because the path forward for enterprises is becoming more concrete:

    • Treat AI as a core business capability
    • Build for trust, transparency, and empathy
    • Rethink processes rather than simply automating existing ones

We will continue building in that direction, working closely with AWS, our partners, and our customers to turn AI into measurable and sustainable value.

View More AI-Related Content:

1) Blog: “Your Archive Strategy Isn’t Ready for the AI Era”

2) Video: “Beyond the Hype: What GenAI Can’t Fix Without the Right Foundation”

3) Blog: “AI in Financial Services: Why Incremental Innovation is a Smart Path Forward”

Top 5 Takeaways from Guidewire Connections 2025

Posted on by Eileen Potter

By Eileen Potter, VP of Insurance Marketing, Smart Communications

Once again, Guidewire Connections delivered an incredible mix of innovation, collaboration, and practical insight into how insurers are transforming every part of the policyholder journey. From policy administration to claims, it’s clear that the P&C industry is redefining what it means to deliver connected, customer-centric experiences — and Guidewire continues to lead the way.

As I reflect on the event — including our session “From Policy to Claim: Building Lasting Loyalty at Every Touchpoint,” our policy administration and claims roundtables, and countless conversations with insurers and partners — here are my top five takeaways:

1. Loyalty is earned across the entire lifecycle, not just at renewal.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to moderate a panel of insurance leaders from three joint Guidewire and Smart Communications customers at the conference: Val LaBarba from AAA of Southern California, Chris Reed from CSAA Insurance Group, and Travis Fritts from Shelter Insurance.

Our discussion centered around one big idea: True loyalty is built at every interaction. Every communication, whether it’s a quote, a midterm policy change, or a claim update, is a moment of truth. The most successful insurers recognize that consistency across the entire customer journey is what builds lasting trust.

Customer experience and engagement was also a major theme across both the policy administration and claims roundtables, which I facilitated along with Chris Murphy, our vice president of product marketing. Leaders emphasized the importance of building communications strategies that span the entire customer lifecycle. When policy, servicing, and claims communications are unified and digital-first, insurers can provide clearer guidance, reduce customer effort, and strengthen overall trust and satisfaction.

That’s where the Smart Communications-Guidewire partnership shines: by making it possible for insurers to orchestrate personalized, compliant communications in real time, directly from their core systems.

2. GenAI excitement is high, but governance, transparency, and trust will determine who succeeds.

GenAI was one of the most talked-about topics at Guidewire Connections 2025, but this year the conversation shifted from experimentation to responsible adoption. Across both the policy administration and claims roundtables, leaders shared that while they see enormous potential in GenAI to improve efficiency, accelerate decision-making, and enhance communication, they are equally focused on the risks and guardrails needed to use it responsibly.

Questions around governance, transparency, and maintaining customer trust came up repeatedly, including:

    • How do insurers ensure GenAI-generated content is accurate, explainable, and compliant?
    • What safeguards are needed so that automation strengthens – rather than undermines – the customer experience?
    • How can insurers balance speed and innovation with the oversight required in a highly regulated industry?

The consensus seemed to be that the path forward is not just about deploying GenAI tools but also about establishing frameworks that guide how those tools are used. Leaders emphasized the importance of human review, clear accountability, and keeping the customer at the center of every GenAI-enabled interaction. (Learn more about insurance customer expectations.)

3. The ecosystem is the advantage.

If there was one overarching theme of Guidewire Connections 2025, it was the power of the ecosystem. No single vendor or solution can deliver end-to-end transformation on its own. Success comes from partnerships that are open, flexible, and focused on shared outcomes.

That’s exactly what makes the Smart Communications-Guidewire relationship so successful. Together, we demonstrated how integrated communication capabilities can help insurers simplify document generation, reduce errors, and elevate customer engagement. From policy issuance to claims settlement, the combined solution empowers carriers to communicate more clearly and more effectively.

Throughout the conference, attendees shared how partnerships like this one help them innovate faster, scale smarter, and serve customers better. The future belongs to connected ecosystems, and our partnership is a great example of what that looks like in action. (Related reading: “5 Vendors to 1: Why Insurers Are Consolidating Customer Communications Platforms.”

4. Even in a digital age, human experience matters most.

There was no shortage of technology-focused conversations at the conference, especially about AI, automation, and cloud modernization. But what struck me most was the emphasis that speakers placed on the need to balance technology with empathy — because it doesn’t matter how advanced the technology is if the customer ends up frustrated. Whether it’s simplifying language, using the customer’s preferred channel, or timing messages just right, the goal should be to make every interaction feel like a conversation, not a transaction.

That was a central theme in our “From Policy to Claim” session. We explored how insurers can use digital tools to make communication feel more personal, especially during emotionally charged moments like claims. The conversation in the Claims Roundtable reinforced that idea: Carriers see communications during a claim as one of the biggest opportunities to strengthen relationships and build trust.

5. Execution determines success – strategy alone isn’t enough.

My final takeaway: The best ideas don’t matter if they’re not executed well. Across both roundtables, insurers shared lessons learned from technology modernization projects — the ones that worked, and the ones that didn’t. Ultimately, implementation is where value is realized, and the difference almost always comes down to a combination of vision and execution, including collaboration between business and IT, strong governance, change management, and partner alignment.

The panel also emphasized the importance of selecting technology partners who align with an organization’s strategic vision. When insurers prioritize adoption, enablement, and measurable outcomes, transformation stops being a buzzword and becomes a reality.

The Smart Communications team and our collaboration with Guidewire prove that such transformation is achievable, and I look forward to carrying the momentum forward through 2026 and beyond.

Want to explore further?

Elevating Healthcare Provider CX: Key Insights from the 2025 Benchmark Report

Posted on by John Zimmerer

By John Zimmerer, VP of Healthcare Marketing at Smart Communications

In addition to battling a host of existential crises, healthcare providers face mounting pressure to deliver seamless, personalized, and secure communication experiences. The 2025 Healthcare Benchmark Report from Smart Communications offers a comprehensive look into how patients perceive their interactions with healthcare organizations—and what providers must do to meet rising expectations.

This blog post distills the most critical findings from the report and explores how Smart Communications’ Conversation Cloud can empower providers to transform their customer experience (CX) strategies, improve operational efficiency, and build lasting patient trust.

The State of Healthcare Communications in 2025

The benchmark report, based on a global survey of 3,000 consumers, reveals a healthcare landscape in flux. While satisfaction with healthcare communications has improved—up 75% since the last benchmark—patients still report significant gaps in digital engagement, data transparency, and omnichannel consistency.

Key Findings for Providers:

1) Omnichannel Experience Gaps

  • Only 54% of patients are satisfied with their omnichannel experiences.
  • 71% prefer digital self-service over calling or visiting in person.
  • Channel preferences vary widely by region and generation, with email, SMS, encrypted messaging, and web portals all playing critical roles.

2) Trust Hinges on Consistency

  • 60% of patients trust healthcare organizations more when experiences are consistent across channels.
  • This trust is especially high among Gen Z (73%) and in German-speaking countries (76%).

3) AI Adoption and Transparency

  • 54% of patients are open to AI-driven health recommendations.
  • However, 32% still express concerns about data security, and 31% worry about ethical AI use.

4) Communication Drives Loyalty

  • 84% say communications are central to their overall experience.
  • 67% would switch providers if communications don’t meet expectations.

These findings underscore a critical truth: communication is care. Providers who fail to modernize their engagement strategies risk losing patients—not just to competitors, but to frustration and disengagement.

The Provider Imperative: Modernize or Fall Behind

Healthcare providers are uniquely challenged by legacy systems, fragmented workflows, and regulatory complexity. Yet, patients increasingly expect the same frictionless experiences they receive from retail, banking, and tech brands.

To meet these expectations, providers must:

  • Automate and streamline data intake and form processes.
  • Deliver personalized, omnichannel communications that feel like one continuous conversation.
  • Build trust through transparent data practices and ethical AI use.
  • Ensure accessibility and compliance across all touchpoints.

This is where Smart Communications’ Conversation Cloud becomes a game-changer.

How the Conversation Cloud Solves the Provider CX Puzzle

The Conversation Cloud is a purpose-built platform designed to help healthcare organizations engage in smarter, more meaningful conversations with patients. It includes four integrated solutions:

  • SmartIQ™ – Digital forms and guided experiences
  • SmartCOMM™ – Personalized, omnichannel communications
  • SmartPATH™ – Journey orchestration and automation
  • SmartHUB™ – Centralized communication archive and retrieval

Let’s explore how each component addresses the report’s findings.

1. SmartIQ™: Closing the Digital Self-Service Gap

With 71% of patients preferring digital self-service, SmartIQ enables providers to replace outdated paper forms and manual intake processes with intelligent, mobile-friendly experiences.

Benefits for Providers:

  • Accelerates preregistration, consent, and financial assistance workflows.
  • Reduces staff burden and administrative errors.
  • Improves accessibility with multilingual and ADA-compliant forms.

By digitizing data collection, providers can meet patients where they are—on their devices—and create a smoother, more welcoming entry point into care.

2. SmartCOMM™: Delivering Personalized, Omnichannel Communications

SmartCOMM empowers providers to create and deliver communications that are personalized, compliant, and consistent across channels—email, SMS, print, portals, and more.

Benefits for Providers:

  • Ensures brand and message consistency across touchpoints.
  • Supports HIPAA-compliant communications with encryption and audit trails.
  • Enables personalized content based on patient preferences and data.

With SmartCOMM, providers can turn routine communications—appointment reminders, test results, billing notices—into moments of connection and trust.

3. SmartPATH™: Orchestrating the Patient Journey

SmartPATH helps providers design and automate communication journeys that guide patients through complex processes like referrals, chronic care management, and post-discharge follow-up.

Benefits for Providers:

  • Reduces drop-off and no-show rates.
  • Improves care coordination across departments and systems.
  • Enables real-time adjustments based on patient behavior and feedback.

This orchestration ensures that every interaction feels intentional and supportive, reinforcing the provider’s commitment to patient-centered care.

4. SmartHUB™: Centralized Communication Management and Analytics

SmartHUB provides centralized oversight of all communications, enabling providers to track performance, identify pain points, and continuously improve.

Benefits for Providers:

  • Offers analytics and dashboards to monitor satisfaction and engagement.
  • Supports A/B testing and iterative improvements.
  • Helps meet regulatory reporting requirements with built-in compliance tools.

With SmartHUB, providers can move from reactive to proactive CX management—aligning efforts with what truly matters to patients.

Building Trust in the Age of AI

The benchmark report highlights growing patient openness to AI—but also lingering concerns. Smart Communications addresses this by embedding transparency, security, and human oversight into every AI-powered interaction.

For example:

  • SmartCOMM uses AI to generate plain-language summaries of complex medical documents (think: discharge summaries, care plans, etc.).
  • SmartIQ can guide patients through forms using natural language prompts.
  • SmartPATH ensures that AI-driven journeys are auditable and explainable.

By leading with clarity and integrity, providers can harness AI to enhance—not replace—the human touch in healthcare.

Real-World Impact: Provider Success Stories

Several leading healthcare organizations have already leveraged the Conversation Cloud to transform their CX:

  • A large academic medical center reduced form completion time by 60% using SmartIQ.
  • A regional health system improved patient satisfaction scores by 30% after implementing SmartCOMM for appointment reminders and follow-ups.
  • A multi-specialty provider network used SmartPATH to automate post-discharge communications, reducing readmissions by 15%.

These outcomes demonstrate the tangible ROI of investing in smarter conversations.

The Future of Provider CX Starts Now

The 2025 Healthcare Benchmark Report makes one thing clear: patients are ready for better experiences. They want digital convenience, personalized communication, and ethical use of their data. Providers who rise to meet these expectations will not only retain patients—they’ll earn their trust and loyalty.

Smart Communications’ Conversation Cloud offers a proven path forward. By modernizing how providers engage, communicate, and orchestrate care journeys, it turns every interaction into an opportunity to deliver value, build relationships, and improve outcomes.

Click here to access an on-demand webinar where we dig deeper into the report.

Smart Spotlight: Maddie Lewis on Life at Smart

Posted on by Dani Duffy

By Smart Communications 

At Smart Communications, we believe our greatest strength lies in our people, and our Smart Spotlight series is all about showcasing the talent, passion, and unique journeys that shape our culture. In this edition, we’re excited to introduce Maddie Lewis, our Vice President of Corporate Strategy.  

Since joining in 2022, Maddie has played a pivotal role in guiding key initiatives and fostering collaboration across the business—all while bringing curiosity, energy, and a drive for results to everything she does.  

Get to know Maddie as she shares her career journey, what inspires her at Smart, and how she’s making an impact both inside and outside of work. 

1. What is your role at Smart and how long have you been with the company? 

I joined in June of 2022 as the VP of Corporate Strategy. In my role, I support our Executive and Senior Leadership Teams in executing key strategic initiatives by providing cross-functional project management. It’s a fun role that gives me exposure to the entire business and an ability to ensure we’re focused on the initiatives and projects that will ultimately lead us to sustained success. 

2. What did you do for work prior to joining Smart, and why did you make the switch? 

Prior to joining SMART, I worked in management consulting with a focus on M&A, project & change management, and operational due diligence. While I loved the challenging projects and the breadth of industries and lines of business I was exposed to with consulting, I felt like I was missing the satisfaction that comes with working alongside a consistent team in an environment where you experience longer-term change and results. Consulting lends itself to delivering high–value results for multiple end clients across multiple projects – here at SMART I can apply my consulting knowledge and experience to drive results to a consistent team while gaining deeper knowledge about our business.   

3. What’s kept you at Smart? 

It’s no surprise that a common answer across all my colleagues at SMART is “the people.” I get to work with some of the brightest minds that challenge me and push me to constantly be learning and ensuring we continue to deliver gold–standard results. Not only am I challenged, I’m constantly encouraged and truly find joy in working with everyone at Smart. I also believe in our products and can see real-life value being driven for our customers, which makes any internal initiatives even more exciting knowing that ultimately, they will drive greater and better outcomes for our customers. 

4. What skills are needed to be successful in your role/on your team? 

Relentless curiosity. Understanding that the market is constantly evolving and changing. Therefore, asking how we as a business need to adapt and change to ensure we are setting our employees and customers up for success. Also, being OK with ambiguity while asking questions to ultimately drive clarity across the business.   

Ability to drive execution. Being able to balance long-term strategic goals while driving execution to ensure the company achieves our goals and they are not just left at goals. This means being able to articulate our strategy into actionable next steps. 

Collaboration. Strategy only works as long as the business functions are aligned and working towards the same objectives. Driving cross-functional collaboration and alignment is key in overall success of any strategic initiative. 

5. What’s your favorite aspect of your job? 

What I love most is working with smart, passionate people to solve tough problems and then seeing those solutions turn into real results for our employees and customers. 

6. What are you doing when you’re not working? 

Shortly after starting at Smart, my husband and I moved to the Upper West Side of New York City. When I’m not working, I love exploring the city – walking through Central Park, catching the ballet at the Lincoln Center, or trying a new fun restaurant. I also love traveling and staying active through hiking, swimming, and fly fishing.

  

If you’re interested in joining our dynamic team, we invite you to explore our current opportunities on our Careers page.