Building a Patient-Centered Digital Front Door
At HCIC 2026, Jason Kaufmann of Riverview Health shared insights on finding the right partners, improving the patient journey, and expanding access to trusted health content.
Creating an effective digital front door for healthcare organizations is more than building a well-designed website. It requires connecting patients with the right information, providers, and services throughout their care journey.
At the 2026 Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC), Jason Kaufmann of Riverview Health discussed his organization’s approach to developing a more integrated digital experience. He also shared insights on selecting the right partners, prioritizing patient needs, and expanding the role of trusted health content in digital patient engagement.
Finding the Right Partners
Building an effective digital front door is bigger than choosing the right tools. For Kaufmann, finding partners that understand an organization’s needs, offer flexibility, and work well together is essential to creating a connected patient experience.
“I think ultimately there is no single solution for developing your own digital front door and the systems that underlie it. It’s a matter of finding partners that you can trust and that give you the credibility and the flexibility to really do a great job at curating the patient experience,” Kaufmann said.
Digital healthcare is becoming more complex and specialized. Marketing teams may not have the internal resources or expertise to manage every component independently. External partners can help fill those gaps, but selecting the right ones requires understanding how their capabilities fit together.
Kaufmann emphasized that every health system faces different challenges, and the right combination of solutions will vary based on its specific needs. Rather than searching for a universal platform, the priority should be finding trusted, flexible partners whose solutions can integrate effectively and support a seamless patient journey.
Keeping the Patient Journey at the Center
While technology provides the foundation, Kaufmann stressed that the patient experience should guide every decision about a healthcare website. Healthcare websites often serve multiple purposes, from recruitment to organizational communications. However, adding too many competing priorities can make it harder for patients to accomplish their primary goals.
For Kaufmann, two essential components of that experience are helping patients find the right providers and making it easy to schedule appointments.
“I think number one is making sure that your website is totally focused on the patient experience,” Kaufmann said. “Making it easy to find providers and making it easy to schedule appointments with those providers. That is the number one imperative.”
By keeping these functions central to the digital experience, healthcare organizations can reduce barriers between patients and the care they need.
Expanding the Role of Trusted Health Content
Beyond provider discovery and appointment scheduling, Kaufmann highlighted the importance of reliable health information in supporting the patient journey. He discussed opportunities to distribute clinically validated content across more digital channels, extending its reach beyond the website. “I think that’s really where we’ll continue to expand: integrating that clinically validated content throughout all of our different channels,” Kaufmann said. Expanding content distribution can help healthcare organizations make trusted health information more accessible across the different channels patients use, supporting a more connected digital experience.
Taking a Thoughtful Approach to AI
Although Kaufmann sees significant potential for AI in healthcare, he cautioned against adopting new tools without a clear purpose. “I think AI is not a universal solution. The thing that worries me most is the uneducated or unthoughtful application of AI.” he emphasized.
For healthcare organizations, understanding where AI systems obtain their information is particularly important when patients may rely on that information to make healthcare decisions. Kaufmann highlighted the value of grounding AI-generated responses in information from a health system’s own website and established content sources. This approach can help organizations maintain greater control over the accuracy and consistency of patient communications.
He also highlighted the continued importance of authentic patient stories, images, and videos, which he believes AI-generated content cannot fully replace.
Ultimately, Kaufmann sees the greatest value in applying AI to specific patient needs, particularly helping people find information and connect with appropriate care. His insights underscore an important consideration for healthcare digital teams: building an effective digital front door requires bringing together the right partners, technology, and trusted content to create a more connected, accessible patient experience.
About Jason Kaufmann
Jason Kaufmann is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Riverview Health, a community health system in central Indiana. He leads strategic marketing initiatives focused on strengthening brand awareness, patient engagement, and organizational growth. With extensive experience in healthcare marketing, Kaufmann specializes in storytelling, digital strategy, CRM, and integrated communications. He works closely with clinical and leadership teams to align marketing strategies with patient needs and organizational goals. He is passionate about strengthening Riverview Health’s reputation as a trusted healthcare provider in the community.
