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Top Healthcare Insights from Dreamforce ’23

Top Healthcare Insights from Dreamforce ’23

Within the Healthcare sector, one topic took center stage—Data Cloud. Discussions at Dreamforce 2023 underscored the pivotal role of data and how it has become easier than ever to unify data from disparate healthcare systems.

Dreamforce, the biggest Salesforce conference of the year, brought together Healthcare leaders, innovators, and experts to discuss how technology and innovation are reshaping the industry’s future. 

Coastal Cloud curated two peer-to-peer events for the Healthcare industry during Dreamforce—one focused on Data Cloud and the other on harmonizing Salesforce and Epic Cheers. Big names in Healthcare like UCSF Health, Allina, and Guardant participated while Amy Lynn LeDuc, Area Vice President of Sales & Marketing Cloud at Salesforce and Milissa Holland, Coastal’s Managing Director of Healthcare, moderated.

Chris DuFresne, previously the Vice President of Experience and Marketing Operations at Allina Health, speaks during Coastal Cloud’s Healthcare Roundtable at Dreamforce.
Healthcare leaders, innovators, and experts gather at the Coastal Cloud Penthouse to discuss how technology and innovation are reshaping the industry’s future.

Key Takeaways and Your Questions Answered

Our Healthcare sessions highlighted the growing importance of leveraging Data Cloud to drive innovation and better patient outcomes. 

1. Who out there feels that they need better access to data?
Everyone!

2. What are the biggest advantages of Salesforce Data Cloud?
Data Cloud is a game changer because it does not require the data to be perfect, which facilitates simpler integration, faster access to the data, and increased speed to market. Many platforms used in Healthcare are focused on the unified customer profile; Data Cloud unites them all.

3. What data would you use for personalization if you had access to it? In what ways would you leverage that data?
Even basic profile-level information—such as first name— about patients or consumers would be valuable. Reliable data gives healthcare providers the confidence that if they send an email to “Sam,” it’s actually “Sam” who’s going to get it. 

Additionally, enhanced appointment, encounter, and diagnosis data not only empowers providers to monitor patient appointment adherence and follow-up, but also contributes to the enhancement of primary care retention.

4. With Data Cloud, what data sources can be utilized?
Data Cloud now uses the same codebase as Marketing Cloud Personalization for first-party web tracking collection, protected under Salesforce’s BAA. This means data from a healthcare provider’s website could reveal a visitor is researching bariatric surgeons, suggesting they may be interested in targeted information regarding bariatric surgery. 

Data Cloud is allowing us to combine traditional types of data such as EMR data with real-time-release web and marketing data, tying it all into one platform that a single admin can maintain. – Sam Taylor, Senior Solution Architect, Coastal Cloud

A flat file of patient demographic data can be matched to web form data through easy identity resolution rules. Data Cloud offers the ability to set your own matching rules, so even basic details such as first name, last name, email, and zip code can be matched to existing patients. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Many HIPAA-compliant third-party form solutions integrate deeply with Salesforce. 

5. What are you doing at your organization to create a more seamless consumer experience using Salesforce?
The patient’s role in healthcare is evolving from a passive recipient to an active participant in their own healthcare journey, so better access to data is necessary to provide unified patient profiles and a more personalized patient experience. 

For example, data offers insight into which targets have already filled out a form and which need to be reminded, or which patients have already had a procedure and which need recommendations for follow-ups. It also helps providers avoid costly mistakes, such as sending appointment reminders to deceased patients.

We’re about a year and a half into our implementation. Coastal Cloud has been a fantastic partner. To streamline the patient experience, we’ve taken advantage of form integration, call tracking, and more. Marketing has access to more data than ever before, so now we know how much more effective our campaigns are. – Kyle Griffin, Solution Architect, Marketing Technology & Digital Experience at Allina Health

6. Data Cloud allows for increased outreach but how do you prioritize so you don’t exhaust the communication?
Centralized communication is solved through process change more than technological advancement. The prioritization of communication is key and that can only happen after you have a unified profile, which is where Data Cloud comes in.

The ability to segment off of multiple data sources with a drag-and-drop editor will also help your marketers streamline and prioritize communication.  For example, you may want to ensure you’re only targeting prospective bariatric patients who don’t have a history of cancer and are appropriately opted into emails. Unifying profiles from your internal cancer registry, with your Health Cloud and marketing collected data, can ensure you’re targeting only the specific audience you need. Moreover, you can filter audiences based on the recency and frequency of other communications, ensuring you’re getting the right message in front of the right person, at the right time.

Amy Lynn LeDuc, Area Vice President of Sales & Marketing Cloud at Salesforce joined Milissa Holland at Coastal Cloud’s Healthcare Roundtable.
Milissa Holland, Coastal’s Managing Director of Healthcare, moderated session.

If you didn’t make it to Dreamforce, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.

If you’d like to speak with one of our healthcare industry experts 1:1 to hear their perspectives, please reach out and we’ll get you scheduled. As a top-tier Salesforce partner with a 5/5 Customer Satisfaction Rating, we’re here for you.

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