34: Reaching patients directly in medtech: Insights from Medtronic's Senior Director of Global Integrated Communications, Neuromodulation, Naomi Rodiles

About this episode

Alan Hart interviews Naomi Rodiles about the challenges and strategies in raising awareness for medical therapies in the medtech industry.

How do you raise awareness for complex, highly regulated medical therapies when most eligible patients do not even know it exists? At CES 2026, Alan Hart spoke with Naomi Rodiles, senior director of Global Integrated Communications , Neuromodulation , at Medtronic, about the patient communication required to grow adoption of therapies like deep brain stimula tion that can support management of movement disord ers li ke Parkinson's . Naomi explains that the challenge is not clinic al efficacy or provider trust, but rather awareness. Even proven therapies can sometimes remain invisible to patients until late in their journey. She outlines how her team is evolving from primarily health care provider - centered messaging to a multichannel, digital-first communications model designed to directly reach patients and caregivers to help them discover, understand and evaluate options earlier. Naomi emphasizes that effective patient marketing in m ed t ech is less about promotion and more about credible education that empowers better conversations in the clinician's office, while strengthening provider partnerships. She also shares practical leadership lessons from the transformation…

People in this episode

Host: Alan B. Hart

Guest: Naomi Rodiles

Topics covered

• patient communication
• medtech marketing
• healthcare awareness
• digital communications
• patient education
• leadership in healthcare

Keywords

• medtech
• patient awareness
• healthcare marketing
• digital-first communications
• deep brain stimulation
• Parkinson's disease
• patient education
• leadership lessons

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Medtronic, Global Integrated Communications, Neuromodulation

Products: deep brain stimulation

Places: CES 2026, Parkinson's

More episodes of Marketing Beyond with Alan B. Hart

• 39: How sales and marketing can grow together: Insights from Braze Chief Revenue Officer Ed McDonnell · May 6, 2026 · 39 min
• 38: Turning customer stories into growth: Insights from Shopify's head of Customer & Industry Marketing, Génesis Miranda Longo · April 29, 2026 · 20 min
• 37: Adapting to shifts in consumer behavior: Insights from Rich Honiball, retail executive and adjunct instructor at George Mason University · April 15, 2026 · 21 min
• Rerelease: Unleashing growth with the 'yes, and' strategy with PNC Bank CMO, Jenn Garbach · April 1, 2026 · 34 min
• 36: Marketing complexity into clarity: Insights from Synopsys CMO Ann Minooka · March 18, 2026 · 46 min
• 35: Marketing as entertainment, built to perform: Insights from Chime Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, Vineet Mehra · March 4, 2026 · 46 min