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Three out of four Americans say their personal doctor is the most trusted voice in their healthcare decisions. That number holds across every political ideology. No agency, no institution, no government messenger comes close.

And yet, 42% of those same Americans deliberately acted against their clinician's recommendation in the past year.

Not because they distrust their doctor. Because they don't trust the system their doctor works inside.

That is the healthcare trust paradox. And it is not just a communications problem or a policy problem. It is a patient experience problem. And in this episode, we talk about what we can actually do about it.

My guest is Ryan Cohn, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Sachs Media and founder of SachsHEALTH, the firm's specialized healthcare division. Ryan brings the findings from the 2026 SachsHEALTH Influence Index, a national survey of 2,500 American adults, that measures the disconnect between who Americans consider influential in healthcare and who they actually want in the room.

The data is clear, specific, and urgent. We dig into all of it.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why patients trust their doctor but act against their advice, and what is actually happening in that gap
• The influence gap: clinicians have 26% perceived influence, but 58% of Americans say they should have more. The widest gap of any group measured.
• What 42% active noncompliance looks like in practice: delayed treatments, skipped tests, self-directed medication changes, and what that costs clinically
• Why only 52% of Americans trust the healthcare system to act in their best interests, and what distrust is doing to behavior before patients even walk through your door
• The cost crisis: 54% name affordability as their top concern. 63% worry it will force serious financial sacrifices. This is nonpartisan, pervasive, and changing patient behavior before the clinical encounter begins.
• Three controlled experiments that reveal what actually moves people: who says it, how it's framed, and who signed off on it, and why a doctor outperformed every agency and political messenger across every ideology
• Five moves for making the invisible hand of healthcare visible, and what each one means for patient experience strategy

The listener challenge:

Look at the last three pieces of communication your practice sent to patients. Ask yourself: does this make the invisible hand visible? Does it acknowledge what patients are actually worried about? And does it use the voice they trust most, or the institutional voice they trust least?

About Ryan Cohn
Ryan Cohn is Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Sachs Media and founder of SachsHEALTH. He has spent nearly two decades advising health systems, pharmaceutical companies, patient groups, and industry associations on public affairs, advocacy, and crisis communications across more than 35 states and Washington, D.C.

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn.

Full report: Sachs Media Influence Index

TouchPoints: Moments that Matter is hosted by Melissa Gilkes-Smith, founder of HMCG and creator of the Nine Pillars of Patient Experience Framework and the Focused Leader Program.

Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn.

Visit the Healthcare Management Consulting Group website for more insights on patient experience.

Because a remarkable patient experience doesn't happen by accident - it happens by design.