Barbara Rhoden, PhD
Speaking

Talks on why good healthcare technology stalls, and what moves it.

Keynotes, fireside chats, panels, and executive briefings on technology adoption, medtech commercialization, and women's health innovation.

Built for conferences and leadership sessions across health systems, payers, and health tech.

Send a speaking inquiry See the topics
Topics

Three talks, each adaptable to the room.

Custom topics are available. Every talk draws on twenty years inside healthcare commercialization, from first launch through stalled adoption and commercial recovery.

01

The Adoption Diagnosis

Diagnose the real adoption barrier before spending another dollar on the wrong one.

Most FDA-cleared technologies do not fail in the lab. They stall in the market, because the real barrier has not been diagnosed. This keynote introduces The Adoption Diagnosis™, which identifies whether the barrier is Awareness, Usability, or Trust, and why treating one as another makes the original problem worse.

Key takeaways
  • How to identify which of the three barriers is actually stalling adoption.
  • Why awareness mistakes, usability mistakes, and trust mistakes carry fundamentally different costs.
  • A decision logic your leadership team can use to govern adoption investment, not just measure it.
  • How to reframe adoption from a marketing problem into a capital allocation discipline.

Built for: Innovation summits, health system leadership offsites, board strategy sessions, and investor conferences.

Related reading: The Diagnosis No One Is Making

02

The Science of Strategic Storytelling: Turning Complexity Into Commercial Advantage

Turn complex science into narratives that earn trust and drive adoption.

This keynote gives leaders a practical framework for translating complex science into narratives that clinicians, executives, and customers can actually hear, trust, and act on.

Key takeaways
  • How to find the signal in crowded, data-heavy environments.
  • Turning evidence and product features into human-centered clarity.
  • Aligning executives, clinicians, and commercial teams around one story.
  • Using narrative to de-risk launches, accelerate adoption, and build durable momentum.

Related reading: Trust Is Not One Thing

03

Women's Health as an Innovation Frontier: What Is Next, What Is Needed

Where women's health innovation is headed, and what is still missing.

Women's health is having a moment, but not all innovation is created equal. Drawing on decades in imaging, sleep, and health equity, plus published commentary in Fortune and Fast Company, this keynote looks at where women's health is headed, what is missing, and how to design solutions that fit real women's lives.

Key takeaways
  • Why women's sleep and rest are a public-health issue, not a wellness trend.
  • The risks of designing for ideals instead of the realities of women's lives.
  • How to build products, programs, and narratives that earn women's trust.
  • Practical shifts leaders can make now, in benefits, care models, and storytelling.

Related reading: Five Years. The Same Score. Here Is the Diagnosis.

Formats

Four ways to bring the work into the room.

Keynote

30 to 60 minutes. Frameworks and stories, designed to create alignment and action.

Fireside chat

With senior leaders, founders, and investors.

Panel

Moderation or participation. Curated voices, crisp synthesis in real time.

Executive briefing

Board or leadership-team sessions.

Each engagement starts with a 30-minute planning call to align the audience, goals, and format.

Why Barbara

A chemist who spent twenty years in the market.

PhD chemist.
Commercial leader at GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, and high-growth health ventures.
20+ FDA-cleared launches.
Writing published in Fortune and Fast Company.

About Barbara Rhoden

Booking

Curating a room where science, strategy, and leadership meet?

Send the event, date, audience, and format you have in mind, and we can talk about what your audience needs and whether this is the right fit for your stage.

Send a speaking inquiry

Or write directly to barbara.rhoden@barbararhoden.com.

Looking for the diagnosis itself?

Start with a Fit Check. A short, free conversation that confirms there is enough evidence to run the diagnosis, and whether now is the right time.

Request a Fit Check