At the 2026 Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS), one theme surfaced again and again: health systems are under growing pressure to drive referral growth more efficiently—while maintaining trust, clinical credibility, and relevance with physicians.

In a joint session at HMPS, UF Health and IQVIA Health System Solutions explored what this reality demands from physician engagement today. The answer was clear: broad, broadcast‑style outreach is no longer enough. The future of physician engagement is intent‑driven.

Why Physician Engagement Still Drives Growth

Even in a digital‑first healthcare landscape, physician recommendations remain one of the most influential drivers of patient decisions, particularly in complex and high‑acuity care. Referral decisions continue to represent a significant share of downstream, high‑value revenue for health systems.

But communicating to physicians effectively requires a different mindset than consumer marketing. Physicians expect relevance, rigor, and respect for their time. That expectation is reshaping how health systems approach engagement.

The Shift: From Reach to Relevance

At HMPS, UF Health shared firsthand experience navigating this shift. Physicians are a nuanced audience, balancing limited time, clinical complexity, and deep confidence in their own expertise. As a result, when and why a message appears matters more than how often it’s delivered.

Effective physician engagement today requires:

• Precision targeting by specialty and clinical interest
• Clinically credible content that supports decision‑making
• Thoughtful orchestration across channels such as email, digital media, and physician liaison efforts

Most importantly, it requires understanding intent.

Turning Intent into Action at UF Health

During the session, UF Health shared an example from its brain tumor program, where referral decisions are complex, time‑sensitive, and deeply clinical.

The goal: Increase awareness and referrals for UF Health’s brain tumor expertise, including glioblastoma care.

The challenge: Deliver clinically credible information at exactly the right moment in the decision journey.

By partnering with IQVIA, UF Health activated an intent‑based engagement strategy that:

• Triggered outreach based on real physician research behavior
• Delivered messaging within 24 hours of identified clinical interest
• Focused on education and credibility, not promotion

The approach enabled UF Health to scale physician engagement while maintaining trust and relevance.

Looking Ahead

The best physician engagement doesn’t feel like marketing at all. It feels like support, delivered at the moment it matters most.

As health systems compete for referrals and reputation in increasingly complex environments, intent‑based physician engagement is emerging as a critical lever for sustainable growth.

Ready to make physician engagement more relevant and more measurable?

If you’re working to improve referral growth, reduce leakage, or align strategy and physician engagement, our experts can help you evaluate where intent based programs fit and what it takes to operationalize them. Learn more by reaching out today.