For many cancer centers, referral growth depends on reaching the right physicians with the right message—at exactly the moment clinical interest is highest. For a California‑based cancer center with a nationally recognized Breast Cancer Program, traditional broadcast outreach made that increasingly difficult at scale.

To strengthen referral pathways and drive measurable growth, the organization partnered with IQVIA to apply behavior‑based physician engagement, bridging the gap between physician research and referral action.

The Challenge: Relevance, Timing, and Measurement at Scale

Breast cancer care spans multiple specialties and geographies, making relevance difficult to maintain with one‑to‑many outreach. The cancer center needed a scalable way to:

• Deliver clinically relevant messaging across diverse referring providers
• Deterministically identify oncology and subspecialty physicians actively engaging with breast cancer content
• Align outreach with real research moments and stages in the referral journey
• Measure referral lift and net‑new referral impact
• Maintain ongoing, contextual engagement to support long‑term referral preference

The Approach: Activating Intent with Triggered Email

The organization partnered with IQVIA Digital to deploy the IQVIA Digital AIM XR Triggered Email Program, designed to activate real physician behavior in near real time.

The strategy centered on three core elements:

• Deterministic identification of oncology and subspecialty providers actively researching breast cancer topics, based on behavior observed across owned digital properties and a national network of medically relevant third‑party sites
• Behavioral triggering, deploying targeted email outreach within 24 hours of demonstrated clinical interest
• Personalized, journey‑based messaging, reinforcing clinical credibility while guiding physicians toward clear “Refer a Patient” calls to action

Each campaign email was connected directly to a provider’s demonstrated interest in breast cancer care—making engagement timely, relevant, and actionable.

The Results: Measurable Referral Growth

The triggered email program produced measurable impact across referral behavior and new patient growth.

Why It Worked

By translating behavioral data into timely touchpoints, the cancer center moved beyond broadcast marketing to physician engagement grounded in real clinical context. The program demonstrated how triggered, intent‑based outreach can:

• Reach large, diverse referral audiences with precision
• Personalize outreach based on specialty and demonstrated interest
• Refine messaging and timing based on performance
• Support multichannel physician engagement
• Demonstrate measurable, real‑world referral impact

A Scalable Model for Referral Growth

The success of the Breast Cancer Program highlights how intent‑based physician engagement can serve as a scalable growth model for health systems seeking to strengthen referral networks and drive specialty growth.

Turn physician intent into measurable referral growth
This breast cancer case study shows what’s possible when physician engagement is aligned to real clinical intent—not broadcast schedules. If your team is focused on increasing specialty referrals, reducing leakage, or modernizing oncology physician engagement, an IQVIA expert can help you assess where intent based programs fit your growth strategy. Learn more by reaching out today.