Doceree Revolutionizes Pharma Marketing with Programmatic Physician Platforms
Digital penetration in pharmaceutical marketing was stuck at less than 5% of total marketing budgets—while consumer brands were investing 50%+ in digital. This massive inefficiency in how pharmaceutical companies engage with physicians was costing billions and driving up healthcare costs. Dr. Harshit Jain, a medical doctor turned entrepreneur, looked at this broken system and saw an opportunity to revolutionize an entire industry.
Jain quit his medical practice in 2006 without knowing what he would do next. His journey took him through health tech startups, healthcare communications, and global leadership roles at major advertising agencies across three continents. When he had won every possible advertising award and nothing was left to prove, he made a bold decision: solve the one problem that pharmaceutical marketing had failed to crack for decades—how to engage physicians digitally in a measurable, transparent way.
The result was Doceree, the world's first global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic marketing, powered by patented ESPIYAN™ technology.
From Doctor to Global Marketing Leader
Jain's unconventional path from Internal Medicine physician to marketing technology founder represents a unique perspective on healthcare innovation. "Studying medicine is just one discipline like any other," he explains. "When an engineer goes and does an MBA, it's similar to what I did after moving from medicine. I feel I'm now using the knowledge of medicine I gained during my early years to solve much bigger problems than being able to help a few patients."
After leaving medicine, Jain's entrepreneurial journey began with two startups—one in health tech and big data in North America, another in healthcare communications in Asian markets. Both succeeded with decent exits, providing the foundation for his next chapter.
Then came seven years at one of the world's largest advertising agencies, taking him from India to Asia Pacific, London, and finally New York. He progressed from Managing Director for India to Deputy Managing Director for Asia Pacific, then led growth for European business from London, and ultimately headed Digital, Data, and Innovations from New York.
Harshit Jain's Global Journey
- Medical Background: Internal Medicine physician (Northwestern, 2006)
- Health Tech: Founded health tech and big data startup in North America
- Healthcare Communications: Built Asian market healthcare communications company
- Advertising Leadership: 7 years across India, Asia Pacific, Europe, and New York
- Doceree: Founded 4.5+ years ago, now global leader in HCP programmatic marketing
During this advertising career, Jain worked with most major pharmaceutical companies and won every possible award in the industry. When there were no more awards left to win, he identified the one unsolved problem that would become his life's work: engaging physicians on digital platforms in a measurable and transparent manner.
The Problem: Broken Pharma Marketing Ecosystem
The pharmaceutical marketing ecosystem was fundamentally broken. Most investments were flowing to the top of the marketing funnel—non-targeted awareness campaigns far from actual business outcomes. Meanwhile, the middle and bottom of the funnel, where medical journals and point-of-care platforms sat, remained scattered and unorganized.
"We help pharmaceutical companies to do hyper-targeted messaging to physicians in professional environments," Jain explains. "We look at the penetration of digital within the pharmaceutical marketing ecosystem, especially around HCPs—it was very limited. Investments were less than 5% of total marketing budgets, while on the consumer side, investments on digital ecosystem were more than 50%."
— Dr. Harshit Jain, Founder & Global CEO, Doceree
The problem wasn't that pharmaceutical companies lacked technology or data—they had AI, geographic targeting, and billions in marketing budgets. The problem was that existing solutions couldn't reach physicians at the precise moment when patient care decisions were being made.
The Solution: Programmatic Marketing for Physicians
Doceree's breakthrough was creating the largest global network of physician-only platforms—the endemic ecosystem where healthcare professionals actually work. Instead of chasing physicians with non-targeted advertising, Doceree meets them where they're already making decisions: inside Electronic Health Record (EHR) platforms and patient care systems.
"Imagine advertising on an e-commerce platform when you're close to making a purchase of buying a sneaker brand," Jain explains. "Here, when the patient is in front of the physician, we're able to showcase a brand message which is relevant to the patient, and it is also aligned with the preferences of the physician."
Traditional Pharma Marketing vs Doceree
Traditional Approach:
- Top-of-funnel awareness campaigns (TV, print, broad digital)
- Non-targeted messaging to unknown physician audiences
- Less than 5% of marketing budgets allocated to digital
- Minimal measurability and transparency
- High cost per engagement with unclear ROI
Doceree Approach:
- Point-of-care messaging within EHR platforms
- Hyper-targeted based on physician preferences and patient profile
- Programmatic optimization in real-time
- Complete transparency and measurability
- Dramatically improved efficiency and effectiveness
The ESPIYAN™ Technology: Four Patents, Three More Pending
At the heart of Doceree's platform is patented ESPIYAN™ technology, which Jain describes as having four granted patents with three more pending. The technology operates through a sophisticated four-step process:
Step 1: Physician Identification
The system first identifies exactly who the physician is, creating a foundation for personalization.
Step 2: Physician Graph Construction
"It pulls a physician graph to understand what does this physician like to do," Jain explains. "How many similar patients does he see? What has he done with other patients? Does he have affinity to a brand? Does he have affinity to a category? Manufacturer, etc?" Over 200 parameters are studied to build this comprehensive profile.
Step 3: Patient Context Understanding
"Then it tries to understand who is the patient sitting in front of the physician—that's the most tricky part while keeping it HIPAA compliant," Jain notes. The system analyzes the patient's situation while strictly maintaining privacy compliance.
Step 4: Contextual Message Delivery
"What are you doing right now? Are you taking history? Are you writing a diagnosis? Are you writing a script?" Based on this real-time context, Doceree delivers the most appropriate message to the physician inside the EHR platform.
The Decision Remains with Physicians
Jain emphasizes a crucial principle: "It is just a means to the decision to use or not use the message is of a physician only, but an appropriate message is displayed to the physician." This respect for physician autonomy is central to Doceree's philosophy—it's about providing relevant information, not making decisions for healthcare professionals.
Platform Integration: HIPAA-Compliant Partnerships
How does Doceree get inside healthcare portals? Through strategic partnerships with EHR platforms. "We have a business development team who partners with most of the electronic health record platforms," Jain explains. "Then our patented technology is integrated in the most regulatory-compliant and HIPAA-compliant manner with these platforms."
This integration enables pharmaceutical brands to access physicians at the precise moment of care delivery—when they're thinking about the patient in the middle of care. It's the equivalent of showing a sneaker advertisement when someone is about to click "buy" on an e-commerce site.
Data + Creativity: The Innovation Engine
One of Doceree's core principles is blending data with creativity—a combination Jain sees as essential for pharmaceutical marketing success.
"Data is as good as you can make use of it," Jain explains. "The ability to build a physician graph—understanding who is that physician—if you can use that data to understand the physician and then craft a message that works for that person in particular, the outcomes that will come as a result of that messaging or advertising would always be way better than a non-personalized, non-targeted message."
This philosophy of data-driven creativity extends beyond just marketing messages. It informs every aspect of how Doceree approaches pharmaceutical marketing innovation.
AI Integration: From Gimmick to Essential
Artificial intelligence has moved beyond being a marketing gimmick to becoming essential infrastructure. "AI has reached that stage now where it is no more a gimmick," Jain states firmly. "If you don't adopt AI now, you'll be left behind."
Doceree uses AI across three critical functions:
Identification: "Using AI to identify and predict with deterministic accuracy who is this person, because if you know that person then you can personalize it so well."
Optimization: "All the algorithms that we use to understand the individual, the entire physician graph, and then predict what would the response of that physician be—is a great use of this AI application. It becomes more and more intelligent, more and more smart as we keep gathering more and more data."
Performance Enhancement: "Using to identify, using to optimize, and using to improve the performance of whatever we do."
Doceree's AI-First Organization
Product AI: Physician graph algorithms, predictive modeling, response optimization
Marketing AI: Campaign optimization, audience targeting, performance analytics
Engineering AI: Code optimization, testing automation, bug prediction
Business AI: Forecasting, resource allocation, strategic planning
Beyond just using AI in products, Jain has implemented a company-wide "AI-first" imperative. "We encourage all teams—whether it's marketing team, engineering team, or business team—to start thinking about AI, to start using tools that are available that can help in improving what they do and how they do."
Real-World Impact: Case Studies That Matter
Jain shares two powerful examples of Doceree's technology solving real pharmaceutical marketing challenges:
Case Study 1: Preventing Generic Substitution
The Problem: A drug nearing patent expiry was being replaced by generic molecules at pharmacies. Physicians were writing prescriptions for the brand drug, but pharmacists were substituting cheaper generics.
The Solution: Doceree launched a campaign inside EHR platforms to encourage physicians to check the "dispense as written" box, instructing pharmacists not to substitute the drug.
The Result: The brand saw a significant increase in prescription refills, effectively extending the drug's market life and revenue despite generic competition.
Case Study 2: Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment
The Problem: A pharmaceutical company was struggling to recruit patients with complex eligibility criteria for a clinical trial. Direct-to-patient outreach generated many false positives.
The Solution: Doceree identified patients who met the exact eligibility criteria and communicated with physicians when eligible patients were in their offices: "This patient might benefit from this clinical trial, you may want to refer him to this investigator."
The Result: The clinical trial completed its recruitment target in just 8 weeks—a dramatic acceleration compared to traditional recruitment methods.
Business Model: Three Revenue Streams
Doceree's monetization strategy reflects its technology-first approach:
1. SaaS Subscription Revenue: "We provide access to our patented technology platform to pharmaceutical manufacturers and the agencies who work for them, and we charge a subscription fee for that platform."
2. Per-Impression Media Revenue: "On the utilization of media that is done on our platform, we charge on a per-impression basis."
3. Data Products Revenue: "Other value-added products, data products that we have—that's our third revenue stream."
India Market: Early Stage but Rapid Growth
Doceree operates globally, including in India, where Jain sees tremendous potential despite current limitations. "We work with most of the pharmaceutical manufacturers in India, although the adoption of digital in India is still limited, but it is growing at a very fast base."
The challenge in India is data availability compared to more mature markets. "The amount of data that is there in India versus if I compare it with the US or any other country is limited," Jain acknowledges. "But as India is moving towards a digital economy and there are so many initiatives that the government has planned and already leading, we're very positive that this scenario will also change over a period of time."
The Entrepreneur's Journey: Blood, Sweat, and Tears
When asked about the challenges of entrepreneurship, Jain is candid about the reality. "Entrepreneurship is always like ups and downs, and only when you see the downs you start appreciating ups."
He describes moments that every entrepreneur faces: "There are moments that come when you think, 'Oh, it's all over now, you can't recover, and it is done now.' There are lots of such moments that come in the journey."
— Dr. Harshit Jain, Founder & Global CEO, Doceree
Work-Life Integration vs Balance
Jain takes a nuanced approach to the work-life balance question. "More than work-life balance, I believe in work-life integration—make your life work work in a way so that nothing is disturbed. You can't disturb your personal life or a professional venture, and vice versa."
His approach is surprisingly disciplined: "I never take my laptop home. I don't do anything after I go home. I don't work on weekends, but I spend extended hours in office. When I'm here, I'm continuously working, but as soon as I leave the office, I try to shut down because that helps me in charging up for the next day."
The Integration Philosophy
Jain's approach challenges the "always-on" startup founder stereotype:
- Extended Office Hours: Work intensely during office hours
- Complete Disconnect: Never bring work home—no laptop, no weekends
- Recharge Discipline: Complete shutdown enables next-day performance
- Respect Boundaries: Personal life enables professional success
Making Tough Decisions with Humanity
Every entrepreneur faces difficult decisions—layoffs, business unit closures, product shutdowns. Jain's approach is clear: make decisions in business interest, but execute them with humanity.
"Those decisions always have to be taken in the business interest because you're responsible for running the business," Jain acknowledges. "But I think it's important to be human even when you're taking those business decisions."
He explains the difference: "Those decisions definitely look hard at times to people who are losing a job. There's no better way to communicate that decision, but if you communicate it humanly—if you understand the human aspect and do whatever you can in your limited capacity at that time to comfort the person—versus just being inhumane and just shutting down the system and sending an email saying 'we are laying you off' versus you set up a call, talk to the person, explain what is the reason for you to take the decision—brings a lot of difference."
Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs
Jain's journey offers crucial insights for aspiring entrepreneurs:
Stay Focused: "There are a lot of moments, a lot of opportunities that come along the way which look easy, which will take you away from what you started to build. Don't get deviated. Always stay focused."
The distinction between pivoting and deviating is crucial. "It does not mean that if something is not working out, you just keep doing that. You have to be receptive to your customer's need, pivot as required, but don't deviate. There's a lot of difference between pivoting and deviating."
Stay Optimistic: "As a startup founder who believes in a vision, who believes in making impossible possible, you have to be optimistic. If you leave that optimism, it will become hard for you and your team to chase an impossible task."
Optimism isn't just personality—it's leadership fuel. Founders who lose optimism can't sustain their teams through the inevitable dark moments of entrepreneurship.
About the Guest
Dr. Harshit Jain is the Founder & Global CEO of Doceree, the world's first global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic marketing in healthcare. A medical doctor by training (Internal Medicine, Northwestern, 2006), Jain left clinical practice to solve bigger healthcare problems through innovation and technology.
His entrepreneurial journey includes founding health tech and big data startups in North America, building healthcare communications companies in Asian markets, and spending seven years in global leadership roles at major advertising agencies across India, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States.
Under his leadership, Doceree has developed patented ESPIYAN™ technology and established the largest global network of physician-only platforms, transforming how pharmaceutical companies engage with healthcare professionals. The company's mission extends beyond marketing success—it aims to reduce healthcare costs globally by bringing efficiency and effectiveness to pharmaceutical marketing.
Jain is also the host of "The Next Marketing with HJ" podcast, where he explores the future of healthcare marketing with industry leaders. He is a recognized thought leader in programmatic marketing, AI in healthcare, and pharmaceutical innovation, regularly featured in industry publications and Forbes Councils.
His philosophy of combining data with creativity, maintaining work-life integration, and staying focused on core mission has made Doceree one of the fastest-growing companies in healthcare marketing technology, serving pharmaceutical manufacturers and agencies globally with measurable, transparent, and effective physician engagement solutions.