Dr Know: Dr Harshit Jain’s Doceree is revolutionising healthcare advertising through AI, tech

(December 24, 2024) When Harshit Jain told his parents he wanted to transition from practicing medicine to a career in healthcare advertising and marketing, they laughed. “We knew you couldn’t settle properly when you refused to do engineering, like we said,” they joked, showing their support through humour. Their words encouraged him to move forward, although his peers had their reservations about him making a dramatic change at a critical stage of his career. Ultimately, Dr Harshit Jain chose to trust his instincts and is now a leader in storytelling and creative-data integration in the healthcare advertising.

After serving in top roles at McCann World Group, Dr Jain founded Doceree in 2020. What began with a modest, three-member in the US has now grown into a global enterprise with over 200 employees across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and America. The company works with over 600 pharmaceutical brands, including the world’s top eight, through eight pioneering AI-powered technology solutions and has addressed the most significant challenges in healthcare—immunization, Vitamin D deficiency, and diabetes. The company is focussed on tackling the rising costs of healthcare by making healthcare marketing more efficient and effective through data-driven solutions. “”My eagerness for solving challenges has always been a driving force in my life,” Dr Jain says, in an interview with Global Indian.

His work has earned him some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, including the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good, India’s first Black Pencil at the D&AD Awards, and One Show’s first Best of Discipline Award in Health, Wellness & Pharma.

Dr Harshit Jain

A journey in healthcare

Born in New Delhi in January 1982, Dr Jain’s father was an engineer, while mother was an economist. He went to Bal Bharati Public School and then shifted to Vivekanand School, Anand Vihar. Dr Jain’s fascination with healthcare took root early on. He was deeply inspired by doctors’ dedication and resilience—balancing the demands of numerous patients and the emotional weight of their families while continuing to deliver exceptional care. This admiration gradually shaped his desire to make a meaningful contribution to healthcare. Choosing to become a physician was a decision driven by this calling. He enrolled at the University of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in 2000, where he earned his MBBS degree with first-division grade.

From there, he went to Northwestern University in Chicago, to study internal medicine. Student life in Chicago was a blend of rigorous studies and moments of self-discovery. The city’s vibrant culture offered a contrast to the demanding coursework, allowing Dr Jain to unwind and recharge. “My time at Northwestern not only deepened my medical knowledge but also instilled resilience, adaptability, and a global perspective. Though challenging, it laid the foundation for my journey, shaping both my personal and professional insights in ways I deeply value today,” says Dr Jain.

Dr Jain’s journey didn’t end there. He returned to India and did his MBA at IIM Lucknow, as he was curious about the business aspect of healthcare as well. “After practicing medicine as a physician for over eight years, I began to notice overlooked challenges within the healthcare industry—issues that required creative problem-solving from a medical practitioner’s perspective,” says the entrepreneur.

This need felt particularly urgent in a sector like global healthcare, the third-largest producer of data worldwide. The sector’s main challenge lay in efficiently utilising these vast amounts of data in a way that makes it accessible and impactful for efficient healthcare operations. It led to him quitting his medical practice to move into healthcare advertising at McCann World Group, where he served as the Country Head and Engagement Lead for America, India & Europe. During this time, in 2018, the Jain family moved to the UK, and then, in 2019, relocated to the US. Dr Jain’s desire to go deeper into the business side of healthcare advertising brought him back to India in 2020.

Building Doceree

When the pandemic hit, it only served to expose the inefficiencies in patient outcomes. This played a pivotal role in bringing Doceree’s founding vision to life, nudging Dr Jain to take on the challenge. He wanted to leverage his combined experience as a doctor and marketer to contribute to the pandemic-driven digital transformation in the healthcare industry. The sector was seeing acute global challenges, including rising healthcare costs and difficulties in engagement between healthcare professionals, pharma companies and ultimately, patients.

Dr. Harshit Jain

This led to the launch of Doceree, which “enabled pharmaceutical marketers not only to market their prescription drugs to HCPs in real-time but also to deliver messages precisely when HCPs needed them most,” informs Dr Jain, a member of Forbes Technological Council. Recently, Doceree entered the Australian market in collaboration with the WARD 6 agency, marking a key milestone in their global expansion.

Privacy first

However, as digital solutions gained prominence, data privacy concerns began to grow among key stakeholders in the healthcare industry, making them skeptical of such technologies. “To address these apprehensions, we leveraged our extensive HCP and patient data to responsibly deliver targeted messages, ensuring the use of only relevant and precise datasets for specific moments of care,” says Dr Jain, who raised $45 million in investments and expanded the company’s operations to 25 countries across four continents.

This approach enabled Doceree’s technology to achieve certification under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and secure a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), earning the trust of stakeholders.

Challenges 

Among the challenges he faced, one of the most significant was addressing the inefficiency of advertising to HCPs. Many solution providers, capitalizing on the limited awareness of programmatic marketing in healthcare, claimed expertise in delivering the right ads at the right time. This led to an overwhelming volume of ineffective advertisements, further burdening HCPs and complicating their already demanding schedules.

To solve this, Doceree introduced AI-powered Smart Nudges, ensuring that only relevant ads aligned with real-time HCP-patient engagement were delivered during critical points of care. “This innovation empowered HCPs to make informed decisions within their limited time, making their engagement more targeted and quality driven. It also benefited pharmaceutical marketers by achieving better script-lift outcomes that went beyond mere campaign impressions,” says the entrepreneur, who is also the Expert Health Advisor (global) for Frontier Strategy Group, a global information and advisory services firm for emerging market executives.

Dr. Harshit Jain

Elevating healthcare

Dr Jain’s vision is also to transform the global healthcare industry into a tech-connected ecosystem that prioritizes efficient patient outcomes while going beyond the traditional idea of profit. Towards this end, Doceree is preparing to launch five cutting-edge solutions in 2025.

“These new offerings will elevate the healthcare marketing ecosystem to new heights, making it smarter, safer, and more effective for both healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients alike,” says Dr Jain, whose business commitments require him to navigate across three different time zones on a regular basis as he travels between India, Europe, and America.

The author and podcaster

Fast forward to 2020 when he launched Doceree, Dr Jain felt the need to increase awareness around ‘point of care’ (POC) platforms, and their potential to deliver relevant, real-time messages to doctors while delivering care. It inspired him to write The Next Marketing – To Healthcare Professionals –  industry’s first book on POC marketing.

The book received an overwhelming response, motivating Dr Jain to begin working on his second, which deals with the ‘nudges’ in modern-age marketing and advertising in February 2025. “The prime objective is to guide brands in navigating today’s data-heavy world, where they compete for limited audience attention and empower brands to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace,” he says.

In addition to the second of his book series, Dr Jain is also planning to release the second season of his podcast series The Next Marketing With HJ. “This podcast is the world’s first healthcare marketing video podcast, featuring America’s top advertising minds as guests,” he says. When not working or writing, Dr Jain makes it a point to play some serious badminton with his son on weekends, which is his way to recharge for the coming Monday.

Brand India 

India has made remarkable strides in digital adoption within healthcare, and the rise of HealthTech startups is a testament to this progress, feels Dr Jain. “However, one important area where India has scope to work diligently is the optimal and ethical use of healthcare data,” he says.

For instance, challenges induced by inefficient healthcare workflows can be tackled through regulatory-compliant employment of doctor and patient data to develop a tech-powered ecosystem that enables marketers to connect with healthcare professionals directly but only through relevant digital channels and messages. “This would eliminate consequences caused by inefficient ads that disrupt HCPs already demanding work schedules and ensure that marketing is aligned with every HCPs specific needs, ultimately eradicating unethical marketing practices and establish guidelines for responsible healthcare advertising,” he points out.

Philanthropist 

Despite a very busy schedule, Dr Jain makes the time to give back, a habit he acquired as a child through his father. “He ensured that we distributed home-cooked meals to those in need, every week,” he says. As I grew older, I decided to channel my passion for healthcare and creativity into meaningful causes.

His love for children, and their innocence, often inspires him to contribute to child welfare initiatives both in India and globally. “My professional campaigns, majorly driven for child welfare have been globally known. However, I prefer to keep my personal contributions anonymous.”

• Follow Dr Harshit Jain on LinkedIn
• Discover more fascinating Stories