At Fierce Pharma Week 2025, Vijay Adapala, EVP & GM, Global Supply Partnerships, Doceree, sat down with John Ketcham, Chief Revenue Officer, DAW Systems, for a wide-ranging conversation on the evolving landscape of ePrescribing, provider experience, AI integration, and how pharma marketing is adapting to new demands. With a unique career spanning pharmacy operations, platform development, and strategic partnerships, John shared perspectives grounded in real-world workflows and outcomes.
John’s background provides a rare 360-degree view of healthcare technology. Having worked directly with pharmacies and closely with pharmaceutical organizations, he now leads revenue strategy at DAW Systems—where the focus is on powering the prescribing experience with compliance, reliability, and efficiency at the center.
At DAW, the mission is simple: make ePrescribing work seamlessly for physicians wherever they are. “We’re dealing with the prescribing piece of the journey,” John explained, “and the goal is to ensure physicians can prescribe in a compliant, efficient way, whether they’re in the office, on the road, or at home.” By eliminating redundant workflows and friction in the system, the technology allows prescribers to focus on care rather than process.
One of the most persistent challenges healthcare providers face is workflow disruption. Physicians today expect tools that are not only reliable but intuitive. “No double entry of data, no asynchronous events that don’t help the prescriber get more efficient,” John said. “We want people to prescribe quickly and easily, but without unnecessary thought.”
This reflects a broader theme across healthcare technology: providers want solutions that disappear into the workflow, reducing cognitive load and enabling better care in less time.
When asked about the most notable shifts in healthcare technology, John emphasized interoperability—specifically, the dramatic improvements over the last decade. What once required manual, custom integrations is now standard across cloud-based platforms and APIs. This interoperability allows data to flow more freely between systems, creating more unified experiences for clinicians and patients alike.
On the topic of AI, John offered a grounded view. Rather than seeing AI as a replacement for human expertise, he sees it as a force multiplier—especially when applied to mundane yet impactful tasks. At DAW, AI is being used to enhance user experience by improving how pharmacies are found and selected within ePrescribing workflows. Simple issues—like punctuation variations in pharmacy names—can frustrate users and slow down care delivery. AI removes these “thousand small cuts” by predicting intent and smoothing the search process.
The conversation also turned to broader shifts in how prescriptions are used and fulfilled, especially with the rise of direct-to-pharmacy and manufacturer-sponsored models. These approaches can remove barriers in the supply chain and bring therapies directly to patients—sometimes improving adherence by making access easier.
John noted that while acute medications usually get filled immediately, chronic therapies often don’t. “When something doesn’t bother you right now—like a statin or migraine prevention medication—there’s a high likelihood the patient won’t pick it up,” he observed. Understanding these behavioral patterns is critical for both care and engagement strategies.
Marketing in clinical platforms must be respectful and value-driven. “You have to worry about how that person will receive the message,” John said. “Do they find it intrusive? Annoying? Because at the end of the day, it’s a clinical platform.”
This is where partnerships like the one between DAW Systems and Doceree play a transformative role. By enabling contextual, relevant engagement with healthcare professionals—without disrupting workflow—Doceree’s approach allows pharma marketers to deliver messages that are additive rather than intrusive. John described this not just as an ancillary revenue stream, but as a differentiated value-add that enhances the clinician experience and supports meaningful engagement at the point of care.
From a technical standpoint, integrating advertising and engagement capabilities through Doceree was surprisingly smooth. With minimal IT effort, DAW’s team implemented the solution and now relies on real-time dashboards to monitor impressions and performance—removing the need for complex ad tech infrastructure and ongoing management.
As the discussion closed, John shared two bold predictions for the near future of healthcare:
Traditional direct-to-consumer advertising on linear television may soon decline under pressure, prompting marketers to explore more targeted channels like HCP engagement. Planning for this shift now will give organizations time to build effective strategies and infrastructure.
While humans remain essential, AI’s impact on workflows, data interpretation, and user experience will only grow. Technologies that seemed impossible a few years ago are now within reach, and this momentum will accelerate.
This episode of Doceree Dialogue offered grounded insights into some of the most pressing issues in healthcare technology and marketing—from optimizing prescriber workflows to applying AI thoughtfully, and from evolving engagement models to the need for respectful, value-based messaging.
For healthcare leaders navigating complexity, the future will belong to those who can blend innovation with practicality, always keeping the experience of clinicians and patients at the center.
Stay tuned for more episodes of Doceree Dialogue, where industry innovators share real-world perspectives and explore what’s next for healthcare engagement.