CINCINNATI – DTC Perspectives, Inc., the leading conference, training and publishing company for the consumer marketing of pharmaceutical and healthcare products, is honoring late health media executive and entrepreneur Traver Hutchins with induction into the 2021 DTC Hall of Fame. The DTC Hall of Fame is designed to honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in the advancement of direct-to-consumer marketing. Hutchins will be honored live at an induction ceremony October 13 in Boston as part of the 2021 DTC National Conference.
“Traver was a bright light in the industry, always grounded by his steadfast belief in the power of positively impacting patients’ lives,” said DTC Perspectives CEO Bob Ehrlich. “He left an indelible mark on the DTC industry, and we are privileged to honor his incredible achievements in advancing the spectrum of patient communications.”
In 1994, Hutchins founded Remedy Health Media (originally called MediZine), one of the first place-based consumer health media companies. The original launch of Medizine set into motion many of the practices that have been broadly adopted by the healthcare media industry, such as condition-specific consumer health education with contextually relevant sponsor messaging and measuring campaign effectiveness based on ROI versus traditional media metrics such as CPMs.
A 2008 multiple myeloma diagnosis jumpstarted Hutchins’ thinking about how he could turn challenge into opportunity and leverage his story to improve the patient experience. After his diagnosis, he spent much of his time and energy raising funds and awareness for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Hutchins’ journey with multiple myeloma also inspired him to think about how he could improve the care journeys and healthcare experiences of other patients. In 2011, he returned to his startup roots and built an urgent care chain from concept to reality. In just five months, he was able to deliver four centers with a team of 40 healthcare professionals.
Hutchins’ strategic eye and keen knack for forging partnerships and leveraging opportunity brought him to PatientPoint in 2017 in the role of Chief Growth Officer. With his inextinguishable entrepreneurial spirit, Hutchins was instrumental in the development of PatientPoint’s long-term growth plan, product roadmap and company merger and acquisition efforts. He had a unique and deep understanding of all healthcare constituents and was particularly passionate about bringing PatientPoint’s infusion treatment support program to life.
“DTC was never about marketing to Traver, it was about educating—he always put the patient first,” said PatientPoint Founder and CEO Mike Collette. “Traver’s incredible passion for educating patients provides a great reminder to all of us for why we’re all in this industry and why we’re all so passionate about patients.”