Meet Phlo’s Chief Commercial Officer, Adam Hunter. We sat down with Adam to find out more about how Phlo Connect was born, Adam’s role within the company, and his vision for the future of Phlo Connect.
I have a varied background as I started my career with an international law firm as a corporate law solicitor, however, very early on, I recognised that a legal career was not for me. So, some people call me a ‘recovering lawyer’ as the skills you learn never leave you entirely. I was fortunate to be accepted onto the Saltire Foundation Fellowship Programme with Entrepreneurial Scotland to complete an Executive MBA at Babson College in the USA. This was a game-changer for me as it not only provided a bridge between my corporate law background and business, but I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the most inspiring people who have become close friends. My Phlo story starts here as I met CEO and Founder Nadeem Sarwar on the programme, and we’ve remained friends ever since.
On my return to Scotland, I joined an innovative distillery called Arbikie, which had recently launched their business and I was part of the senior management team helping grow the company into an international drinks business. From there I joined Phlo in January 2019.
The original premise of our direct-to-consumer offering Phlo Digital Pharmacy was to provide NHS patients with a seamless and reliable digital pharmacy experience, addressing patient frustrations with brick-and-mortar pharmacies and the incumbent unreliable mail order operators. The focus was on building an easy way for patients to manage their medication online and deliver it the same day – all through an easy-to-use app.
We had a lightbulb moment that maybe what we had built for our patients might be of interest to other digital healthcare providers. We assessed the current pathways for patients and clinicians using a typical telemedicine provider and quickly identified gaps/obstacles facing operators looking to provide a seamless digital healthcare experience.
We quickly identified that our API-driven pharmacy infrastructure platform and on-demand same-day delivery capability was a powerful proposition to bring to market that benefited healthcare providers and enhanced the overall patient experience.
We have created a set of open APIs powered by our backend that gives other healthcare providers programmatic access to our pharmacy infrastructure and allows brands to fully customise services, where pharmacy infrastructure is the barrier to entry.
Our mission at Phlo Connect is to accelerate the seamless digital healthcare experiences for all. Our API-driven tech platform, coupled with our de-centralised pharmacy infrastructure, enables us to provide the next generation of pharmacy infrastructure to our healthcare partners.
I lead the Phlo Connect team focusing on developing our pipeline of new partnerships, maintaining existing partnerships, marketing / brand building and contributing to our current roadmap. I work with a very talented team of engineers, product owners, pharmacists, designers and marketers who have done an incredible job driving Phlo Connect forward. It’s a pleasure to work with such a great team.
Digital solutions will never wholly replace the need for face-to-face physical interactions with a healthcare provider. However, as the adoption of new technology continues across the broader healthcare sector, we should aim to end up with a blend of best-in-class “digital” and “in-person” care.
The adoption of digital healthcare platforms is a vital tool in triaging the healthcare needs of the wider populace and ensuring equal access to healthcare services regardless of where you live. Pre-covid, there were a lot of suspicions about the efficacy/reliability of digital-first healthcare solutions; for me, Covid has debunked this.
As the saying goes, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”. At Phlo Connect, we believe that clinician and patient experiences can be enhanced with seamless digital healthcare journeys from diagnosis to delivery. We are on a mission to change the future of healthcare by removing fragmentation and digitising clinical and patient pathways. We believe that we can achieve this by seamlessly connecting prescribers, patients, and pharmacy.
I recently wrote a blog on this very topic, so I will keep this brief:
For me, Phlo Connect is at the forefront of pharmacy innovation in the UK.
We work with some of the most innovative healthcare providers in the world. First and foremost, we have a relentless focus on creating seamless patient and clinician journeys. Our offering is unrivalled with our dedicated team of pharmacists, engineers, product owners, and designers. Further benefits include:
I love the challenge of developing and launching new business concepts. We had this idea of changing how healthcare providers and pharmacies work together, and we’ve started the journey to realise our vision for the future of healthcare.
Our first Phlo Connect partner was one of the world’s leading telemedicine providers, Babylon Health. When Nadeem and I pitched our proposed solution and the benefits it would bring to Babylon’s clinicians and patients,; we had no idea if this would resonate with their team. So, when they agreed to work with us, only three months after we had launched our first pharmacy in London, – I knew we were on to something. This solution became what we now call Phlo Connect.
Contact us to discover more about Phlo Connect and how we can work together to create integrated digital pathways for your clinicians and patients.
