uMed takes on the workload of identifying, engaging and screening suitable patients for research, enabling healthcare providers to participate in revenue-generating studies without additional burden.
Helped over 6000+ patients participate in research
Trusted by 500+ GP practices across the UK
Generated over £200,000 for the NHS to date
Supported over 20 studies across 14 disease areas
We connect patients with research
We are data processors, not controllers
We separate all identifiable information from health data
We’re compliant with the requirements of the NHS Digital Data and Security Protection Toolkit
We’re certified by Cyber Essentials
We’re a Crown Commercial Service Supplier
Quick approval, no hassle
Approve patient lists in 10 minutes and continue to focus on your number one priority: patient care.
Open up access to research for patients.
Patients from all socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnicities can participate. There are no trial site limitations meaning that no patient should be denied participation.
Patient support line provided
uMed’s support team alleviates pressure of patient calls to practice about participation in the programme.
Earn revenue from multiple sub-studies
Create collaboration between research active and non-research active practices by generating additional additional revenue.
"We’ve been working alongside uMed since 2019 to provide our patients with the opportunity to participate in multiple research programmes. Its management of patient identification and communication on our behalf allows us to be involved in cutting-edge research without compromising our focus on patient care. Without the platform to take on the admin and workload, there simply wouldn’t be the capacity to take part."
National Research Lead at Modality Partnership
“Research dovetails teaching and training. The Living Well Partnership is passionate about being a learning organisation and is using the research to support education for patients and clinicians alike to develop and advance medicine. We all have a big role to play in research and Primary Care is a huge data bank that is completely under utilised to support research. uMed makes this achievable in the current climate, enabling easy data extraction and approval of screened patients.”
GP Principal at Living Well Partnership
"As GP practices we have the opportunity to maximise the benefits of research through embedding research in existing care delivery and pathways. This enables us to offer novel treatments and investigations to our patients, accelerate the development of new treatments and devices and also generate income for providers to fund further growth.
At Shore Medical we have a broad range of studies up and running, at the moment with a focus towards diabetes and COPD. uMed enables our patients access to appropriate studies, with little GP or in house research team time required whilst also generating an income stream for the practice."
GP Partner, Lilliput Surgery, Shore Medical
Patient identification & approval
uMed runs a search to identify eligible patients for the ACCESS registry. The GP reviews their patient lists and approve or omit as required.
Patient engagement
Multi-channel patient engagement via SMS, email or letter, sent on behalf of the patient’s recognised healthcare provider.
Consent
Patients will be asked for specific consent to join the registry. They can opt out at any time. Our study support team is available to discuss opting out or any other questions patients may have.
Screening
Patients complete a screening questionnaire based on the study inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Criteria that can’t be screened via questionnaire is screened and validate via phone by a registered nurse.
Data Protection
We’ve pioneered the automation of the most time-consuming aspects of research – patient identification, approval and engagement – enabling healthcare professionals to participate in more studies with minimal incremental workload.
Opt Out
Patients can opt out of contact, sharing data or study participation at any time. We will not contact patients who have registered for the national data opt out.
24hr checks
Our system runs 24 hr checks on the EHR data to ensure no patients are engaged who are unsuitable (due to mortality, admitted to care homes).
Support Line
uMed provides a nurse support line to support patients throughout the process and reduce the pressure of incoming calls for practice staff related to the study.
Examples of our Medical Partners
Frequently asked questions
Who is uMed?
uMed is a clinical research and health technology company that partners with healthcare professionals to deliver research opportunities.
What data does uMed process?
To allow us to send communications to patients on your behalf, we process patient data to our secure uMed platform. This data includes names, contact details, and demographics, as well as any communication back from patients, such as answers to questionnaires or patient replies to text messages.
How does uMed keep patient data secure?
uMed separates all patient identifiable information from health data. An encrypted identifier is the only connection between these silos. The result is that patient identifiable information (PII) and health data are never simultaneously presented within the uMed platform to ensure the very highest standard of data protection.
Why should GPs trust the uMed Platform?
The uMed platform fully integrates with EMIS and System One through the Message Exchange for Social Care and Health (MESH) NHS Digital-approved system.
Our software is approved and audited by NHS Digital Data Security, and Protection Toolkit assured (ODS8K677), ISO27001:2022 and ISO9001:2015 certified, UK Government’s Cyber Essentials Plus, Crown Commercial Service approved supplier, and UK GDPR compliant.
How much involvement will be required from me and my practice?
uMed has been developed to enable you and your practice to participate in clinical research whilst removing the associated administrative burden.
Getting started – Our onboarding process takes on average 15 minutes and involves the review and signing of our data processing agreement and the provision of ODS codes. Our support team is available to help along the way and discuss any part of the process.
Participating in a study – Once set up, we will start presenting relevant study opportunities for patients in your practice in our web-based application. To participate in a study, we require you to review and approve study documents in our web app (~10 minutes).
uMed searches, identifies, and builds the list of research eligible patients from your practice based on de-identified health record data. When the practice has provided details to their EHR system, our GCP-trained nurses then review the patient lists on your behalf to ensure that no patients are contacted who are not eligible. Alternatively, our web app allows a member of your practice staff to review and approve the list of patients identified as eligible for the study.
Patients are contacted via SMS (or email or letter if appropriate) and can complete the consent process remotely and electronically. We also provide a dedicated patient helpline designed to support patients throughout the process and reduce the pressure of incoming calls for your practice staff related to the study.
What is a data processing agreement (DPA), and why is it required?
The agreement details how uMed will process data on behalf of the practice, both for research and direct care programmes. This includes processing to:
a) Match potential subjects in the practice population with study opportunities for review by the practice.
b) If approved by the practice, engagement of those patients on behalf of the practice to support recruitment and data capture.
c) If approved by the practice, linkage of outcomes from the clinical record to the study case report form (CRF).
It is important to note that this is not a data-sharing agreement. As a data processor, uMed cannot share or utilise practice data unless explicit permission is obtained from the practice (the data controller). In the same way, other NHS processors such EMIS, Apollo, Accurx, and other technology vendors cannot use practice data outside of that defined in their service agreement with practices.
The DPA is required to legally allow your practice to share patient data in order to provide patients with individual care and offer them research opportunities to take part in. This is also the legal basis for uMed to process patient data on behalf of their Healthcare Providers (the controller of the data).
How does uMed’s platform comply with UK GDPR and Data Protection Act?
Healthcare Providers sign a data processing agreement with uMed, that legally allows the sharing of data on patient’s behalf in order to provide them with individualised care and offer research opportunities to take part in. This is also the legal basis for us to process patient data on behalf of their Healthcare Providers (the controller of the data).
uMed and the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
uMed is not required to request the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) approval. Data is provided to uMed by GPs, in order to provide a service under a Data Process Agreement.
uMed cannot use the data for research purposes itself, only under the direction of the data controller (GP practice), who may agree to participate in a specific study that may require CAG approval.
How does uMed’s platform comply with the NHS rules on data protection?
uMed, acting on behalf of the Healthcare Providers, ensures that the duty of confidence owed to the patient is respected. uMed has achieved this by creating a system that ensures no patient information is visible to any uMed employees or any subscribers to the uMed Platform unless patient consent has been obtained. The only exception to this, is when the uMed clinical support team contacts patients as a subcontracted member of the direct care team for which there is extensive precedent.
In addition to these controls, there is well established precedent and an exception to the duty of confidentiality for data being disclosed to processors when data is being used to support direct care (implied consent).
Does the uMed agreement affect other research my practice may be involved in?
No. uMed simply provides a technology service to support an array of academic and commercial studies, which can be both observational and interventional. There is no exclusivity, and the practice is free to participate in other studies as usual.
Will my practice have to spend a lot of time answering patient questions?
uMed provides a dedicated patient helpline designed to support patients throughout the process and reduce the pressure of incoming calls for your practice staff related to the study.
How can Patients Opt-Out?
Patients remain in charge of their data at all times and can opt out of contact, sharing data, or study participation at any time. We will not contact patients who have registered for the national data opt-out. Patients can contact the uMed support line and withdraw from the study or just Opt-Out to be contacted for further research opportunities.
Does uMed use my personal data for Marketing?
uMed, on some occasions, may send out feedback surveys about our services to ensure our systems and services can be improved. In these situations, we always ask permission to do this when you complete the survey. You also can look at our Privacy Policy for more detail on how we handle your data. Further information on this can also be found on the NHS link What is and isn’t direct marketing?
