uMed for GPs

uMed has been developed to enable you and your practice to participate in medical 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 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 identifies and builds the list of eligible patients from your practice based on de-identified health record data. Our GCP trained nurse then reviews 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.

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.

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.

uMed separates all patient identifiable information from health data. An encrypted link 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.

Yes, uMed conforms to the requirements of General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as well as the NHS Data Protection & Security Toolkit, ISO ISO27001:2013 and is Cyber Essentials Plus Certified.

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.

We use Twilio to send SMS messages. You can read the Twilio privacy policy here.

uMed charges no fees to the practice to implement or maintain the platform.

The agreement details how uMed will process data on behalf of the practice to support clinical studies. 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 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, EMIS, Apollo, Accurx and other technology vendors cannot use practice data outside of that defined in their service agreement with practices.

uMed provides services to the practice that support the execution of clinical studies. This requires an agreement between uMed and the practice in addition to usual research agreement between the study team and site.

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.

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 normal.