uMed for GPs

uMed enables your practice to participate in more clinical research without adding workload for your staff.

Supporting GPs to participate in research

Clinical research is crucial to advance medicine and drive better outcomes for patients and our healthcare system.

We understand that GPs want to support more clinical research but are already overstretched caring for patients.

uMed takes on the workload of engaging suitable patients for clinical studies, so that you can participate in more revenue-generating research without adding workload for your staff.

  • Trusted by 450+ GP practices across the UK
  • Enroled 6,000+ patients in clinical research
  • Portfolio includes interventional, observational, academic & commercial research
  • Generate additional revenue for your practice

Hear from the GPs and patients taking part in uMed studies

GP Spotlight

Dr. Vijaykumar: National Research Lead for Modality Partnerships

“Modality is a super partnership with 45 practices and about 450,00 registered list size and as a national Research Lead Modality Partnership, I am thrilled to be working with Umed.

They allow us to support our partners by promoting and developing clinical research across all Modality sites.”

Patient Story

Kevin Quinn: Testing a Point-of-Care Respiratory Device

“The whole process went smoothly, uMed handled everything so I was able to participate entirely from home and didn’t have to travel!”

“Participating in research is so important. As individuals we own all this important information about our health that if shared could have a great impact on the lives of others in the future. How else can new treatments be developed if we don’t share this information?”

Read the full story Right Arrow

Participating in a study

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

Step One

Practice - Join a Study

uMed supports multiple studies sponsored by commercial and academic institutions.

Your practice can choose a study via our website or dedicated web application.

Step Two

Practice - Review & Approve Eligible Patients

uMed runs a study specific search to identify potential participants.

uMed searches are compatible with EMIS or SystmOne. The results of this search are available to your practice in our web application for sign-off.

Previous

Step Three

uMed - Patient Contact

Once approved, we manage patient contact on your behalf via SMS, email and/or letter.

We provide a dedicated study support line for all patient enquiries to minimise incoming calls to your practice.

For most studies, between 10-30% of patients engage with our outreach.

Previous

Step Four

Patient - Consents to Join Study

Congratulations! You've empowered your patients to participate in vital clinical research that is most relevant for them.

Once the study concludes, we will share results and patient feedback with you so that you can see the impact of your participation. Any revenue generated from commercial studies is shared with your practice.

Previous

Medical Partners

Frequently Asked Questions

How much involvement will be required from me and my practice?

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.

Won’t 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 does uMed keep patient data secure?

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.

Is uMed GDPR Compliant?

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.

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 send text messages?

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

What are the costs of uMed implementation?

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

What is a data processing agreement?

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.

Why is a data processing agreement required?

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.

How do 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.

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 normal.

Like some assistance?

Envelope

Email us support@umed.io and we’ll endeavour to respond within two business days.