Database Privacy Notice

Our commitment to data compliance

For over 34 years, OnMedica (formerly known as Wilmington Healthcare Ltd and Binley’s) has managed a database of healthcare professionals with the purpose of facilitating communications and disseminating information to senior managers and clinicians who collectively manage health and social care across the UK and ROI. As an ICO registered data owner, it is important that we balance our commercial responsibilities with the interests of the individuals and organisations whose data we process. To ensure we meet our data processing obligations, and remain compliant at all times, we want to be transparent about how and why we process this data. Ultimately, our goal is to encourage discussion, improve collaboration and support decision-making for healthcare professionals, patients and healthcare suppliers.

Why have you sent me an information notice?

You will receive an information notice, because OnMedica, processes your professional contact data under legitimate interest, as is permitted under GDPR. We want to make you aware of this data processing and give you the opportunity to ensure the data that is held by us is accurate and up to date. You can update your professional data or preferences at any time by contacting validate@onmedica.com

What professional contact data does OnMedica process?

The contact data that OnMedica processes relates only to your professional role. This may include name, job title, organisation name, work address, work telephone number, work email address, work-related social media links (where applicable), professional code, any specialities, responsibilities, interests or affiliations that relate solely to your current or previous professional healthcare roles plus any communication preferences you may have requested. This information allows us to ensure that the communications and services you receive are highly relevant to your professional role.

Why does OnMedica process professional contact data?

Our database of healthcare professionals is widely used by the NHS, academia, healthcare providers and healthcare suppliers including pharmaceutical companies. These organisations can license this information for their business-to-business sales, marketing, business development and other professional purposes relating to healthcare. This may include the sending of regulatory information relating to medications or medical devices; invitations to take part in events or studies; the analysis of the data for academic papers; the sharing of educational or training materials, tools and apps; access to news, membership and/or subscription services; or the sending of promotional information about the latest healthcare products, medicines and services (as is relevant to your role). On occasion, OnMedica and its affiliates, may use its professional contact data for its own commercial and marketing purposes.

Why am I on your database of healthcare professionals?

Our database covers the most influential individuals in health or social care who have either been self-declared, peer-nominated or identified as a healthcare professional whose role is as a key decision-maker, budget-holder or who play an influential role in the provision and support of patient care and/or health and social care outcomes. This includes the NHS, private healthcare providers, social care/local government, patient organisations and other healthcare interest groups. As a result, there could be many reasons why your professional information is currently held on our database. A few key ones are listed below:

  • You have provided your details to us direct as part of a service provided by us, or our partners
  • You have been identified through research processes as a senior / key healthcare professional
  • Your role has been identified as one which is required to receive regulatory notifications and communications
  • You are on a subscription or circulation list to receive publication such as HSJ or other partner publications
  • Your organisation or professional body has disclosed and/or published your professional details
  • Your department/location was contacted by us to update and/or validate your professional details
  • You have taken part in a healthcare study or a healthcare event that was processed by us or our partners
  • Your data was provided to us by a pharmaceutical or medical devices company following engagement for validation purposes

Should you require specific details of how and when your information was collected, please contact our data validation team on 01268 495681, or alternatively email us at validate@onmedica.com

What will my professional details be used for?

OnMedica, its affiliates and its partners, work closely with the NHS, healthcare providers and healthcare suppliers including the pharmaceutical industry: to share information and insight around patient pathways; to deliver online reference and news services; to facilitate communications and conversations; and to support other types of HCP engagement. Our database is intended for health or social care related business to business, professional purposes only, and we will never knowingly allow for your professional contact information to be used for any other purpose. Our database is only permitted to be used by carefully selected partners under licence with restricted and robust terms of use. This may mean that your data is shared with these partners under licence or is processed by us on their behalf to provide you with a communication or service. The services that your professional details may be used for, include but are not limited to:

  • Access to membership and subscription services
  • Invitations to take part in healthcare and other studies, paid-for research
  • Invitations to attend, speak or take part in healthcare events, advisory boards or training
  • Invitations to write, contribute or review clinical articles, courses and case studies
  • Educational, training, CPD, jobs and news services
  • Promotional /marketing information from the NHS healthcare suppliers including pharmaceutical companies,
  • Regulatory notices (where relevant to your role) such as MHRA updates relating to drug and product safety
  • Publication of your professional role (where relevant) in an online healthcare reference or intelligence service
  • Report your statutory obligation with payment disclosures (transfer of value) where appropriate
  • Validate pharmaceutical representative visits/calls for regulatory purposes

Can I opt out?

You can opt-out or object to the processing of your data at any time. If you opt-out, we retain your data for suppression or regulatory purposes only and as required so that i) you are not added back to our database, and ii) if regulators (i.e. MHRA) identify your role as someone who is required to receive that notification (typically related to a drug recall, safety notification or product update). We may not send you the information, but we may be obliged to tell the regulator that you did not receive the information if this is deemed essential for your role. If we have shared information related to your professional role with other organisations, you can opt out when they contact you, rather than have a blanket ‘opt-out’ from all. This allows you to choose and only receive services and communications relevant to your professional role, specialty, therapy and interests.

Please note apart from regulatory obligations, all other types of communication listed above, are considered ‘promotional’ for the purposes of data protection. Therefore, if you opt-out you will not receive some of these services and communications that you may rely on or find useful in your role. Also note that the database is used for services and communications from other healthcare organisations, including the NHS themselves, so you may stop receiving information that is relevant to your role if you opt-out. It may take time for all services that you receive to stop. If you have a paid-for membership or subscription, then communications relating to this may continue until you end your membership or subscription. You can change your preferences at any time by calling 01268 495681 or email us at validate@onmedica.com

Can I opt in or out on behalf of another person?

Organisations and other individuals are not permitted to opt-out or object to processing on behalf of an individual (unless they are doing so with the full knowledge and express permission of the individual – in this instance we will ask for confirmation). If this opt-out affects their current subscriptions, services or regular communications in any way then we may contact them to confirm this request.

How will my information be kept by OnMedica?

Your data is held in a secure database in the UK with restricted access. We ensure the protection of the confidentiality, integrity and security of all data provided to us. No information will be disclosed if it is the view of the company that to do so would be a breach of data protection laws. Data is kept for a minimum of 7 years for regulatory and auditing purposes. Our research partner, Merit, based in Mumbai, India also has access to, and processes, the data but has an appropriate contract with us in place for their access to the data from outside of the UK and to work within UK data protection laws.

Is OnMedica part of the NHS?

No. We are part of an independent limited company who has managed a database of health and social care personnel since 1992, with the NHS being a regular user of our database for their communications and services. We have built trusted relationships with those individuals whose professional information we hold on our database.

Is OnMedica a regulator?

No, but we do work with regulators such as the MHRA, either directly on their behalf to disseminate regulatory information or MHRA communications to healthcare professionals, or indirectly where they are working with a pharmaceutical company to distribute a regulatory communication relating to drug recall, drug safety, prescribing information updates or pharmaceutical product updates. In this instance, the MHRA would work with the pharmaceutical company to scope which healthcare professionals needed to receive the regulatory communication and we would work on behalf of the pharmaceutical company to ensure they meet their regulatory obligations. In this instance we may disclose your professional details to the regulator, so they have a record of which healthcare professionals have and haven’t received a regulatory communication.

Data privacy and your rights

As a compliant and trusted processor of professional healthcare information we take the protection and processing of your data seriously. We undertake all our legal obligations under General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and follow ICO best practice guidelines, for the processing of business to business, professional data under legitimate interest. Our data is validated regularly and retained until the purpose is no longer relevant to the individual or you object to your data being processed. If you have any questions relating to your rights, then you can contact our Data Protection Officer – dataprotection@onmedica.com. The ICO is the regulatory authority in the UK – contact details can be found via http://ico.org.uk (or http://www.oic.ie/en in ROI).

How to contact us

If you have any questions relating to this privacy notice, then please do not hesitate to contact us E:validate@onmedica.com or T: 01268 495681.

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