Medix UK Limited

Medix UK Limited is a UK based market research consultancy providing online research in healthcare. Up until 2007, Medix produced a number of not-for-profit studies ^[1] and publications concerning issues important to UK healthcare, such as patient complaints^[2], doctor job satisfaction^[3], the National Programme for IT ^[4][5], euthanasia ^[6] and patient confidentiality^[7]. Medix provides a list of reports available to the public [1].

The concept of Medix was developed by Professor Michael F Smith during 1999 and early 2000^[8]. Medix was incorporated and launched in early 2000 with Robin Guenier as Chairman (until 2006) and Dr Rino Coladangelo as CEO; Mike Smith was CTO until 2007. The basic idea of Medix was to recruit medical doctors on a country-by-country panel basis to respond to Internet based surveys sponsored primarily by pharmaceutical companies. It was assumed that offering doctors email and equity in the venture would be sufficient to induce them to respond to surveys; this proved not to be the case, however, and direct remuneration per response was introduced early in the life of Medix. Medix independently developed the panel concept of respondents, which has become a common model for Internet surveying. The original Medix software has continued as the basis for the application and data service provider, fm2x limited[2].

References

1. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/feb/08/internet.egovernment
2. ^ Smith MF, Coladangelo RC. Avoiding patient complaints and claims against doctors: ask the patients. Pharmaceutical Visions 2001;(Winter):56:58. ISSN 0966-1719
3. ^ Smith MF. Internet survey of job satisfaction and retirement intentions of UK doctors. BMJ 2003;326 (letter) 18 January, http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/326/7379/22#28830
4. ^ Coladangelo RC, Smith MF. The national programme for IT. BMJ 2003;326 (letter) 5 July, http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/326/7404/1439#33999
5. ^ Guenier R, NPfIT–a personal view, http://www.eyeforhealthcare.com/npfit2007/presentations/Robin%20Guernier.pdf
6. ^ Gaines S,Mulholland H, The right to die, http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/may/12/health.politics
7. ^ Ross Anderson, Under threat: patient confidentiality and NHS computing, http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/drugsandalcohol.pdf
8. ^ Smith MF. Internet facilitates in situ survey research of practising clinicians. Pharmaceutical Visions 2001; (Summer):48-52. ISSN 0966-1719.