Patients Know Best
Patients Know Best is a company.
Financial History
Leadership Team
Key people at Patients Know Best.
Patients Know Best is a company.
Key people at Patients Know Best.
Patients Know Best (PKB) is a British social enterprise and technology platform that builds a personal health record (PHR) system, enabling patients to own, access, and share their unified medical records in real-time.[1][2][4] It serves patients, healthcare professionals, commissioners, payers, and information officers across hospitals, GPs, social care, and mental health providers, solving the problem of fragmented health data by integrating information from multiple sources into a single patient record (SPR) architecture.[1][2][5] This empowers patients to track symptoms, connect wearables, share with carers, and participate in care plans, while professionals gain complete, real-time records to reduce admissions, improve efficiency, and support population health management.[2][6] With over 5.9 million registered users and deployments in the UK (including NHS integration), Netherlands, Nigeria, Wales, and beyond, PKB demonstrates strong growth, including national-scale government adoptions and partnerships like Holly Health and Current Health.[1][2][3]
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Cambridge, England, PKB emerged from co-founder and CEO Dr. Mohammad Al-Ubaydli's vision to empower patients with control over their health data, inspired by his personal experiences and a commitment to patient-centered care.[1][3][4] Dr. Al-Ubaydli, alongside Chairman Dr. Richard Smith (former BMJ editor), launched the company as a social enterprise, quickly gaining NHS trust with its first deployments.[1][2] Early traction came from trials like Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, leading to a 2017 Wales rollout, and by 2021, it shared over 10 million records across every UK county, with a million active patients—pivotal moments that solidified its role as the UK's leading PHR supplier.[1][4][6]
PKB stands out in digital health through patient-centric innovation and robust integrations:
PKB rides the patient empowerment and digital health interoperability trend, capitalizing on post-pandemic shifts toward remote care, self-management, and data unification amid rising chronic disease burdens.[2][6][7] Timing aligns with government mandates like NHS App integration and global PHR infrastructures (e.g., Nigeria's Lagos state for 20 million people), fueled by market forces such as cost pressures on payers and demands for reduced hospital admissions.[1][2] It influences the ecosystem by setting standards for borderless, patient-controlled records, enabling coordinated care across boundaries, supporting mental health transformations (e.g., PROMS completion), and fostering a "mobile banking for health" model that balances profit with social good via B Corp certification.[4][6][7]
PKB is poised for expansion through deeper AI-driven insights (e.g., PHM enhancements), more international government deals, and ecosystem integrations amid growing telehealth adoption. Trends like wearable proliferation and value-based care will amplify its momentum, potentially scaling to tens of millions more users while evolving influence toward global PHR standards. As the pioneer putting patients in control of their own medical records, PKB exemplifies how tech can humanize healthcare, delivering safer, efficient care at national scale.[1][2]
Key people at Patients Know Best.