The field of medicine changes constantly. Each day headlines reveal new ways to diagnose, treat, or prevent health problems. Through a comprehensive topic development process, Healthwise content is regularly updated to keep pace with the changes in medicine and medical practice.
Content Written by Healthwise
Healthwise develops content through the collaborative efforts of content and clinical teams using a comprehensive research and review process.
The Healthwise content team includes full-time professional medical researchers, writers, and editors who have extensive experience in scientific research and medical writing. They work closely with members of the Healthwise clinical team, including the chief medical officer, the medical director, the associate medical directors, and the Healthwise Clinical Review Board.
The Healthwise Clinical Review Board includes health professionals and medical specialists who review Healthwise content from a specialist's point of view. Their credentials include board certification, licensure/registration and/or certification, academic appointments at leading medical schools, involvement in research, and publication in peer-reviewed journals and medical textbooks. Most important, they share the Healthwise commitment to empowering patients with reliable health information and building strong patient-provider relationships.
Healthwise content starts with evidence-based information. Content team members are experts at presenting balanced, unbiased perspectives without influence from commercial interests. Our Conflict of Interest policy enforces our editorial integrity: "All Healthwise personnel should avoid situations where their personal interests could conflict, or reasonably appear to conflict, with the interests of Healthwise. In this regard, personnel must avoid any outside financial interest that might influence, or appear to influence, their corporate decisions or actions."
Topic Development Process
There are four primary steps in the development process: planning, research, writing, and review.
- Writers, editors, and associate medical directors work together to plan the topic.
- Medical librarians develop a research packet for each topic based on extensive research and evaluation of biomedical literature. Research packets include evidence-based journal and database search results, gold standard textbook chapters, guideline statements, and outcome studies, as well as consumer health information.
- Writing and review cycles include collaboration among medical directors and other clinicians. Writers and editors also collaborate to ensure that the content is in plain language, follows literacy standards, and meets user-centered learning theory and behavior-change principles.
- Each piece of content is reviewed by members of the Healthwise Clinical Review Board.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthwise Content Development
The skills, expertise, and careful attention of Healthwise’s clinical and content development staff continue to be the backbone of content quality. We carefully manage our content creation, update, and review processes to ensure that content meets our standards for medical accuracy, plain language, inclusion, accessibility, and other measures. AI is one of several tools we use to help with those processes. And we’re careful to avoid using it in any way that might compromise the quality or integrity of the content or Healthwise’s rights over it. We will continue to explore how and where we can use AI to help us deliver high-quality content in a timely way.
Content Written by Third Parties
Drug reference and information from First Databank, Inc.
Click here for the First Databank, disclaimer and Terms of Use.
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Topics
NCI Physician Data Query (PDQ®) topics in the Healthwise Knowledgebase are provided by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.
All PDQ cancer information summaries are peer-reviewed and updated monthly by six editorial boards of oncology specialists in adult treatment, pediatric treatment, supportive care, complementary and alternative medicine, screening, prevention, and cancer genetics. They review current literature from more than 70 biomedical journals, evaluate its relevance, and synthesize it into concise, clear summaries. Healthwise receives monthly updates from the National Cancer Institute. The updates are included in the quarterly releases of the Healthwise Knowledgebase.
Conflict of Interest Policy: PDQ Editorial Board members are selected by the editor-in-chief of each board. Potential biases or conflicts of interest are discussed as part of the selection process.
The date of the last update is at the end of each topic.
AISLE7 TM/Healthnotes®
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Healthnotes, Inc., dba AISLE7 is the premier provider of reliable, easy-to-use health, food, and lifestyle information.
Each year AISLE7 reviews tens of thousands of articles and more than 600 medical and scientific journals to ensure that the content stays current, factual, and balanced. Citations identify the source, the authors, and where and when the information was first published. The AISLE7 editorial team includes medical doctors, pharmacists, chiropractors, naturopaths, and dietitians. The Medical Advisory Board includes medical doctors and experts affiliated with leading medical schools, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Healthwise receives quarterly updates from AISLE7. The updates are included in the quarterly releases of the Healthwise Knowledgebase.
The date of the last review is at the end of each topic.