NowPatient Editorial Process
NowPatient strives to deliver trustworthy, accessible, and relevant medical information. Our editorial process provides safeguards and controls that allow us to consistently produce content that empowers you to effectively manage your health and well-being.
So what is the NowPatient editorial process? And how do we ensure that content that we publish always meets our standards?
Step 1 - Medical content pipeline
Medical content for production is selected by our panel of clinicians which includes pharmacists and doctors.
Step 2 - Content production
Once content has been accepted and identified for production, our in-house team of content writers get started on research.
Step 3 - Medical review
Our medical review process focuses on clinical and scientific accuracy of content. At this stage, the pre-accepted content, is peer reviewed by a clinician.
Step 4 - Publish
We use fixed guidelines on where and when content is published on nowpatient.com.
Step 5 - Cycle review
All medical content is periodically reviewed by a medical reviewer.
Medical content pipeline
Our content selection is based on our clinicians own practice experiences and wider industry trends. Medical content for production is selected by our panel of clinicians which includes pharmacists, doctors and other allied healthcare professionals. We aim to produce content that is meaningful and relevant to our users.
Content production
Once content has been accepted and identified for production, our in-house team of content writers get started on research. Our medical writers will only use high quality evidence-based clinical information sources to ensure integrity of content being produced. Our team of in-house content writers, all have scientific or medical backgrounds. We do not use non-medical writers in our content production workflows. Any advertising or potential conflicts of interest (e.g. Sponsorship) are clearly declared.
Medical review
Our medical review process focuses on clinical and scientific accuracy of content. At this stage, the pre-accepted content, is peer reviewed by a clinician. Depending on the content subject, we may use clinicians with certain specialities to do the review. Our medical review clinicians will check for clinical accuracy, and cross-reference sources of information used to produce the content. They will also check if the content affects people with “protected characteristics” (Equality Act 2010). This is relevant for UK users. In addition, they may propose changes if they believe the content could prove difficult for users who struggle to read or understand words and numbers.
Publish
We use fixed guidelines on where content is published on NowPatient. Our marketing team will submit the content for publication, as the last step. Once published, the marketing team will perform a quality check, to ensure that the content is surfaced as expected.
Cycle review
NowPatient has a cycle review as part of its editorial process. This means that all medical content is periodically reviewed. Typically this is every two years, however, in certain situations content may need immediate updating. Examples of situations include:
New medical/clinical information that renders content no longer relevant
A change in clinical guidelines
A change in evidence bases
A user complaint
Requested by a professional body following an audit
Changes are controlled using change control procedures. Only a medical reviewer can raise a change control. Once the change is made, the content is updated. Any changes will appear on the article to show the ‘last updated’ date.