ViewMedica Editorial Policy
Swarm Interactive, the publisher of ViewMedica, relies heavily on our health content production and review standards to make sure ViewMedica material is current, accurate, evidence-based and patient-focused.
ViewMedica content is created internally by Swarm Interactive content producers. ViewMedica Terms and Conditions governs the use of this content. This agreement should be read carefully by medical facilities before using the content in their facilities and on their websites.
Support for Claims of Therapeutic Benefit
We do not make claims of therapeutic effect without competent and reliable scientific evidence that supports the claim. Therapeutic claims made in ViewMedica health content have been approved by Swarm medical reviewers as being generally accepted medical practice or advice. We do not knowingly publish health content that either contains false or misleading claims or promotes ineffective or dangerous products.
Content Sourcing
ViewMedica producers use trusted medical sources including NIH (National Institutes of Health), medical journals and associations, medical centers and universities, physicians and medical device manufacturers (where appropriate). At every step in our production process, a physician or medical professional reviews the content and directs its creation. All sourcing and edits are dated and recorded.
Reading Levels
ViewMedica content is developed with the commonly used Flesch-Kincaid readability measures to keep the content as close to or below the 6th grade reading level as possible. We also follow standards for plain language as promoted by the National Institutes of Health and understandability guidelines put forth by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and use the Doak, Doak & Root Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) methodology. All ViewMedica content is produced with strong yet simple visuals that help present the complex information more clearly – aiding low-literacy comprehension.
Accessibility
At ViewMedica, we’re committed to accessibility. It is our policy to ensure that everyone, including persons with disabilities, has full and equal access to patient education. To accomplish this, we have an Accessibility Coordinator create and implement standards set in our Accessibility Statement. The Accessibility Coordinator also distributes these objectives and provides training to all personnel who work with content including writers, editors, designers, and developers. Through genuine effort and commitment including testing, evaluations, consulting, and remediation, we work to satisfy the latest the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and U.S. government’s Section 508 standards and most international standards for accessibility.
Producer Qualifications
Producers are experienced in seeking out top sources, understanding complex topics, and communicating technical subjects in a user-friendly way. Our senior producers have at least 5 years experience in medical illustration or visual reporting for major news organizations. All medical visuals are created and or reviewed by our medical illustrators. Swarm Interactive medical illustrators have master’s degrees in medical illustration.
Reviewer Qualifications
ViewMedica Reviewers help Swarm Interactive assure that ViewMedica content is current, accurate, evidence-based and patient-focused. The majority of ViewMedica content is reviewed by medical professionals employed by Swarm Interactive to specifically review health content. Some content requires that a medical specialist be involved in the review. In such cases, Swarm will seek out a medical professional within the required specialty area to perform the review.
Advertising and Sponsorship
Swarm Interactive does not accept or display advertising within the ViewMedica licensed content. Clients licensing ViewMedica content may put advertisements before or after their ViewMedica content or on the same Web page containing their ViewMedica content, but Swarm does not receive any revenue from such arrangements. Searches within the ViewMedica video player are free of advertisements and no third party entity has funded or influenced the display of search results. Swarm Interactive operates under full editorial independence. Any sponsored or grant-funded content is identified.
Review Process
A regular, biennial review of each content item is done by a medical professional to assure it is accurate and up-to-date. When content is affected by significant medical advances, relevant content is updated expediently. Sources, review/update dates, reviewing physician, and changes are recorded by our proprietary content management system. This Web-based application manages all aspects of the ViewMedica content creation and review process. When a content item is up for review, the system automatically flags the item and alerts our production team.
Last Updated: 01/10/2017