Our commitment
WebMD Ignite's commitment is to provide clients and their end users with accurate, timely, and understandable information. We focus on diseases, conditions, tests, and procedures. Our goal is to promote understanding and management of health conditions and wellness. WebMD Ignite is dedicated to developing health communication solutions that are evidence-based, easy to understand, and focused on improving outcomes.
The purpose of this document is to define the processes and responsibilities involved in the creation, review, and maintenance of clinical education content across WebMD Ignite platforms and content management system (CMS). This policy ensures that all content is developed in line with current medical guidelines, accurately reflects evidence-based practices, and maintains the highest quality standards. The document also outlines how third-party content is integrated into WebMD Ignite products, the process for verifying the credentials of medical reviewers, and the systems in place for updating content regularly.
Content in the WebMD Ignite's digital health education content sites comes from a variety of sources, both internal and third-party licensees.
Our terms and conditions policy governs the use of the digital health education sites and its content. This agreement should be read carefully and completely before using the digital health education sites and applying for any services detailed on the website.
Content that is created or commissioned by WebMD Ignite is done independently, with no commercial ties to any product or service, and with no subsidies from any private or government institution.
Digital health education content is clinically reviewed regularly to maintain accuracy and relevancy. The ongoing monitoring and updating of content are central to maintaining its quality. Real-time monitoring of the medical landscape allows for the timely revision of content when significant updates or new guidelines emerge. Certain diseases and conditions that have ongoing medical research and frequent updates to treatment guidelines are medically reviewed more often, based on national expert guideline releases, to remain current with standards of care. This includes the continuous monitoring of peer-reviewed journals, national expert panel and government agency guideline updates, and feedback from health care clients. When urgent updates are required, such as those following a major clinical advancement that impacts patient education, an off-cycle, rapid update process is initiated.
Standard operating procedures for health content management consist of, but are not limited to:
Medical review triggers
- Monitoring of peer-reviewed publications
- Announcements by federal organizations or expert associations about medical advances or guideline changes or rapidly evolving medical information, such as a pandemic
- New or updated evidence-based medical guidelines identified by the WebMD Ignite Content Team
- Client and end-user feedback
- 24-month content review schedule(s)
Medical review
A rigorous medical review is designed to confirm the accuracy of the medical information and to ensure that it reflects the most current clinical best practices. Medical reviewers rely on the latest clinical guidelines, peer-reviewed literature, and standards of care. In rapidly changing medical fields, such as oncology and cardiology, the content is reviewed more frequently as clinical guidelines change. In more stable areas, like basic anatomical descriptions, reviews are conducted on a longer cycle, typically every 24 months. This ensures that the content remains both accurate and relevant.
- Digital health education content is sourced by the author(s) and medical reviewers when developed, updated, or revised. Our writers use only evidence-based information.
- Digital health education content, including interactive or self-management tools and multimedia content, has two medical reviews.
- Digital health education content will enter the medical review process every 24 months. Digital health content enters its “first” medical review a few months prior to the expiration of the last review date and the medical review process—two medical reviews, a QA process (clinician review), an editorial review, and translation—may take several months to complete. Dates of medical reviews are tracked and stored in WebMD Ignite’s CMS.
- Certain diseases and conditions that have ongoing medical research and frequent updates to treatment guidelines are medically reviewed more often to remain current with standards of care.
- Where claims of therapeutic benefit are made and the specific source of the claim is not cited, these claims have been approved by our medical reviewers as being generally accepted medical practice or advice. For additional information, please review the "Use of Information and Resources" section in our Terms and Conditions policy.
- Content is updated on an off-cycle basis when significant new medical knowledge or change(s) in medical guidelines occur, and when content errors (not spelling or grammar) are identified.
- During the 24-month medical review, at least one of the medical reviewers has clinical experience or expertise in the topic under review.
- Experts or specialists in the area pertaining to the disease, condition, or topic under review usually consist of, but are not limited to, licensed clinicians, ranging from physicians and nurses to other licensed allied health professionals.
- For information on content development, including medical reviewers, authors, and editors, and evidence-based information sourcing, please review our Digital Health Education Content Development and Sourcing Policy.
Editorial review and quality assurance
Once the medical reviews are completed, all content undergoes an editorial and quality assurance review. This step ensures that content is polished for readability, corrected for any spelling or grammar errors, and assessed for adherence to organizational writing and style standards. The editorial review also ensures that the content is accessible to a wide audience, including those with limited health literacy, making it easier for all users to understand and apply the information to their health care decisions.
Content indexing for search and findability
As part of the overall content development process, all health content is indexed with health concepts that are part of our enterprise taxonomy. Each concept in the taxonomy has relevant medical codes, such as ICD-10, CPT, and MeSH, and keywords to help clients search for and find the right content. Content also is tagged with demographic metadata, including ages and sex assigned at birth.
Content Management System (CMS)
The medical, editorial, and QA review process for digital health education content is conducted through a CMS. The CMS allows for electronic content review and provides transparency and accountability by tracking all revision updates and reviews (revisions, sources, updates, and edits made to health content, as well as the date, author, health content reviewer, and editor).
Third-party content integration
Third-party content integration is another key aspect of this process. Content sourced from external vendors, such as drug databases is subject to the same stringent review process as internally generated materials. WebMD’s third-party vendors develop and assess content for both editorial and clinical accuracy to ensure that all information is evidence-based and accurate.
Links
Digital health education sites may occasionally contain links to other health expert websites. Before including the links in the WebMD Ignite digital health education content, our medical reviewers or editors visit the linked site to determine if it enhances the information contained in the content. Links are also reviewed during the medical review process and periodically as needed. WebMD Ignite employs an automated program called Siteimprove to detect and report broken links on a weekly basis.
A pop-up window alerts the reader that they are being redirected. Users do not leave the site. Please visit the terms and conditions policy for additional information and refer to the "Links to other internet sites" section.
Hosting
Digital health education content can be hosted by WebMD Ignite servers, hosted on the client’s servers, or delivered via web services or manual syndication. Revision of licensed digital health education content is permitted with a specific administrative tool obtained by clients to meet their needs, but if revision to licensed health content occurs, the content will not be considered URAC accredited.
WebMD Ignite and its licensees do not collect any information that tracks the reading history of individual visitors.
Digital health education content authors and reviewers
Most of the editors and authors work as full-time employees at WebMD Ignite, and some work on a freelance or contractual basis. The editorial staff brings multiple years of editing experience and ensures that content can be understood by readers with limited knowledge of health and medical issues. For background information on medical reviewers, please review our policy—digital health education content authors and reviewers.
Accreditation Council review
Our Quality Management Accreditation Council receives bi-annual reports on:
- Clinical updates made to accommodate new medical practices and knowledge or related to perceived medical inaccuracy.
- Client feedback.
- Quality management components, including accessibility.
General inquiries or feedback about our health content
To contact us, please email WebMD Ignite at comments@webmd.net or call 1-800-706-9646 (Select option #1) between the hours of: 8am-5pm CST.
A response acknowledging client or consumer feedback emails will be sent within 24 hours on business days.
Reviewed, revised and approved by the Quality Management Accreditation Council: March 2025
