eDocAmerica Editorial Policy

 INTRODUCTION

eDocAmerica is committed to providing its clients and end users with objective, well-balanced, up-to-date, and inspiring health content communicated in plain language.  eDocAmerica will not knowingly or intentionally provide any false or misleading information to clients or users.  In order to facilitate this goal, eDocAmerica has established an Editorial Review Team made up of the President and the Medical Director.  eDocAmerica has approved the following editorial standards:

1. Minimum standards for any health content published by eDocAmerica;
2. Minimum qualifications for authors and reviewers of health content published by eDocAmerica;
3. Minimum disclosures regarding conflicts of interest;
4. Adherence by third party providers to eDocAmerica’s Editorial Policy in conjunction with a formal Delegation Agreement.

STANDARDS

Standards for Health Content

1. eDocAmerica will not provide any false or misleading health information to clients or users.  All health content must comply with the standards set forth by evidence-based medical guidelines, government agencies, and peer-reviewed literature.
2. All health content must be reviewed by a licensed physician at least once every two years. Reviews of content on specialized medical topics must be performed by licensed clinicians specializing in those areas.
3. All health content intended for U.S. consumers is developed or reviewed by qualified U.S. licensed content experts such as physicians and pharmacists or other healthcare content experts or specialists.
4. Health content be peer reviewed by a minimum of two health content reviewers;
5. At least one health content reviewer is a health content reviewer with expertise in the specialty area relevant to the condition under review

Disclaimer:

This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, nor is it intended to be used for medical diagnosis, treatment or for emergency health situations. The service is presented for the sole purpose of disseminating health information. It is not intended and must not be taken to be the provision or practice of medical, nursing or professional health care advice or services in any jurisdiction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Standards for Authors and Reviewers of Health Content

1. All authors and reviewers of health content published by eDocAmerica must meet the following minimum qualifications:
   1. Where applicable, authors and reviewers will be credentialed in the fields of Medicine, Public Health, and/or Psychology.
   2. Where applicable, authors and reviewers will be licensed and/or Board Certified in their State of Residence.
   3. All licensed professionals’ credentials must be current at the time the health content is created, reviewed and submitted for publication.
   4. All licensed professionals who are independently contracted to create or review health content must demonstrate that their licenses are current on the date of contract, and must maintain such licenses during the term of their engagement.
   5. The credentials of all authors and reviewers shall be verified at least once every three years.
2. Violation of this policy, including adverse change in licensure or certification status and/or failure to notify eDocAmerica of such change, may result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment or contract.
3. Source of material or author name and credentials and date of last review must be disclosed on the page where the health content appears.
4. The eDocAmerica editorial team meets on a quarterly basis to review selected health content and to discuss relevant issues, concerns, and opportunities.
   1. The editorial team reviews representative samples of health content on a regular basis to ensure quality and compliance with medical guidelines.
   2. Any identified issues are brought before the Quality Management Committee (QMC) for review and action.
5. It is the responsibility of the Medical Director to continuously review and ensure regular updates of all health content. In situations where the health content are provided by a third party, eDocAmerica promptly provides critical user feedback to such third party and monitors to ensure that all appropriate updates are timely made.

Conflicts of Interest

eDocAmerica is committed to providing high quality health content and editorial autonomy that is free of bias and self-interest in business relationships.

A conflict of interest includes engagement in an activity that presents potential gain, whether financial or otherwise, in a manner that compromises the objective professional standards expected of our health content providers.

The following may represent a conflict of interest as it relates to health content:

1. Financial interest, whether direct, indirect, or predictable, relative to the financial interest of self, relative, business partner, or other affiliated person or organization.
2. A significant relationship with any person or institution that may have a personal interest.
3. Acceptance of gifts or other gratuities which may place the content provider under any obligation that could affect business relations.

It is the responsibility of the health content provider to disclose all potential conflicts of interest. Any potential conflict of interest must be brought to the attention of the President and/or Medical Director. If appropriate, potential conflicts of interest will be brought before the Quality Management Committee (QMC), and will be disclosed on the website if deemed necessary.

External Linking

Any links from the eDocAmerica platform to external websites will be thoroughly vetted for quality and appropriateness. When evaluating and choosing sites to link to for health content purposes, we will give preference to non-profit organizations or governmental agencies, sites with clearly-stated missions and goals, sites that feature up-to-date content developed and reviewed by qualified staff, and sites that provide in-depth information with a focus on specific diseases or health topics.

In the event we license health content from third-party providers, we will review any applicable linking policies to ensure that their standards are in keeping with our own. Should external links be added to any licensed content, our editorial team will review each linked site and approve or deny according to our policy.

Our technical team conducts an annual automated test of all links on the platform in order to ensure proper functionality. Should external links be added, our annual test will ensure their functionality, and as an added step, our editorial team will perform a concurrent review of these external links to ensure appropriateness per our linking policy standards.

Claims of Therapeutic Benefit

eDocAmerica is committed to providing factual, high-quality health content. In the event we license health content from third party providers, we review their policies on claims of therapeutic benefit in order to ensure that the content we license is evidence-based, up-to-date, and appropriately referenced. We will also periodically review representative samples of licensed content in order to verify adherence to these policies.

The eDocAmerica platform includes our Healthy Lifestyle Assessment. The editorial team periodically reviews this assessment per policy guidelines to ensure that any claims of therapeutic benefit are appropriate and well-referenced.

Third Party Providers

In situations where eDocAmerica contracts with third parties to provide health content or reviews, (“Provider”) Provider must agree to comply with this Editorial Policy. Prior to entering into any such agreement, eDocAmerica will review the Provider’s Editorial Policies and Procedures to verify compliance and require Provider to enter into a Delegation Agreement to ensure ongoing compliance during the contract term through the following:

1. Review of the Provider Editorial Policies and Procedures prior to execution of the Agreement to ensure compliance with this Policy and URAC’s editorial standards.
2. Review any proposed changes to Provider Editorial Policies and Procedures during the Term of any agreement to verify ongoing compliance with this Policy and URAC’s standards.
3. Provide prompt written notice to Provider in the event of a change, or anticipated change, in URAC’s editorial standards which will likely cause the Provider Editorial Policies and Procedures to become non-compliant, and assist Provider in taking immediate action (but in no event more than ten (10) business days) to avoid or remedy the non-compliance.
4. Provide prompt written notice to Provider if Company determines that at any time during the term of any agreement, Provider is not in compliance with the eDocAmerica’s approved version of the Provider Editorial Policies or Procedures, and allow Provider ten (10) business days to remedy the non-compliance.
5. Terminate any Provider agreement, if eDocAmerica determines that the Provider Editorial Policies and Procedures are not in compliance with URAC’s editorial standards, and Provider has failed to cure such non-compliance within the allowable cure period.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions, comments or complaints related to this Editorial Policy, please contact us so we can help. You can reach by using the methods identified below.  While we are generally quick to reply, please allow one business day for us to respond to your inquiry.  Note, this is for administrative purposes only, do not submit medical questions here.

By email at: info@edocamerica.com
Toll-free at: (866) 525-3362
By mail at
eDocAmerica
Attn: Medical Director
11908 Kanis Road
Suite G-1
Little Rock, AR 72211