In order to produce and maintain high quality in all products, A.D.A.M.has continually supported and refined its editorial process. An overview of this process is provided below. The process covers all content A.D.A.M. develops textually as well as its award-winning visuals.
Visual - A.D.A.M. has established, maintained, and expanded a unique catalog of illustrations and animations. Since the beginning of our company, A.D.A.M. has been known for high-quality visual content and was one of the first publishers to illustrate every structure in both the male and female bodies. As a result, we have been able to leverage our core visual assets into multiple levels of product distribution.
All visual content, including images, animations, and supporting text, are conceptualized, created, and reviewed by medical illustrators. All medical illustrators at A.D.A.M. have Master’s degrees in medical illustration. Additionally, physicians and/or anatomical PhD’s have reviewed this visual content for medical accuracy.
All illustrations and animations are reviewed by physicians every 2 years at minimum, according to set editorial schedules. Reviews can also be triggered by:
The focus of the A.D.A.M. visual content is adjusted to convey information to different markets. Illustrations can be simplified for the consumer market. They can also show a higher level of detail for the professional and academic markets.
A.D.A.M. frequently uses illustrations to visually explain complex subjects, both to complement our health content and to enhance the educational value of our products. Through our internal illustration and animation style guide, we maintain visual consistency across all of products.
A.D.A.M.’s visual content is a living, growing asset that continues to evolve. We periodically review the aesthetic appeal of our visual assets based not only on client and consumer feedback but also on emerging changes in the market. For example, our recent investments include creating a library of high-definition (HD) videos of medical experts explaining health topics for the consumer and patient markets.
As a result of our dedication to aesthetic quality, A.D.A.M. artwork has received numerous awards throughout the years, including Best Interactive Site, Best Special Effects, and the Dr. Frank J. Netter Award.
Text - A.D.A.M. content is physician-reviewed and physician-updated, in collaboration with skilled consumer medical editors and writers. Most articles are reviewed by two, and sometimes three, physicians. A.D.A.M. places a reviewer’s name, reviewer credentials, and review date at the bottom of all pages.
A.D.A.M.’s goal is to present evidence-based health information. Therefore, content in A.D.A.M. products is created by identifying the best available evidence from national guidelines, government agencies, recognized leading textbooks, and peer-reviewed literature. We ask our writers and reviewers to create content based both on the quality of the evidence and its applicability to everyday practice.
Our editorial standard is to objectively communicate the current standard of medical practice. All writers and reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest. Disclosures must be made to the appropriate manager, director, or vice president at hiring or when such an interest develops. Supervisors review with company officers to decide if a conflict of interest does exist. If conflict of interest is determined, the writer or reviewer is reassigned or steps are taken to rectify the situation. Anything that might be perceived as a conflict of interest will be clearly disclosed on every relevant article.
A.D.A.M. has a robust process in place for keeping our extensive content up-to-date. At the beginning of every quarter, our Editorial Director identifies 500 to 600 articles that need to be reviewed and assigns them to physician reviewers. Articles are called up for review based on four criteria:
Our proprietary in-house content management system tracks articles to ensure that these editorial schedules are met. Every change a physician proposes is reviewed by a Senior Editor. The editor may propose more consumer-friendly wording and return these suggestions to the physician for consideration and approval. Our content management system handles the workflow. An article update is approved and sent to the next stage when both the editor and physician mutually agree that the update is both medically sound and consumer friendly.
Once an article is updated in English, it is sent into a workflow that manages the Spanish translation process (certain products only). Once both English and Spanish have been updated, they are published together and made available to clients.
The general flow of the editorial process is provided below. The process is divided into 5 steps.
Step 1 – Content Development In Step 1, medical writers, clinical writers, or medical illustrators develop content. Previously published content is tagged for review and is internally reviewed for any additions or deletions. Additionally, since A.D.A.M. has built its reputation on the outstanding quality of its visual content, textual content is reviewed to add new or appropriate compelling visual content. Acquired content, depending on the source, may enter the editorial process at this stage.
Step 2 – Content Review In Step 2, members of the Medical Review Board (MRB) and/or physicians from our external partner, VeriMed Healthcare Network, may review content. Both the MRB and the VeriMed Healthcare Network consist of board-certified physicians, who are specialists in their field. Physicians write and review content in their specialty areas; ensure content is up-to-date with the most recent treatment guidelines and practices, important studies, breakthrough drugs, and drug warnings; and help the A.D.A.M. Editorial Team perform consistency checks across products. Important medical advances to certain content and article reviews triggered by client and consumer feedback may enter the editorial process at this stage. All content reviews are approved by the Medical Director at this stage.
Step 3 – Content Editorial In Step 3, A.D.A.M.’s Editorial Team reviews the content following medical review for grammar, style, and consistency. The Editorial Team reviews all content, both textual and visual. A content quality assurance check is also performed. Acquired content, which has demonstrated adherence to the criteria of the MRB and A.D.A.M. editorial standards, may enter the editorial process at this stage.
Step 4 – Content Production In Step 4, the content is indexed, stored in our proprietary in-house content management system, coded, and tagged for presentation. Associated Spanish content is translated and stored in our content management system at this time. A technical and content quality assurance check is also performed during this step.
Step 5 – Content Publication In Step 5, content is provided to customers. Licensees integrate the A.D.A.M. content with their internet web sites and provide feedback to the editorial process in the form of customer queries and inquiries. Content is regularly updated. In most cases, the update cycle is quarterly. Once a customer receives an update, they have a contractual obligation to implement the updated content on their site.
A.D.A.M., Inc. has served millions of consumers around the world for over 16 years with award-winning, health information and products that have literally changed the way people look at their bodies, understand their health and wellness, and learn the science of medicine. As A.D.A.M. continues to grow, we are constantly creating new content internally while acquiring high quality assets externally.
A.D.A.M. has made a public commitment to editorial excellence. We have been deeply involved in shaping the policies of Hi-Ethics, the URAC American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (URAC) Health Web Site Accreditation Program, and the Center for Information Therapy, three cooperating organizations that have been at the forefront of the industry movement to ensure quality of health information on the internet.
A.D.A.M. is a founding member of Hi-Ethics, a nonprofit organization that was established to address concerns over the security, quality, and ethical standards of consumer health information on the internet. Today, Hi-Ethics has become part of the Center for Information Therapy.
A.D.A.M. was among the first group of companies to receive URAC accreditation for health information, and has maintained its accreditation since that time. The URAC accreditation seal indicates that A.D.A.M.'s consumer health products are in compliance with 49 rigorous standards of quality and accountability, verified in an independent audit by URAC (www.urac.org). URAC performs this audit every 2 years.
Evidence-Based Content
A.D.A.M.'s goal is to present evidence-based health information. Therefore, content in A.D.A.M. products is created by identifying the best available evidence from national guidelines, government agencies, recognized leading textbooks, and peer-reviewed literature. We ask our writers and reviewers to create content based both on the quality of the evidence and its applicability to everyday practice.
1st - Level of Evidence
- National guidelines and consensus statements from government-sponsored agencies. Examples include:
- Clinical position papers and guidelines from highly reputed professional societies, when their statements are based upon referenced clinical evidence and their recommendations either describe or explicitly state the level of evidence for any recommendations. Examples include:
- Technology assessments.
- Randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews or meta-analyses, published either by organizations such as the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews or in peer-reviewed literature.
2nd - Level of Evidence
- Current editions of recognized leading textbooks in the field.
- Review articles and selected controlled trials published in major journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, or Lancet, as well as in major specialty journals such as Circulation, Neurology, and Pediatrics.
3rd - Level of Evidence
- Consists primarily of consensus medical opinion.
Using Evidence in Consumer-Oriented Writing
A.D.A.M. content is physician-reviewed and physician-updated, in collaboration with skilled consumer medical editors and writers. Most articles are reviewed by two, and sometimes three, physicians. Reviewers receive a style guide to help them write with the A.D.A.M. voice.
A.D.A.M.'s content is written in plain language, for lay readers. The information is designed to be easily accessible, visually pleasing, and informative. We strive for a 6th to 7th grade reading level, logical organization, short sentences and common everyday words, and design features that make the content easy to read, understand, and use.
Some of our more in-depth content is written at a higher reading level for readers who wish to pursue a more advanced study of health topics. To continue the tradition of editorial excellence, A.D.A.M. has established an editorial process that is facilitated by a Content Review Board.
To learn more about A.D.A.M.'s Editorial Process, a concise description can be found here.
A.D.A.M. has made a strategic decision to work with outside, independent reviewers. A.D.A.M.'s Medical Review Board includes more than a dozen physicians who work closely with A.D.A.M. on a daily basis to update and expand A.D.A.M.'s vast consumer information database. These physicians:
* Write and review content in their specialty areas * Ensure content is up-to-date with the most recent treatment guidelines and practices, important studies, breakthrough drugs, and drug warnings * Help the A.D.A.M. Editorial Team perform consistency checks across products
Physicians on the A.D.A.M. Medical Review Board are affiliated with leading institutions across the country, including top hospitals as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Physicians are chosen to review or write medical content only in the clinical areas in which they have been formally trained and actively practice. They are board certified for that specialty, where applicable.
Members of the A.D.A.M. Medical Review Board are listed below.
ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Stuart I. Henochowicz, MD, FACP, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology, Georgetown University Medical School.
BARIATRIC SURGERY Ann Rogers, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery; Director, Penn State Surgical Weight Loss Program, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Alex Nagle, MD, Director of Bariatric Surgery, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Gastrointestinal & Oncologic Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
CARDIOLOGY Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington.
DERMATOLOGY Roy Colven, MD, Dermatologist, Assosciate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE Jacob L. Heller, MD, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, Clinic.
FAMILY PRACTICE Linda Vorvick, MD, Seattle Site Coordinator, Pathophysiology, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington School of Medicine.
GASTROENTEROLOGY George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California.
HEMATOLOGY Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.
INTERNAL MEDICINE David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
NEPHROLOGY Herbert Y. Lin, MD, Nephrologist, Massachussets General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
NEUROLOGY Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dee Silver, MD, Neurologist, Coastal Neurological Medical Group, Inc., La Jolla, California.
OBSTETRICS/GYNOCOLOGY Susan Storck, MD, FACOG, Chief, Eastside Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Redmond, Washington; Clinical Teaching Faculty, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington School of Medicine.
OPHTHALMOLOGY Franklin W. Lusby, MD, Ophthalmologist, Lusby Vision Institute, La Jolla, California. ORTHOPEDICS C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
OTOLARYNGOLOGY Seth Schwartz, MD, MPH, Otolaryngologist, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
PEDIATRICS Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Jennifer K. Mannheim, ARNP, Medical Staff, Department of Psychiatry and Behaviorial Health, Seattle Children’s Hospital.
PULMONOLOGY Denis Hadjiliadis, MD,Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
PSYCHIATRY Michelle Banger Merrill, MD, Instructor in Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University of Medical Center, New York, NY.
David B. Merrill, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.
Fred K. Berger, MD, Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry, Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, California.
SURGERY Debra G. Wechter, MD, FACS, General Surgery practice specialising in breast cancer, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
UROLOGY Scott Miller, MD, Urologist in private practice, Atlanta, Georgia.
Louis S. Liou, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Urology, Department of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine.
A.D.A.M. also uses the VeriMed Healthcare Network to review and update many of its articles. VeriMed is a comprehensive group of over 550 practicing, board-certified physician writers and educators representing all medical subspecialties. VeriMed doctors are affiliated with leading institutions across the country, including the top hospitals as ranked by U.S. News and World Report.
A.D.A.M. works closely with VeriMed on a daily basis. VeriMed physicians are chosen to review or write medical content only in the clinical areas in which they have been formally trained and actively practice. They are board certified or board eligible for that specialty, where applicable. Some of these physician reviewers are listed below.
Allergy and Immunology Frederic F. Little, MD, Department of Allergy and Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.
Cardiology Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY.
Dentistry Michael Kapner, DDS, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Scarsdale, NY.
Dermatology Michael Lehrer, MD, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Diet & Nutrition William McGee, MD, MHA, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, and Chairman, Nutrition Committee, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.
Emergency Medicine Stephen C Acosta, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR.
Eric Perez, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY.
Endocrinology and Metabolism Robert Hurd, MD, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH.
Gastroenterology Christian Stone, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
Genetics Chad Haldeman-Englert, MD, Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
Gerontology Sandra W. Cohen, MD Private Practice specializing in geriatrics, Brooklyn, NY.
Hematology & Oncology William Matsui, MD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD.
Infectious Disease Jatin M. Vyas, PHD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Internal Medicine Angelique Green, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF School of Medicine, Director of Urgent Care Center, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA.
Neurology Daniel Kantor, MD, Director of the Comprehensive MS Center, Neuroscience Institute, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville, FL.
Obstetrics & Gynocology Melanie N. Smith, MD, PhD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Peter Chen, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Opthalmology Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS, Director of Ophthalmology Training, Institute for Family Health, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, New York College of Medicine, New York, NY.
Orthopedics Thomas N. Joseph, MD, Private Practice specializing in Orthopaedics, subspecialty Foot and Ankle, Camden Bone & Joint, Camden, SC.
Otolaryngology Alan Lipkin, MD, Otolaryngologist, Private Practice, Denver, Colorado.
Pediatrics Daniel Rauch, MD, Director, Pediatric Hospitalist Program, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY.
Rachel A Lewis, MD, FAAP, Columbia University Pediatric Faculty Practice, New York, NY.
Psychiatry Christos Ballas, MD, Attending Psychiatrist, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Pulmonology David A. Kaufman, MD, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Radiology Stuart Bentley-Hibbert, MD, PhD, Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY.
Rheumatology Neil J. Gonter, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Columbia University, NY and private practice specializing in Rheumatology at Rheumatology Associates of North Jersey, Teaneck, NJ.
Surgery Robert A. Cowles, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.
Urology Scott M. Gilbert, MD, Department of Urology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
A.D.A.M. uses internal personnel to review and update its articles. All internal personnel have a minimum of 5 years of experience writing and editing health content. Articles reviewed by this team of professionals are referenced using "A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, David R. Eltz," and are documented as such in the "Reviewed by" section of relevant articles. Members of this team are listed below.
David Zieve, M.D., M.H.A., Medical Director Dr. Zieve joined A.D.A.M. to set new industry standards for evidence-based health content. Prior to joining A.D.A.M., Dr. Zieve served as editor and product manager at Milliman Care Guidelines. Milliman is considered the industry standard for independently developed and produced evidence-based clinical guidelines used in a variety of web-based case management applications in hospitals, insurance companies, and case management agencies. While at Milliman, Dr. Zieve was responsible for creating and overseeing two key products, the Ambulatory Care Guidelines and Chronic Care Guidelines. These products, containing hundreds of authorization guidelines, evidence summaries, and patient instructions, are widely viewed in the healthcare industry as a standard of evidence-based medicine.
David R. Eltz, Editorial Director David is an award-winning journalist who has covered the health industry for nearly a decade. Prior to joining A.D.A.M., Mr. Eltz was Group Director for Belvoir Media Group, where he oversaw 11 monthly consumer health newsletters, including Massachusetts General Hospital's Mind, Mood & Memory and The Cleveland Clinic Men's Health Advisor. He has written for numerous magazines, including Pitt Med and I.D. David holds a degree in journalism from California University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the American Medical Writers Association.
A.D.A.M. uses external clinical medical editors to update its articles, usually a contracted physician. All updated articles are reviewed and approved by a physician. The Editorial Director and senior medical editors ensure the work meets the highest quality. All editors are instructed in the type of sources permissible to use for their update, the type of information to be updated, and A.D.A.M. style. These external editors must then undergo a probationary period. Their work is carefully scrutinized for medical accuracy, adherence to our centrist editorial voice, and consumer friendliness. Editors who pass this initial test period are given more update assignments. They receive ongoing evaluation, criticism, and encouragement from staff physicians and editors at A.D.A.M.
Our team of physicians also reviews all illustrations, animations, and supporting text. Reviewer names are documented as such in the "Reviewed by" section of the image page. A.D.A.M. uses professionally trained, master degreed medical illustrators to create and update visual content, including images, animations and supporting text, in consultation with physician reviewers.
A.D.A.M. uses professionally trained, master degreed medical illustrators to review and update visual content, including images, animations, and supporting text. Articles reviewed by this team of professionals are sourced using "A.D.A.M. Medical Illustration Team."
Dan Johnson, M.S.M.I., Visual Asset Manager Mr. Johnson has played key roles in product development since 1992. Dan has been instrumental in creating the look and feel of A.D.A.M.'s award-winning visual assets, including 2D image and animation content development, audio and video capture and post-production as well as medical illustration and animation art direction. His expertise has enabled A.D.A.M. to become and sustain a leadership role in providing high quality content to our clients, and ensure consumers and patients can understand complex medical topics. Dan completed his Masters of Science degree in Medical Illustration from the Medical College of Georgia in 1992.
Kyle A. McNeir, M.A.M.S., Vice President, Product Strategy Mr. McNeir has been a key player with A.D.A.M. since 1992. Currently he directs the Product Strategy for the health solutions group. design and usability of the A.D.A.M. product line and Internet initiatives. From 2000 to 2005, he directed the Editorial, Visual Production, Client Service, and IT efforts for the company, and has managed the web development efforts for the company since 1997. In addition, he directed the Engineering and Software Development for the company, building a strong development team that created proprietary content management and content deployment systems. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. McNeir served as product manager for A.D.A.M., responsible for the creation of award-winning multimedia CD-ROM's for the medical-legal, education, healthcare and consumer markets, many of which are still in use today. As one of the original medical illustrators and production managers for A.D.A.M., Mr. McNeir has been instrumental in producing the world's largest database of high quality medical imagery, animation and technology. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. McNeir served as a medical illustrator and multimedia producer, creating 2-D and 3-D digital animation and graphics, video as well as audio production. Prior to A.D.A.M., Mr. McNeir attended the University of Illinois, Chicago, obtaining a Master's degree in Biomedical Visualization.
ADAM licenses and resells third party content, such as news and drug information. This content may or may not contain all information normally included in our articles, such as a specific reviewer name. If the reviewer name is absent, the source of the content is recognized as the institution that produced and/or reviewed the content. If A.D.A.M. is not provided the specific reviewer information from the third party vendor, A.D.A.M. cannot display the specific reviewer information with the article, only the institution name.
A.D.A.M. continues to review "best of breed" content providers. As vendors are found and reviewed, A.D.A.M. reserves the right to add, replace, or remove third party content from our licensed product line.
A.D.A.M. writes and updates its Health Management Tools, including the Health Risk Assessments, DecisionAssist, and Wellness Tools. Information in these tools is written in plain language and is drawn from the medical evidence and major clinical guidelines as documented in the references section. References are provided for each individual tool. Updates to these tools are documented in the "Reviewed by" section of the article. All tools are reviewed and approved by a physician every 2 years.
The following guidelines have been established by A.D.A.M., Inc. to govern the aspects of advertising and sponsorship. For these purposes, "advertising" includes banner, contextual advertising, sponsored content, and or promotions. "Sponsorship" includes any and all third party entities that create, promote, and/or distribute products and services. These regulations govern issues such as acceptance or denial of advertisements and or sponsorship by A.D.A.M. This policy may be modified at any time using A.D.A.M.'s sole discretion. If a modification occurs, A.D.A.M. will post a revised policy to the www.adam.com site.
A.D.A.M. does not accept advertising from outside parties to be displayed either on the www.adam.com web site, the demonstration web site, the online store located on the www.adam.com web site, or in the A.D.A.M. licensed content.
A.D.A.M. does not place advertisements in our content, nor do we generate any revenue from advertising or sponsorships. Clients who license our content may place advertising on the individual content pages, and may use words, design, or placement to differentiate this from their A.D.A.M. licensed content. The client has the ability to decide how to differentiate between A.D.A.M. licensed content and sponsored content.
A.D.A.M. has sole discretion for determining the types of advertising that will be accepted and displayed on the www.adam.com web site, and under no circumstances shall A.D.A.M.'s acceptance of any advertisement be considered an endorsement of the product(s) and/or service(s) advertised or for the company that manufactures, distributes, or promotes such product(s) or service(s).
A.D.A.M. retains the exclusive right to determine the way in which any and all search results for specific information by topic, keyword, or code are displayed on the www.adam.com web site or in A.D.A.M. licensed content. A.D.A.M. search results are not influenced based on monetary incentives provided by any advertisers or sponsors.
A.D.A.M. does not license or display "sponsored" content on the www.adam.com web site or license "sponsored" content to our clients. All content found on our web site or licensed to our clients has been created by, provided by, or influenced by either A.D.A.M. personnel or consulting professionals hired through our preferred vendors, who have a demonstrated ability to track, review schedules, article versions, and ongoing feedback on specific information. Vendors must also have safeguards against editorial conflicts of interest.
A.D.A.M. will not contact you to promote goods and services. A.D.A.M. will contact you only if you have selected "Yes" from the "Would you like to receive future email updates from A.D.A.M." checkbox found in our online forms or requested sales information through our sales contact form. Conflict of Interest Policy
All Medical Review Board physicians working on an A.D.A.M. project are required to disclose conflict-of-interest affiliations with any organization, pharmaceutical company, or medical device company when signing a consulting agreement to work with A.D.A.M. All physicians must also disclose any conflict-of-interest affiliations when they agree to an assignment.
A.D.A.M.'s Medical Director evaluates any potential conflict of interest disclosed by a physician, and makes a decision whether or not to continue using the physician. If conflict of interest is determined, the physician will be reassigned or steps will be taken to rectify the situation.
A.D.A.M.'s Editorial Team members must disclose all financial and/or other interests they may have in medical, medical device, biotech, drug, or other companies that have a vested interest and/or influence in health care. Disclosures must be made to the appropriate manager, director, or vice president at hiring or when said interest develops. Supervisors will review with company officers to decide if there is a conflict of interest. If conflict of interest is determined, the staff member will be reassigned or steps will be taken to rectify the situation.
A.D.A.M. has no conflicts of interest in editorial decisions. Our review partner, VeriMed, asks their professionals about potential conflicts of interest and discloses any potential conflicts of interest to A.D.A.M. To date, no reviewers have had any conflicts of interest. As most of the physicians VeriMed uses are in fellowships and at the peak of their academic training, they tend not to be at the point of their careers where they have developed consulting agreements with pharmaceutical and/or device companies.
A.D.A.M.'s editorial processes are completely independent of any client relationships, except when we develop custom content for specific clients. In these instances, the content does not, nor will it ever, contain any mention of URAC or display the seal.
A.D.A.M. has no financial and/or business relationship based on linking to third party web sites. A.D.A.M. selects its content partners after a thorough analysis of competing vendors. Only vendors with high editorial standards are considered, such as Reuters News, HealthDay News, Thomson, and Lexicomp. A final decision is made based on vendors that use qualified staff and have reliable procedures in place for developing and updating their own content. This includes a demonstrated ability to track review schedules, article versions, and ongoing feedback on specific information. Vendors must also have safeguards against editorial conflicts of interest. For more information, please read our linking policy below.
A.D.A.M. is owned by Ebix, Inc. (EBIX-NASDAQ), a publicly traded company. Our content is not supported or endorsed by any individual, group, company, or industry that could influence the content.
The web site owner is: Ebix, Inc. 10 10th Street NE Suite 500 Atlanta, Georgia 30309
A.D.A.M. has no financial and/or business relationship based on linking to third party web sites. A.D.A.M. does not include sponsored links, paid inclusion links, cross-promotional links with agreements of a financial nature, or any other associated programs. A.D.A.M. content links only to a select number of high quality web sites. These sites must have the following criteria:
A.D.A.M. does not host/deliver our medical health content for end-users, and does not link to third parties from our corporate web site. A.D.A.M. licenses and delivers our content to clients who in turn, deliver this content to end-users. A.D.A.M. has chosen not to install code in our content notifying the end user that selecting a hyperlink linked to an outside party may take them away from the host site nor do we provide the information in a pop-up window. The decision and technology used to handle "linked sites" is left up to each individual client.
Spyware is software that is installed deceptively to gather information about you without your knowledge. This can include centrally recording your personal internet usage, monitoring your keyboard strokes, or capturing personal information.
Web pages and content provided by A.D.A.M., Inc. contain NO spyware. A.D.A.M. does not condone the use of spyware nor support the distribution of spyware to others.
On occasion, A.D.A.M. uses "Session Cookies," which are not considered "Spyware," to enhance the usability and functionality of the A.D.A.M. web sites, in particular our Online Store. Information derived from "Session Cookies" is solely used by A.D.A.M., Versign, and our shipping vendors to move you through the forms needed to purchase, process, and ship a product, and not in any way distributed to any other third parties.
In addition, these cookies may be used to determine if the user has previously completed an online form, and populate these previous responses in the form. "Cookies" are solely used to enhance the user experience of the web site to the end user. In no way is the information contained in or derived from the use of "Cookies" used outside the scope of its intended purpose.
A.D.A.M. has established rigorous editorial policies and procedures to ensure that clients receive best-in-class health information. Our policies and procedures are designed to create and maintain content that is:
All physician reviewers will not knowingly introduce false or misleading claims into A.D.A.M. content. In addition, all A.D.A.M. editorial and visual production staff will not knowingly introduce false or misleading claims into A.D.A.M. content.
If a false or misleading claim is determined, steps are taken to rectify the situation. The Editorial Director will follow up on client or consumer feedback indicating possible false or misleading claims in A.D.A.M. content by immediately sending the content for physician review.
The Medical Director and Editorial Director will make spot checks of reviews and published content for adherence to this policy. In the event of a possible false or misleading claim, an article can be rejected by the Medical Director and/or Editorial Director and sent back to the editor or physician for another round of review and editing.
In the event information or content is identified and determined to be inaccurate or misleading, the Editorial Team immediately assigns the article to a physician reviewer with a “rush” deadline. The physician reviewer will log into the Content Management System (CMS), carefully review the article, make the appropriate change(s), and send it back to the Editorial Team for review as part of the review workflow. The Editorial Director will ensure that the content is now correct and meets or exceeds A.D.A.M. editorial standards, and will accept the change and push the content for Spanish translation (if there is a Spanish product equivalent). Once translated, reviewed, accepted by the Editorial Director one final time, the content is published and made available to our clients.
Once published, changed content is immediately available on the A.D.A.M. demonstration site and hosted client sites, and made available for download for our clients through TransADAM, our proprietary content distribution software. In the event the modification is significant/important enough to be changed immediately, each client is contacted by a Customer Relations Manager, informed of the issue, and informed the updated content is available to them. Once an identified issue is completed, the QOC committee will review the procedure to ensure this project was completed in a timely manner.