We care about you — and your family. As one of the world’s top hospitals, Cleveland Clinic wants to empower you with the trustworthy information you need to understand your body and make decisions about your health.

Simply curious? Panic Googling at 2 a.m.? We’re here for you when you need us. That’s why we’ve curated collections of information to best meet your needs:

Health Library — Deep dives into diseases, conditions, treatments and body systems.
Health Essentials — Health and wellness articles that explain hot trends or how to live healthier every day.

Our voice

Four doctors started Cleveland Clinic in 1921. We’re a nonprofit, physician-led organization. We have more than 23,000 on our team, including physicians, surgeons, nurses and more.

We’re surrounded by experts. They’re what sets us apart. They’re our fellow caregivers and friends. That’s why, when you read our content, it’s like you’re calling up your best friend — who happens to be a doctor. They explain things in a way you can understand. We try to predict and answer all your questions.

We’re conversational and talk directly to you. That means, yes, you’ll find a lot of contractions. “Isn’t” and “you’ll” is how we speak, after all. We also say kids, pee, poop, snot and a lot of other words you might not expect because that’s how friends talk. You may not find some of what we say in the AP Stylebook, as we have our own in-house style guide, too. It helps us prioritize things that are important to us. We hope the fact that we care about you and your family rings through.

Our commitment to our readers

At Cleveland Clinic, we feel that healthcare communication should do no harm. We recognize that words influence how you experience healthcare — and the actions you take. Language can also motivate or stigmatize already marginalized groups. And we don’t make assumptions about people.

That’s why we use person-centered, empathetic language. We want to welcome you as you are. Not your health condition. Not your disability. Not your gender or race. We’ll typically use person-first language, but we also realize that some groups embrace and prefer identity-first language. This means we try our best to honor what our readers want. Yet, since we can’t personally ask you about your preference, we kindly ask you to read our content assuming positive intent.

We also recognize that language constantly evolves. So, our work in this space is never finished. We review our editorial policies every year to double-check that we’re up-to-date.

Our editorial process

A team of professional writers (journalists and academics) crafts every article on our site. They thoroughly research their topics and are passionate about explaining your health in a way that keeps you reading. As an academic medical center, we believe in evidence-based medicine. This means we’ll link to our research so you can see our sources. But that also means we debunk popular myths you hear on the internet.

Our writers interview and quote our healthcare providers. Or we research and write articles in an area of focus. Either way, a Cleveland Clinic medical expert reviews each and every article for medical accuracy. Then, our proofreading team ensures our articles are clear and error-free.

You’ll find dates on our articles. That’s because while much of healthcare doesn’t change, sometimes things do. We’re always reviewing our content to make sure it’s the most recent and accurate information possible. Think you’ve found an error? (We are still human.) Please reach out at editorial@ccf.org.