OU Health Style Guide

• Oklahoma's only comprehensive pediatric hospital.
• On second reference, drop OU Health.
• Never reference as Oklahoma Children’s, the Children's Hospital or OU Children’s.

OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences

• Oklahoma's only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center.
• On second reference, drop OU Health and at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences.

OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences

• Oklahoma's foremost research and clinical care facility for diabetes.
• On second reference, drop OU Health and at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences.

OU Health Edmond Medical Center

• Community hospital in Edmond, Oklahoma.
• On second reference, drop OU Health.

Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health Behavioral Health Center

• Oklahoma's only pediatric behavioral health center.

Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging at OU Health

• Oklahoma's foremost center on aging and memory care.

OU Health Physicians

• Name of physician practice.
• Business name of OU Health Physicians is OU Health Partners; Only use when referring to the business entity.

Editorial Guidelines Index

A

Academic degrees:

On first reference, include their credentials after a person’s full name, preceded by a comma: John Zubialde, M.D., Anne Pereira, Ph.D. For subsequent references, use Dr. and last name.

Example: Dr. Smith

Academic titles/credentials:

Use periods in degree abbreviations: M.D., D.O., R.N., Ph.D., D.D.S. But do not use periods in degrees or credentials with three or more letters: MBA, MPH, MHA, FACHE. Exception: D.D.S., P.A.-C and Ph.D.

• D.D.S. and D.M.D. are generally interchangeable, but the OU College of Dentistry awards the D.D.S. degree.
• Lowercase faculty titles, including before a name: She is an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He met with professor Mary Beth Humphrey, M.D., Ph.D., during his visit. Only use academic titles when the content relates to an educational aspect of our mission.

C

Clinical trials:

Use Phase I, Phase II or Phase III to describe clinical trials.

Condition, disease, disorder:

Say people with diabetes, not patients suffering from or afflicted with diabetes. Do not define a person by their disease. Avoid: She is diabetic. Instead, say: She has diabetes. Avoid expressions such as: He is battling cancer or She is a stroke victim. Use neutral, precise descriptions: He has stomach cancer. She is a stroke patient.

Do not capitalize unless they contain a proper noun: congestive heart failure, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Achilles tendinopathy.

H

HIPAA

HIPAA is the acronym referencing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It may also be referred to as “privacy laws” or “the federal law restricting release of medical information.” HIPAA is a federal law that involves national standards to protect sensitive patient health information (PHI) from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

L

Level I Trauma Center

Use to describe trauma care at OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center and at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health, when written use roman numeral (Level I), when spoken say level one.

Level IV NICU

Use to describe the highest level of neonatal care available in Oklahoma at Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health.

N

National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center

Always hyphenate and capitalize. Acceptable on second reference: NCI-Designated Cancer Center. OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences is Oklahoma’s only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center.