Why Copyediting for Clarity Improves Medical Jargon
In healthcare communication, clarity and accuracy are imperative. Clients have to be able to understand your message, as they did not go to medical school like you and me. Medical organizations use various forms of content to inform their audience, such as patient brochures, health blogs, and research summaries. Meanwhile, some of their audience lose impact because they don’t understand the complex language or confusing medical jargon.
Copyediting transforms complex medical language into understandable text for your audience. I believe copyediting is a special technique that connects your readers and medical terminology together. Whether your audience is patients or healthcare providers, the communication should be clear, which is the secret sauce in building trust.
Why Barriers Exist In Healthcare Communication
Healthcare terminology isn’t easy to understand, creating barriers in communication. For example, phrases like atrial fibrillation, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or Coronary Atherosclerosis can be intimidating or confusing to the general public. Note that it’s always best to communicate at a sixth-grade level or lower due to the health literacy in the United States. Unfortunately, many people experience a disconnect when comprehending medical information.
As a result, when your audience can’t understand your vision, multiple problems could lead to:
Misapprehension of symptoms, diagnoses, or treatment plans
Reduced patient engagement, making them less likely to follow recommendations
Increased nervousness due to unfamiliar or alarming terminology
Compromised trust in the organization providing the information
A medical copyeditor’s role is to prevent these barriers, ensuring every piece of healthcare content meets your audience where they are.
How Medical Copyediting Improves Patient Education Materials
Copyediting goes beyond checking for mistakes. It’s a gifted process of shaping language so it resonates with your intended audience. In healthcare, that role becomes even more crucial, especially in patient education material. A healthcare copyeditor must strike a balance between clarity and accuracy while simplifying complex concepts without compromising their meaning or integrity.
Key responsibilities of a healthcare copyeditor include:
Rewording medical terminology into everyday language
Rewriting long, complicated sentences into clear, digestible statements
Ensuring consistency in terminology, tone, and style across all content
Removing vagueness that could confuse or mislead readers
Strengthening the message so that information flows logically and smoothly
This process elevates content from misleading to truly meaningful.
How to Simplify Medical Information Without Oversimplifying
One of the biggest challenges in medical copyediting is maintaining accuracy while making the text understandable. Oversimplification can distort meaning, while too much uncertainty can overwhelm readers.
Effective copyeditors achieve clarity by using plain language equivalents like:
“Myocardial infarction” becomes “heart attack.”
“NPO” becomes “nothing by mouth.”
Breaking down complex concepts into smaller, easy-to-follow steps
Adding brief explanations when not-so-simple terms are used
Example: A CT scan is a detailed imaging technique to help diagnose various conditions.
Avoiding unnecessary descriptors that complicate rather than clarify
The goal is always the same: your audience should understand the message the first time they read it.
Copyeditors Maintain Accuracy While Enhancing Readability
Healthcare verbiage must be easy to understand. A tiny error can change the meaning of a diagnosis, treatment plan, or medical condition. That’s why copyeditors in this field need both editorial expertise and a strong understanding of medical terminology.
Clarity-focused copyediting maintains accuracy by:
Ensuring terminology aligns with current medical standards
Verifying definitions and explanations
Checking dosage instructions, statistics, and clinical statements
Ensuring medical claims are supported and phrased responsibly
This combination of clarity and correctness is what separates a general editor from a specialized medical copyeditor, like myself.
Making Health Information Accessible for All Readers
Not every reader has a healthcare background—or even a high reading level. Clear copyediting ensures that medical content is accessible to diverse audiences, including:
Patients with limited health literacy
Older adults
Individuals whose primary language is not English
Caregivers looking for guidance
Busy readers who want quick, understandable answers
Copyeditors use strategies like:
Short paragraphs and headings for easy scanning
Bullet points and lists to simplify complex steps
Active voice to reduce confusion
Consistent tone that is helpful, reassuring, and respectful
When healthcare information feels approachable, readers are far more likely to trust it and act on it.
The Power of Clear Copyediting in Healthcare
Copyediting for clarity isn’t just about improving sentence structure or fixing grammar. In healthcare, it’s about transforming technical language into meaningful, trustworthy information that empowers your readers to understand their health, make informed decisions, and feel confident in the care they receive.
Medical jargon may be necessary in clinical settings, but patient-facing communication must speak your audience's language. When medical information becomes clear and accessible, it creates better outcomes for everyone involved—from healthcare organizations to the patients who rely on them.
Need help ensuring your healthcare content is clear, compliant, and error-free? Look no further! I specialize in medical proofreading and copyediting for healthcare brands that value precision and trust. Schedule your edit today.
