Grammar standards

The rules of our writing.

Grammar standards

Health care vs healthcare

• The AccentCare standard is “health care”, written as two words

Initial caps

• Disease/condition names: always lower case unless based on proper noun/ name: “diabetes” vs. “Huntington’s Disease” vs. “the RightPath Diabetes Program”. Generally we only use initial caps when referring to our lines of business and/or our programs

• Generally we only use initial caps for proper nouns, titles, places, etc. Never for generic terms such as “doctor, nurse, physical therapy, behavior health”

Ex: “Dr. John Smith is Chief Surgeon at Wisconsin General…”

But not “Dr. John Smith is a Surgeon at...”

Ex: “We offer physical therapy and behavioral health services…”

• For punctuation with bullet points item: Initial caps for first word of the bulleted item only.

Ex. “· Car parts” not “· Car Parts”

Phone/Fax Standards

• Always use 555.555.5555 format (no dashes or parentheses)

• Do not use “1” or “+1” at start of numbers

Registered Trademark (®) Symbol Usage

• “AccentCare®” always used in first instance ONLY in body copy

• After first instance, “AccentCare” should be used throughout in body copy (no “®” after first instance)

URL Usage

• Always include “www”: www.accentcare.com

• Always all lower case

• In digital PDFs, emails, and other online applications, always link URL when possible

Oxford Comma

• Always use the Oxford comma when listing three or more things

• Ex: “We offer design, marketing, and branding expertise.”

Ellipses

• Use sparingly and with discretion; determine if commas or em dashes work better

Em Dashes

• Always used with space before and after

• Ex: “We craft beautiful — and strategically branded — marketing solutions.”

Caregiver vs. care partner

Unless otherwise required by legal obligation/regulation, non-clinical employees of Personal Care Services who do not carry a traditional clinical label/title such as “therapist” or “nurse” should be referred to as a “caregiver”, lower case. If the caregiver referenced is not employed by AccentCare or our partners, use the term “family caregiver” where possible.

Payor vs payer

• The AccentCare standard is “payor”

Dietitian vs dietician

• The AccentCare standard is “dietitian”

Preventive vs preventative

• The AccentCare standard is “preventive”

Hyphen and non-hyphen use standard

• Re-hospitalization

• Readmission

• Late-life depression

• 30-day vs. 30 day

Ex. When you are using it as a noun phrase, you say “30 days”. When you are using it as an adjective, you say “30-day”. For example, “The project will last for 30 days”, versus “This is a 30-day project”. Similarly for other number-plus-unit expressions.

• Telehealth and telemonitor (no hyphens)

• High quality vs. high-quality.

Something can have a high quality, but when used as an adjective, it should be hyphenated.

Ex. Our care has a high quality. We provide high-quality care.

• Less vs. fewer.

Fewer is for things you can count individually or that can be pluralized (ex: fewer patients, fewer programs). Less is for things that can’t be pluralized in that use (ex: less time, less money).

Registered trademark

• The symbol ® is a notice of registered trademark ownership. Only use ® designation as strictly identified in the brand guide per program and brand name. Note: Superscript ® is preferred

Punctuation with bullet points

• If the text of your bullet point is a complete sentence (or multiple sentences), use capital letters and punctuation. If your points are not structured as proper sentences, you don’t need to end with punctuation.

Our logo and color palette

The AccentCare logo is our single most important brand element. Great care must be taken to ensure it’s integrity and proper usage — always.

If you require a logo, please submit a Creative Request. The Marketing and Communications team will work with you to provide the appropriate logo file format for all uses — print, digital, internal communications, presentations, swag, etc. Never use a logo pulled off the internet, a PDF, or a screenshot. All logo usage must be approved by the Marketing and Communications department.