Winona, Inc. is an online women’s telehealth company that is singularly focused on 1% philanthropy for women in perimenopause and menopause by promoting and providing the highest standards in menopause symptom treatment.
Winona’s “What Is New In Science” (WINIS) is providing accurate and unbiased content. In order to get the Winona message and product information out to patients, Winona produces advertisements to make others aware of the products available through our digital health platform. As scientists, physicians, marketers, and legal experts, we utilize scientific methodology, standard marketing protocols, and compliance regulations to direct the creation, editing, reviewing, and presentation of Winona content.
Winona believes that the best way to improve the quality of life for menopausal women is to provide the most current and accurate scientific findings related to relieving menopause symptoms. Transparency in all of our information and marketing pieces is essential to creating the trust and loyalty of our patients. Winona’s team of experts reviews all the information that is shared in our ads, educational content on our sites, the information we share with media or business partners, and any marketing materials. Even the design of our packaging is with our patients’ best experience in mind.
In our content pieces, all scientific references are cited in order to clearly indicate the medical journal articles and scientific findings for cross-reference. We provide these references so that our patients have a better understanding of not only the benefits of the treatments they receive, but also why the Winona healthcare professionals chose their specific treatment plan, and any potential side effects.
In collaboration with Winona healthcare experts, our patients will know the ingredients of the medication they are using and can ask any questions to confirm that it is appropriate for them. With this individualized care, patients can be confident that Winona will provide them the information they need to make informed decisions about their Winona healthcare journey.
What is WINIS?
WINIS stands for: What Is New In Science.
Menopause research lags behind most other areas of women’s health. Health studies performed in the 1990s are still scaring women away from utilizing the medical treatments that can reduce symptoms, prevent disease, improve and potentially extend their lives.
WINIS is an internal process created by Winona that is designed to put in place clear checks and balances for Winona’s team to responsibly, carefully, and accurately share and update the ever-evolving body of scientific knowledge surrounding menopause. Sharing scientific findings is always tricky. One study may show one result and another dispute it. Winona’s experts will do the heavy lifting and find the appropriate intersection between science, law, and advertising.
The purpose of WINIS is to facilitate the dissemination of the most up-to-date menopause treatments while ensuring patient safety and trust by presenting the information in a truthful, non-misleading way.
Three guideposts for content that is reviewed by the WINIS process:
Compliance with applicable federal and state laws and Winona’s Policies Winona’s cross-functional team understands and respects the obligation to comply with all state and federal laws. Not only do those obligations include accurate marketing content that is evidence-based, and non-misleading but also regularly updating information based on the most recent research. Winona’s goal is to educate consumers about this ever-evolving field of women’s medicine and to supply them with the information they need to make their unique healthcare decisions.
Winona has a fully dedicated section on its website that provides information about all medications. All prescription medications will be mailed with Important Safety Information from our Winona Pharmacy. Any questions about medications are welcomed to be directed to the Winona healthcare provider via our Winona platform.Accurate medical information Winona’s Clinical and Research Team is one of Winona’s strongest assets. Our team is composed of board-certified physicians and Ph.D. research scientists that ensure there is clinical and scientific data to support every claim we make. Winona works on content using internal guidelines of approved claims by condition, medication, and how the language will be used on the website or advertising. There are many ways to share the Winona message and the Twitter marketing is going to be very different from Facebook which means that what might be approved for use in one context might not be appropriate for another kind of advertising.
Winona’s Principles Winona offers our female patients a unique experience. Winona’s healthcare platform is a place to safely connect with a healthcare provider to receive care, to ask the sometimes difficult and maybe even embarrassing questions. Winona is not just a site to get a quick prescription. The decision to treat and whether to prescribe a product available through Winona is up to the patient and their Winona affiliated licensed providers who are all licensed, board-certified, and never financially motivated to prescribe.
Winona is proud of our doctors, healthcare providers, and scientists who work tirelessly to treat all of the symptoms of menopause in the most effective way. That treatment might be a prescription or it could be one of our many over-the-counter treatments, but it will be the treatment that the patient and their doctor devise together.Winona is open 24/7 for our female patients who are suffering from peri or menopausal symptoms. We pride ourselves in our service to our patients and never want to break physician-patient trust. Like most healthcare institutions, Winona is a patient first, a forward-facing organization that lives by the Hippocratic oath, “Do no harm.”
This mindset is particularly relevant when it comes to transparency about medical products and their potential risks. It’s easy to attract consumers if you don’t talk about the potential downside of a product, but providing unnecessary medication is not something Winona will ever do.
HOW DOES WINIS WORK?
The WINIS process is apparent from the first moment a patient lands on the Winona platform or views our advertising. The continuity, timeliness, and credibility of Winona’s messaging are unparalleled.
Regular Concept Reviews Members of the Clinical and Legal team meet at the beginning of each phase of Winona product and advertising development for initial concept reviews. At these reviews, there are the ever-present Winona core mission and value statements, Claims Guidelines, as well as Legal Marketing Guidelines.
Pre-submission Checklist A pre-submission checklist helps to outline expectations. Using a rubric format, we ensure that each project manager has performed their due diligence by reviewing the checklist (below) before a concept is reviewed and released. The pre-submission checklist includes the questions:
Did the content go through a Concept & Peer Review?
Does this content align with brand guidelines?
If referencing research findings or articles, are all links to data added and attached in the highlighted references?
If the content is an email, is a subject line, header, and description of receiving patient population included?
Are appropriate disclaimers added in the footer?
Have all rights to images/music/video been secured?
Submission & Review All content submission is completed using an online form that asks for specific information to ensure that full context is provided along with timing expectations including:
The Winona team members associated with the content,
Where the content will appear,
Links to Google Docs,
Figma Boards,
Miro Whiteboards, and more…
With the completion of this form, the WINIS coordinator will review and prioritize the workload accordingly.
This initial review will be completed by both medical and legal with comments added to the document. If the project requires significant changes, it will move to a meeting review with the project owner to align on changes. The initial review will result in one of the following outcomes:
Approved to release
Approved to release with amendments
Revise and resubmit.
Every review decision is documented and dated with context.
Secondary Review (if necessary) If the result of the Review was a ‘Revise and resubmit’ there is an opportunity for a second review to ensure that changes were interpreted and incorporated accurately. If all criteria are met, it will then be stamped as ‘Approved to release’, if criteria have not been met a meeting to further review will be scheduled.
Meeting to Review Comments (if required) If a resolution is still not established, a deeper discussion will occur to resolve comments, content, or concepts in order to resolve and finalize.
WHY IS WINIS SO IMPORTANT?
Winona’s mission is to provide the most current, scientifically proven medical treatment for menopause symptoms. Science is complicated and Winona will only provide evidence-based treatments. The studies that our treatments are based on will be appropriately documented; this isn’t only about satisfying legal and medical guidelines, it is also about instilling long-term trust and empowering our patients to make informed decisions in concert with their Winona healthcare provider.
