What is the role of conditional processing in content delivery for different medical audiences?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Conditional processing in DITA plays a vital role in tailoring content delivery to different medical audiences, ensuring that information is relevant, accurate, and compliant with specific requirements. Healthcare documentation often needs to address diverse audiences, including healthcare professionals, patients, and regulatory bodies. Conditional processing allows content creators to manage these variations efficiently.

1. Audience-Specific Content: With conditional processing, you can create content that caters to distinct audiences. For example, you can provide detailed technical information for healthcare professionals, simplified explanations for patients, and compliance-related data for regulatory authorities.

Here’s an example of conditional processing in DITA:

<!-- Example: Conditional Content for Different Audiences -->
<body>
  <section audience="healthcare-professionals">
    <title>Technical Information</title>
    <p>This section provides in-depth technical details for healthcare professionals.</p>
  </section>
  <section audience="patients">
    <title>Patient-Friendly Explanation</title>
    <p>This section offers a simplified explanation suitable for patients.</p>
  </section>
  <section audience="regulatory-authorities">
    <title>Compliance Data</title>
    <p>Here, you can include information required by regulatory authorities.</p>
  </section>
</body>

2. Language Localization: Conditional processing can also be used for language localization. For instance, you can create different versions of content for various languages, ensuring that the information is accessible to a global audience.

3. Compliance Requirements: In the medical sector, adhering to compliance standards is paramount. Conditional processing allows you to include or exclude specific sections of content to ensure compliance with changing regulations and standards.