Editorial Policy — Data Accuracy Standards

Data Sources

All treatment facility listings on RehabPulse are sourced from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) treatment locator database, a federal resource maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This database includes facilities that are licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to provide substance use treatment services.

We supplement SAMHSA data with publicly available information including facility websites, state licensing databases, and accreditation records from CARF International and The Joint Commission.

Our Review Process

Here is exactly how each article and guide on RehabPulse is produced, so you can judge our credibility for yourself:

Draft. Articles are drafted by RehabPulse editors — a small in-house team. We are not licensed clinicians, and we do not pretend to be.
Source-check. Every factual claim is cross-referenced against primary sources: SAMHSA, NIDA, CDC, CMS, ASAM criteria, APA DSM-5-TR, or peer-reviewed research published within the last 5 years. Citations appear in the Sources section of each article and link to the original document.
Clinical-guideline alignment. Treatment descriptions, medication information, and diagnostic criteria are checked against current clinical guidelines from ASAM and APA. Where our guides summarize clinical concepts, we defer to the guideline wording rather than paraphrase.
Transparent attribution. Published content is attributed to RehabPulse as an organization — not to fabricated expert personas. If a guide would benefit from a licensed clinician's review, we say so explicitly or seek one.
Periodic refresh. Guides are reviewed at least annually. The last-updated date is visible on every page and reflects a real content review, not a template-wide timestamp.

Editorial Content Standards

All articles, guides, and resource pages adhere to the following standards:

Evidence-based claims: Every factual claim must be supported by data from SAMHSA, NIDA, CDC, CMS, ASAM, APA, or peer-reviewed medical journals published within the last 5 years.
No unsourced statistics: We do not publish statistics without a named source and date of publication.
Clinical accuracy: Medical terminology, treatment descriptions, and medication information are verified against current clinical guidelines from ASAM and the APA.
Transparent attribution: Authors are identified collectively as "RehabPulse" as an organization. We do not create fictional expert personas, stock-photo "medical reviewers," or fabricated credentials.
No ghost-reviewers in structured data: We do not claim reviewedBy relationships in JSON-LD schema that we cannot back with a real, named person. This is a deliberate choice to keep our markup honest.
Regular review: Published content is reviewed periodically and updated. The most recent review date is displayed on each page.

What We Don't Do

Pay-to-play rankings: Treatment centers cannot pay for higher placement in search results or featured listings.
Sponsored editorial content: We do not accept payment to write articles that promote specific treatment facilities or programs.
Guaranteed outcomes: We never claim that any treatment program guarantees recovery. Addiction is a complex medical condition with variable outcomes.
Medical advice: Our content is informational only and does not replace consultation with a licensed healthcare professional.

Corrections Policy

If you identify an error in our content or facility listings, please contact us. We take the following approach to corrections:

Factual errors: Corrected within 24 hours of verification, with a note indicating the correction.
Outdated facility information: Updated as soon as new data is confirmed through SAMHSA or direct facility verification.
Content disputes: Reviewed by our editorial team with reference to primary sources. If a dispute involves medical claims, we defer to published clinical guidelines.

Advertising and Revenue Disclosure

RehabPulse may display helpline phone numbers that connect callers with treatment support services. These phone numbers may be operated by third-party helpline providers. This is disclosed where applicable. Editorial content and facility listings are not influenced by advertising relationships.

Contact

For questions about our editorial standards, data accuracy, or to report an error, please visit our contact page or email us directly. You can also learn more about our team and mission on our About page, browse our recovery resources, or search our treatment directory.

Questions About Our Editorial Process

How do you verify treatment facility data?

All facility listings are sourced directly from SAMHSA's (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) official treatment locator database. This federal database includes facilities that are licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to provide substance use treatment. We supplement with publicly available state licensing records and accreditation databases (CARF, Joint Commission). Facility details are refreshed when SAMHSA updates its database.

What qualifies as an acceptable source for editorial content?

We accept six source categories: (1) Federal agencies — SAMHSA, NIDA, CDC, CMS. (2) Peer-reviewed medical journals — published within the last 5 years. (3) Clinical guidelines — from ASAM, APA, or equivalent professional societies. (4) Government statistics — Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census data. (5) Academic institutions — .edu research publications. (6) Licensed professional commentary — attributed, verifiable credentials. We do not cite blog posts, press releases, or self-published content as primary sources.

Can treatment centers influence their listing or editorial coverage?

No. Treatment centers cannot pay for higher placement, featured listings, or editorial coverage. Our directory rankings are determined by location relevance and data recency — not advertising. We do not accept sponsored articles, native advertising, or paid reviews. If a facility contacts us to update their listing information, we verify changes against SAMHSA's database before publishing.