Clarity in messaging
If you don’t currently use a CCD, your team or agency partners may be making the same mistakes across their promotional materials, leading to extra review time to resolve issues. Your team may also be resolving issues differently, which creates inconsistencies. A well-maintained CCD ensures every writer, reviewer, and partner is aligned on how claims should be worded and substantiated.
Easier onboarding
The centralized location of CCDs also makes knowledge transfer easier when your team changes. For example, if you’re onboarding a new reviewer or agency partner, you can use a CCD as a resource to provide education around the claims you use, along with rules and reasoning for your decisions. That clarity reduces onboarding time and helps maintain alignment throughout the content lifecycle.
Faster review cycles
The biggest benefit is that CCDs can significantly reduce review time. When copywriters have a CCD to reference, they don’t have to write new claims copy or dig for references for every promotional piece, which makes preparing for review faster. Also, by creating a CCD, your team members agree to the claims you can make ahead of time, which simplifies and speeds up approval times.
Despite these benefits, CCDs need dedicated time to develop a first version and then to update it over time. Keep this in mind as we walk through the steps on how to create one.
How to create a core claims document
1. Set up a team
Start by identifying who should contribute to and approve the initial version of the CCD. This team often mirrors your typical promotional material review stakeholders: medical, legal, regulatory, and marketing. You’ll also want to designate one owner to manage updates and serve as the point person for CCD maintenance.
2. Decide on a format
Most companies create one core claims document per product, though regional or audience-specific CCDs may also be appropriate. Decide whether to structure the CCD by claim category, product benefit, or intended audience. Be sure to include metadata like intended market, audience restrictions, and references.
3. Create your CCD
Gather all existing claims, references, and usage notes from prior promotional materials. If your product is new, start drafting claims from scratch and validate them through your usual MLR process. Be sure to include multiple versions of each claim (long-form, short-form, and headline variants) to support use across digital and print formats.
4. Review and approve your CCD
Route the CCD through your normal promotional material review process. Once approved, make the document accessible to everyone involved in content creation or approval. Clearly communicate where the CCD lives, how to use it, and who to contact with questions.
5. Set a schedule for ongoing maintenance
A core claims document is only valuable if it stays current. Set a review cadence (e.g., quarterly or biannually) based on your product’s lifecycle. Assign a team member to own updates and track when claims are added, edited, or removed. Always ensure that expired or invalid claims are removed or flagged.
And that’s it—you’ve set your team up for success with your first CCD.
