AP Stylebook Now Makes “Healthcare” One Word — Update Your Brand Standards

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Associated Press Stylebook April 25, 2026
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AI-Generated Summary

The Associated Press Stylebook has officially updated its guidance to standardize “healthcare” as one word in all uses, ending years of inconsistency between hyphenated, two-word, and closed forms. Announced at the ACES Editors conference, the guidance is now live in AP Stylebook Online. The update also closes “childcare” and “daycare” as single words. For healthcare organizations and their marketing and communications teams, this resolves a long-standing editorial inconsistency—providing a single authoritative standard that aligns with how most healthcare organizations were already writing the term in practice.

Why It Matters

For healthcare marketing and communications teams, this is a clean signal to audit and align all brand standards, website copy, and press materials to the one-word “healthcare”—now that AP has made it official, inconsistency in patient-facing content looks like an editorial oversight.

ap stylebook healthcare branding content standards brand consistency healthcare marketing editorial style

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