So where does compliance fit into the politics of healthcare?
I think of compliance officers in an organization to be similar to Switzerland. For many centuries, Switzerland has held to a policy of armed neutrality when it comes to global affairs. Like Switzerland, compliance officers have to have a similar approach in how they interact with others in the organization. Put another way, we have to develop a neutral political strategy. That means being independent and objective (i.e., nonjudgmental) in how you approach your work. That also means treating everyone, across the organization, with the same level of respect.
So, how do you develop a neutral political strategy?
Generally speaking, a neutral political strategy is one that is rooted in productive politics, not destructive ones. Productive politics are actions and words intended to promote the organization, regardless of who personally benefits. Destructive politics, on the other hand, are actions and words intended to solely promote oneself.
To help illustrate the difference, let’s say you witness a fellow compliance officer make a mistake on an investigation. For discussion sake, let’s say your colleague didn’t interview a key witness to the investigation. Destructive politics might look like reporting the mistake to colleague’s supervisor without his or her knowledge. Productive politics, on the other hand, would look like alerting the colleague to the mistake and offering insights into how it could be corrected. For example, you might suggest he or she interview the key witness and why it is important to do so.
Some additional examples of destructive and productive politics include the following…
Destructive Politics:
Gossiping and spreading rumors at someone else’s expense.
Taking credit for someone else’s work.
Focusing on the person and not the issue.
Forming alliances against colleagues with bad intent.
Productive Politics:
Limiting discussion to the business of the organization.
Transparently recognizing the work of others.
Focusing on the issue and not the person.
Forming alliances with colleagues with good intent.
In order to maintain a neutral political strategy focused on productive politics, you need underlying strategies that support that position. For example, you need to understand the political landscape around you. You also need to build strong relationships with others in the organization. Finally, you need to know how to communicate in a way that is respectful of others, yet allows you to influence them and resolve conflict. All of these underlying strategies, and more, will be covered down the road in this blog.
For now, let me leave you with three takeaways for each of the underlying strategies mentioned above…
#1-Understanding the Political Landscape Around You. Identify and be mindful of who in the organization has formal power and who has informal power. Also, identify who gets along and who doesn’t get along. This becomes valuable information for knowing who supports the compliance program and who does not.
#2-Building Strong Relationships with your Healthcare Leaders. Establish rapport with your healthcare leaders by getting to know who they are and nuts and bolts of their operations. If you want to operate an effective compliance program and obtain leadership buy-in, you have to put in the time and effort to build these relationships. That means taking an active interest in them.
#3-Using Diplomacy to Communicate and Resolve Conflict. When communicating, always be mindful of who your audience is, and their point-of-view based on their role. At times this requires thinking like a healthcare leader and not a compliance officer.
When it comes to the politics of healthcare, many of struggles that we face can be traced back to one of two agendas in the organization. The first one is the organization’s business agenda and the second is the organization’s compliance program agenda.
What factors into these agendas and how do you get them to align? Stay tuned and we’ll cover that topic next time.