For any compliance officer, much of the job is carried out in front a computer. For example, conducting research, updating policies, reviewing audit reports, and investigation files that require documentation. In our world, we focus a lot on how to make compliance programs more effective, yet there is one simple strategy that often gets overlooked: visibility.
When operational leaders and frontline staff see you regularly, talk with you informally, and experience you as a business partner, genuine trust begins to grow. Over time, that trust becomes a foundation that leads employees to proactively report concerns, and allows your advice to be acted upon.
This article will cover the importance of visibility for the success of your compliance program, and how it helps you navigate the corporate politics of healthcare.
Visibility Creates Familiarity. Familiarity Builds Trust.
In a healthcare organization, most leaders spend their days solving technical operational challenges. For example, navigating patient workflow issues, managing staffing shortages, and balancing clinical priorities. If the compliance officer only appears during times of investigations, audits, or trainings, frontline staff and leaders are likely to only associate you with negativity (i.e., a disruption or correction).
Increased face time changes this dynamic. When workforce members see you regularly, (in their environment), the relationship has more of a human element to it. For example, a five-minute hallway conversation about a documentation issue can be far more impactful than an email explaining a billing requirement.
So why does face time change this dynamic?
Because its creates familiarity for them, which builds trust. In my experience, familiarity tends to reduce anxiety by creating a safe space for workforce members. One that lowers the psychological barrier to asking vulnerable questions.
Think of it this way...when workforce members think about compliance, familiarity means they are thinking about it as a person, not a department.
Visibility Helps You Understand How the Organization Really Works.
Another benefit of visibility, as it relates to the effectiveness of your program, is that you learn how the organization functions. And by that, I mean “actually” functions.
Policies can look straightforward on paper, but healthcare operations are complex, and may tell a different story. For example, processes often evolve due to changing resources and workarounds that develop over time. When that happens, there is a strong likelihood the processes have fallen out of alignment with a policy, yet the policy wasn’t updated to match.
When you consistently spend time in different areas of the organization, you start to see the pressures that operational leaders face every day. You observe how patient flow is impacted by timing, how staffing shortages shape decision-making, and how clinical priorities compete with administrative tasks (such as documentation).
Having a firsthand perspective allows you to help them identify whether their policies need updating, or frame your compliance advice in ways that acknowledge their operational realities. When leaders know, that you know, how their departments actually function, they are far more likely to trust your guidance and be engaged with the compliance program.
Visibility Encourages People to Speak Up Earlier.
Another way visibility aids the effectiveness of your compliance program is that people are more likely to raise concerns early—before they turn into a more serious compliance issue.
I think in just about every organization I’ve worked in, there’s been a population of employees hesitant to contact the compliance officer unless they were absolutely certain there is a problem. The reluctance could be traced to worry that they might be overreacting, or assuming the issue is too small to mention.
Now, let’s add invisibility to this equation.
If the compliance officer mostly exists as an email address or a hotline number, the hesitancy to reach out is compounded. Visibility will change that dynamic, for many of the same reasons as I mentioned above with familiarity. When staff members have seen you in their department, or better yet, have spoken with you in person, it becomes much easier for them to raise a question or concern.
And when concerns are raised early, they are almost always easier for the organization to address (and less costly too).
Visibility Strategies.
If being more visible is a goal for you, below are some tips that will help.
Small, But Consistent Steps. Stepping away from your desk doesn’t have to require large blocks of time, the key is consistent efforts. For example, schedule a few minutes once a week to round in different departments or have an informal coffee conversation.
New-to-You Department or Leader. If there is a new leader, or department you’ve not worked with, take the initiative to set up a 30 minute meet & greet, or ask for a walk-through in the department, just to understand their operations.
Set a Small Goal. Set a personal goal to have ___ many in-person conversations per day, or per week. And these don’t need to be deep conversations. A simple, “Hey, how are things going in your department?”, or “Are there any questions you have that I can help you with?” will easily work.
Attend Operational Meetings as a Listener. Periodically attend operational meetings across the organization that is appropriate for you to attend, just to meet others and listen in (e.g., all-staff meetings, service line meetings, department manager meetings).
Volunteer. If there are opportunities to volunteer for an organizational event, those can be perfect moments to improve your visibility.
I recognize that some of the strategies are directed to an environment where the compliance officer is onsite. Given that compliance officers do work remotely, you can still carry out many of these strategies, but adjust to fit a remote worker. For example, instead of an in-person conversation, make it a video call.
Pulling it All Together.
One of the most simple, yet powerful, strategies available to improve the effectiveness of a compliance program is visibility.
When compliance officers spend part of their time where healthcare operations actually happen (e.g., patient care areas, administrative offices, and meetings), workforce members see you regularly, which establishes familiarity, and that builds trust.
Visibility can also help with navigating the compliance program through the corporate politics of healthcare. For example, when you regularly interact with workforce members, you begin to understand the informal influence networks within the organization, which can help you advance a compliance program initiative.
While computers are necessary for the accuracy of our work, real trust is created through visibility. Simply put, workforce members are more likely to listen to someone they know.
