“Commerce with all Nations, alliance with none should be our motto.”
- Thomas Jefferson
Several years ago I stumbled across that quote while preparing for a conference presentation. I think that it perfectly illustrates the role that we as compliance officers have to play when it comes to navigating the corporate politics of healthcare.
It’s tempting to get sucked into interdepartmental disagreements and personal drama when you’re carrying out your compliance work, but my best advise would be—“don’t do it”.
Your best course of action is to do the “commerce” part of the quote by focusing on working with everyone in the organization without an attachment that you’re on someone’s side. Remaining neutral helps you build trust that you have the best interests of the organization at heart.
So what does neutrality look like in the context of a healthcare compliance officer?
In this article, I’ll cover the interpersonal communication strategy of staying neutral and why it is important to navigating the compliance program through the corporate politics of healthcare.
Defining a Neutral Position
Generally speaking, “being neutral” means functioning independently and objectively in how you approach your compliance work. That is, the way you show up is being nonjudgmental. It also means treating everyone you interact with in the organization with the same level of respect as you perform your duties. If a corporate analogy will help, think of compliance in the organization like that of HR, who similarly must function irrespective of special interests.
So from a practical standpoint, how do you maintain a neutral position within the organization?
Below are three strategies that have helped me over the years.
Strategy #1: Approach Your Role as Independent.
If you want to be viewed as a neutral party in the organization, then you must approach your role as being independent and objective, regardless of what you are working on. For example, if you are conducting an investigation, being independent and objective means you are giving all parties involved an equal opportunity to be heard. You’re also allowing each side the chance to explain their version of events, free from judgment. In the context of investigations, it also means clearly communicating to all parties involved that no decision will be made about the investigation until all the facts have been gathered.
Being independent and objective also means you are assuming neutral intent with others until your facts establish otherwise. That is true whether you are working on an investigation, an audit, or consulting to a healthcare leader about a proposed business venture.
When you take this approach, you are maintaining a neutral position by not judging others or jumping to a conclusion.
Strategy #2: Avoid Destructive Politics.
Within healthcare, there are corporate politics all around us. Hospitals and physicians in conflict, department staff at odds with other one another, and even patients unhappy with their providers. If you want to be viewed as a neutral party in the organization, then you have to avoid playing destructive politics.
What are destructive politics?
They are actions and words intended to solely promote oneself. Productive politics, on the other hand, are actions and words intended to promote the organization, regardless of who personally benefits.
What does productive politics look like for a healthcare compliance officer?
Investigations: Investigate or audit when it is in the best interest of the organization, and not to make an example of an employee or a department.
Accountability: If you are holding staff accountable for completing training or following a policy, hold those discussions confidentially with the employee and his or her supervisor, and not in front of the employee’s co-workers.
Recognition: If someone has put work into a process improvement, openly recognize that person rather than taking credit for their work.
By focusing on productive politics and not destructive ones, you will improve your ability to stay neutral in the organization with respect to accomplishing the goals of your compliance program.
Strategy #3: Avoid “Us vs. Them” Communication
If you want to be viewed as a neutral party in your organization, avoid an “us vs. them” mentality when communicating with others. While a competitive mindset helps in professional sports (think Yankees vs. Red Sox), in organizational communication, it can damage the organization’s culture of compliance.
Several years ago, I had an issue surface with ensuring physician orders were in place for billing out high dollar imaging procedures. We discovered through an audit that there were missing physician orders for the services provided. After refunding payments from the claims we were paid, we needed to implement process changes to ensure the documentation was in place. The scheduling department argued it should be the responsibility of the registration staff.
And you guess what?
The registration staff argued it should be the responsibility of the scheduling staff.
(Shocking, I know.)
As the compliance officer, my goal is to ensure the organization has processes in place to meet the regulatory requirement. As such, it would not be in my best interest to “pick a side” in this battle. (e.g., “The scheduling department is always trying to get out of taking on more work.”) Instead, my communication had to be independent and objective. I need to understand the concerns of each side without judgment, and identifying a solution that both departments can accept.
In the end, we were able to resolve the disagreement by requiring both sides to play a role. The scheduling department had to implement a verification process before the exam was scheduled, and the registration staff agreed to verify that the process was completed.
By taking this approach, your actions and words will match that you are functioning like a neutral party in the organization.
The Importance of Staying Neutral
Like any industry, healthcare is political because the industry workers play games in order to get what they want. When it comes to navigating the compliance program through the politics of healthcare, taking a neutral position in the organization is helpful for a couple reasons. First, it helps you establish trust and credibility which helps you build strong relationships with others in the organization. Also, when you know how to communicate in a way that is respectful of others, it allows you to diplomatically influence them in a way that supports the compliance program and resolve conflict.
Pulling it All Together
When it comes to how you approach your compliance work, it will be in your best interest not to play favorites with any particular individual or department.
Remember, “Commerce with all Nations, alliance with none” should be our motto.
When you maintain a neutral position in the organization, you remove the potential for others to question your independence and objectivity. The old saying goes that if you want a healthy culture of compliance, then you have commitment throughout all levels of the organization to do the right thing—and doing things right.
If that is the level of culture you want, then you have to reciprocate a commitment in how you treat others—throughout all levels of the organization.
