Politics in practice: How to keep it professional when staff gets partisan

In a presidential election year, your office could be the site of political discussion and display. Here's how to avoid letting politics get in the way of patient care.

By Larry Stevens, AMNews correspondent. March 10, 2008.

Politics not only may make strange bedfellows, but also could make enemies of normally cordial people. In this sometimes contentious political season, it is natural that doctors and staff might bring their political views into the workplace. Some even may wish to run for elective office.

The AMA and others say there's nothing wrong or unethical with doctors or staff supporting a candidate or running for office. Many believe that electing the right person could have a profound effect on health care and be as important to the patient population at large as clinical efforts are to individual patients. But how does a practice maintain individual rights to advocacy without creating divisions among staff, reducing morale and efficiency, and possibly even alienating patients?

The first question doctors must consider is whether and to what extent they will allow political advocacy in the work setting, experts say. The effect of political discourse at work can range from none to disruptive. Todd Dewett, a management consultant and a business professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, suggests not encouraging political discussion. "Talking about politics is good for democracy, but bad for the office."

Success in a medical practice depends on teamwork and collaboration -- which, Dewett says, could crumble when people take sides because of differing political points of view.

He adds that politics potentially decreases group decision-making capacity, because the habit of advocacy can carry over into nonpolitical discussions. And because advocacy has the potential of making people angry, the result may be sour faces and a reduction in the quality of listening. Finally, as a practical matter, Dewett says, "Any time spent talking politics, handing out pamphlets, etc., is time not spent caring for patients or doing office tasks."