The dos and don'ts of creating a code of conduct policy

The way your medical staff goes about developing and enforcing a code of conduct policy can affect the policy’s effectiveness. Consider the following dos and don’ts when developing a policy at your institution:

Do:

• Distribute a draft of the medical staff’s behavior expectations before the document is finalized
• Ensure a long lead time for discussing draft expectations before the medical staff votes on them
• Encourage constructive criticism and input on the draft expectations from every physician
• Assign an individual to speak directly and privately with each formal and informal opinion leader
• Incorporate changes to the draft expectations that are recommended by physicians who weren’t involved in developing the initial draft
• Communicate openly about the process of developing the expectations policy at every step
• Develop strategies to reach out to  physicians who may be angry about the expectations policy after the medical staff has sought their input

Don’t:

• Vote on a behavior policy without extensive discussion with physicians beforehand
• Count on the board to draft and adopt a physician behavior policy without lots of physician input and dialogue in advance
• Ignore physicians who are angry or unhappy about the expectations and behavior policy thinking they will just go away
• Try to get expectations or a behavior policy adopted in a hurry; doing so will truncate thorough discussion and lead physicians to feel disenfranchised.