Future efforts to improve physician voter participation should explore the influence of both increasing voter registration and election turnout. Published Online: October 22, Corresponding Author: Arthur S. Author Contributions: Dr Hong had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported. Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to use our site, or clicking "Continue," you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy Continue. Download PDF Comment. Figure 1. View Large Download. Figure 2. Do doctors vote? Our data. Accessed October 13, Voting and registration: current population survey.
United States Census Bureau. Prison population counts. Characteristics of voters in the presidential election of The health care provider professions were significantly less likely to vote than their comparison professions and the general public. By contrast, the comparison professions were more likely to vote than the general public. So why are physicians less likely to vote? They also showed different voting behaviors than the general public.
Early voting and vote by mail facilitate this duty, but should be more heavily championed by health care employers when considering the patient-care demands that make it difficult to vote on Election Day. Alternatively, so long as one avoids requiring disclosure of voting preference or citizenship status and remains consistent in supporting the voting rights of all eligible citizens, offering voter registration resources is a non-partisan and healthcare-relevant act.
Some clinicians are hesitant to engage in voter enfranchisement discussions due to concerns over legal or ethical backlash.
Although individual healthcare institutions may impose specific limitations on employee speech, two things are clear; non-partisan voter enfranchisement is entirely legal in healthcare spaces and is supported by accepted codes of medical ethics.
Each year the American Hospital Association hires a law firm to audit the tax code and provide legal guidelines for election-related activities in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Ethical and legal support are necessary, but not sufficient in determining professional responsibility. In this instance, a growing sense of professional responsibility stems from an increasing appreciation for the broad impacts of social determinants of health SDoH.
With communities cared for by a healthcare system which is not designed for them while also excluded from discussion of reform, how can we expect changes to this vicious cycle without outside intervention?
Breaking this cycle becomes an urgent professional responsibility for physicians. By encouraging our patients and their families to vote, we can serve an important citizenship and professional function in society. Including the voices of those who have been previously silenced in choosing representatives and policies that affect their health is a great step forward in patient-centered healthcare.
The landscape of healthcare-based civic engagement is nascent but has the potential to help transform our healthcare system and politics in our country by creating a more inclusive American democracy.
As healthcare providers, we bear witness to the ways in which our healthcare system hurts our patients. For too long, we have sat on the sidelines and watched.
Increasingly, healthcare providers of all ages, races, and geographies are coming off the bench and helping to reshape our healthcare system by prescribing a new treatment: voting.
Our researchers work side-by-side with physicians to develop innovative new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease. Support our research. While they drive our economy and society forward, people who immigrate to the United States also have to navigate new systems, cultural norms, and sometimes a new language.
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