10 Tips to Handle Difficult Patients

Introduction

You're nearing the end of your shift, running on the fumes of the three cups of coffee you drank 12 hours ago—nothing wrong can happen; it's a home stretch. But then, an angry patient comes up to you with a frown on their face and a bone to pick. What do you do?

In the healthcare industry, you'll inevitably encounter difficult patients who can be challenging to deal with. It's easy to let the floodgates open and fight with them, but that's never the best option.

Difficult patients don't really wake up in the morning and choose to be difficult. They are probably acting that way for various other reasons. They may not understand where you're coming from, disagree with the price or processes within your service, or they may just be challenging to interact with from a personal perspective.

Regardless, it's essential to be aware of why certain patients may be acting a certain way and how to deal with and overcome these barriers. Doing so will allow you to collaborate, produce higher clinical outcomes, get higher patient average visit (PVA) numbers, and build professional working relationships.

Factors that can cause a patient to lash out

Before proceeding, you must understand why some patients may be more challenging to work with and why discrepancies in communication can occur. It's never nice dealing with uncooperative patients. However, by knowing the reasons behind their actions, you can work towards improved interactions with minimal hostility. 

Patient factors

In a difficult patient encounter, your patient may be angry, confused, grieving, resistant, or scared, especially if you're in an ambulatory clinic. Your patient may be frustrated or in chronic pain, or they may have mental health issues. You must identify and recognize patient characteristics and feelings before moving forward. Addressing a patient's concerns will help you empathize with their situation, encourage conversation, and swiftly deal with their queries and emotions. 

Language barrier

With the increasingly diverse US population, it's no surprise that many practitioners find it difficult to communicate with those who don't have English as their first language. Growing immigrant numbers present greater ethnic groups who all need access to healthcare, regardless of the language, communication barrier, and cultural differences. Interpreters or multilingual staff may be necessary, in addition to greater cultural sensitivity.

Overstretched system

An overstretched system can cause significant delays and backlogs, reducing patient service quality. This, in turn, affects their attitude, making it a difficult encounter. Ensure you have appropriate staff numbers and adequate resources to keep up with your system requirements, especially during times of growth and expansion. Alternative solutions include optimizing workflows and using practice management software.

Waiting times/cancellations of appointments

Long wait times and frequent cancellations can be intensely frustrating, so having the right resources and systems in place is essential to prevent them. Consider checking out our checklist for practice waitlist management to ensure you can see all patients who walk through your doors. 

Doctor/physician factors

While patient difficulties can arise from their family members' experiences, it's important to recognize that physicians can also contribute to challenging interactions. It's normal for physicians to feel burnt out and stressed from time to time, especially within the high-stress healthcare environment. However, this should never translate into patient experiences. Knowing limits and getting enough rest is absolutely key!

Additionally, it's important to keep personal beliefs and emotions to ourselves, as sometimes other patients can feel that doctors carry arrogant attitudes, which is a huge no-no. 

Breaking bad news

Inevitably, you'll need to deliver news that may be difficult for many patients to hear. These situations can be quite fragile. However, with sufficient preparation, you can definitely handle them well. Allowing time for private conversations and ensuring you deliver news in a private and confidential setting is critical. This way, you and your patients are on the same page. Discuss what the news means, the next steps, and what additional resources are available for support. 

Environmental factors

A busy environment riddled with noise and chaos can also lead to negative impressions and bad patient experiences. Having a physical environment policy for healthcare is a great way to alleviate any stresses pertaining to surroundings and can work towards more pleasant healthcare solutions. This also includes online services. Having a visually appealing telehealth background can work wonders.

Examples of when a patient can be difficult

There are various times when a patient can be challenging to work with, and knowing these can help you be better prepared.

Insisting on personal research findings

Oftentimes, patients will research their condition or treatment at home and reach their conclusions, which can be very challenging. They'll likely dismiss your medical expertise, reject your diagnosis, and have a closed mind concerning their best course of action. 

Disagreeing on treatment plans

Sometimes, you and your patient may not be on the same page regarding treatment, which can cause difficulties. Your patient, for whatever reason, may not be willing to hear alternative options, and in a worst-case scenario, they may threaten legal action or take their case to the public. 

Ignoring preventative measures or advice

You could give all the advice in the world and proper patient education, but sometimes, patients don't listen or make the necessary changes in their personal lives. For example, patients with severe asthma may continue to smoke despite your opposing advice, and in these cases, it can be difficult to improve conditions if the work isn't done.

Understanding these scenarios can help healthcare professionals develop and implement strategies for improving communication among difficult patients. 

10 tips on how to deal with difficult patients

To help guide you, we have collated the top 10 best tips how to deal with difficult patients in healthcare. These tips are helpful for anyone who interacts with patients, from medical students to specialists. Remembering these will allow you to prioritize patient health and do what you do best. 

1. Hear them out and identify the issue

Regardless of your beliefs or position on difficult situations, always listen to your patients to try and understand where they're coming from. Always approach the situation with compassion and empathy, and listen to what they have to say. You're far more likely to address the crux of the matter if you know what it is!

2. Do not take it personally

Every patient who walks through your door is likely to be facing challenges at home or work, so you must maintain a level head. Sometimes, people are too absorbed with themselves and become inconsiderate of others. Many factors could explain why a patient could be acting the way they are, and it usually has nothing to do with you personally. Healthcare can be delicate and sometimes very upsetting, so don't let the negativity get to you. 

3. Do not get too defensive

In a challenging interaction, remaining calm and avoiding becoming defensive is essential. Even if the criticism feels unwarranted, remember that patients might react out of frustration or fear. Being defensive can escalate situations even further, and arrogance doesn't do anyone any good! Instead of responding defensively, listen to their concerns and respond with empathy. These things de-escalate the situation and let you have a productive conversation.

4. Connect with the patient

It's no secret that the patient experience is about your interactions and how well you understand and deal with their health concerns. Spend time getting to know your patient and showing care to foster greater connections and, thus, better treatment.

You can probably talk about football with a patient who came in wearing their favorite team's shirt, the same way a patient who got injured while hiking is probably outdoorsy. Look at their body language and use active listening. If you don't have any clues, you can ask them what they'll do on the weekend. Get them chatting—not only does this make them more cooperative, but you'll probably have fun talking to them.

5. Show the patient that you care

There tends to be a stigma in healthcare that doctors aren't empathetic to patient situations because, after all, they deal with them day in and day out. Healthcare can feel like an impersonal process; however, you must let patients know this isn't the case. Emphasize that under your care, patients feel you're available to hear their concerns and will always do your best to meet their needs.

6. Calmly find a solution

It's easy to become frustrated when dealing with difficult patients. However, taking this frustration out on them won't do any good. Take deep breaths or work on another task before returning to the conversation. You can even ask for a break in the conversation and get back to them later. This will help clear your mind and enable you to return with a level head. This trick can help you convert challenging interactions into productive, successful ones.

7. Use patient satisfaction surveys

Patient satisfaction surveys are a great way to gauge the experience of your services and how patients receive them. They can help identify areas of weakness for you to improve upon, such as your waiting room, and can help increase loyalty within your practice. And try to avoid leading questions—sure, no one wants negative feedback, but you will never know what you need to improve if you don't get any.

8. Set and enforce boundaries

Professional interactions in healthcare are a two-way street, so if a patient is acting inappropriately, you should be able to gently but assertively tell them that you deserve to be treated with respect. You, too, are human, and collaboration is made simpler when both parties maintain a level of respect.

9. Do not tolerate any form of abuse

So, you put up boundaries, but the difficult patient did not hesitate to cross them. Whatever the situation and your decisions, you should never tolerate any form of abuse from any patient. When a customer is hostile, try not to provoke further escalation, but do call for other authorized persons to help defuse situations if needed. If all else fails, call security—but remember, this is a last resort.

10. Be proactive

Finally, you must be proactive in any situation and prioritize patient health. Ensure you're continuously delivering high-quality healthcare solutions, communicating, and working through all issues and challenges. Ignoring things doesn't make them disappear, so you must maintain proactivity. 

Conclusion

Every healthcare business is familiar with difficult patient encounters—they are a fact of life that cannot be avoided, so you must know how to handle difficult patients. While you're at it, taking a few deep breaths is important when patient interactions seem to be a chore.

Understanding a challenging patient and approaching them with compassion and empathy, regardless of their personal beliefs and values, is crucial in smooth communication. Increasing the value of your professional relationships can significantly elevate the quality of your practice and boost patient experiences, so you must work through all patient challenges that come your way. Hopefully, our tips and tricks have given you a great place to start!