Handling Difficult Patients When they Come in for Care
Anne L. Prinz
In the daily running of your practice everything seems to be running smoothly until you have a difficult patient arrive. It can feel as if the apple cart has just been upset, OR you can make it an opportunity to serve at a new level.
Over the years as an office manager, I saw all kinds of things show up in the practice. You have the patients who are chronically difficult, and you have some who catch you by surprise - the one who just was in an auto-accident or just lost a loved one and shows up for a regular appointment. What is important is the systems you have in place to handle the situations as they arise.
The first step is to recognize that patients who are coming to your practice are in pain. Pain can not only affect them physically, but often will affect them emotionally as well. They can become upset over things that typically would not upset them and often when that happens they will project it at you. It can also be a patient who has had a trauma or death of a loved one who is completely bereft. No matter what the trigger is for the patient, they are now not in the typical flow of your practice.
A quote which has supported me over the years came from First lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She said, "All the water in the world cannot drown you unless it gets inside of you." With this said, there are several things to recognize when you have a difficult patient:
Do not take what the patient is saying or doing personally. This gives you strength to stay present in the moment, utilize your office systems, and support the patient with the best care you can offer.
Realize that you may be the only SAFE place for them to vent their frustrations or hurts, so they can heal. I considerthis a sacred trust when this occurs and take care of the patient with the upmost of consideration.
With this said, any physical or emotional upheaval which shows up at the front desk needs to be moved away from the front desk as quickly as possible. Other patient's do not need to be listening to or seeing someone's turmoil in in your office. Think of it as quarantining a disease. You do not want the patient's state to be spreading to your other practice members.
Once you have brought the patient to a room, let the doctor happened know immediately so the two of what you has can create a plan of action. Go back into the room with the patient and take the time to fully listen to what they have to say. Once they have finished, repeat back to them what they said, "Mrs. Jones, what I hear you saying is..." This lets the patient knowthey have been heard and they will automatically start to relax in their physiology, so that you can share your response and they will be more receptive.
Not all your responses can be rehearsed ahead, but when it comes to patient objections there are some common ones which can trigger a response when a patient is under stress-time, money, and they didn'tfeel their health concern has been addressed. Already be prepared with responses to these types of questions within the system protocols of your office. Make sure your response is firm, direct, and clear.
With patient's who have had a major personal trauma - injury, death, divorce, loss of job, etc. Again, listen and repeat back what you heard them say. This does not mean you need to stay long in their story, but instead guide them to the opportunity that you are grateful that they came in for care because the Doctor will be able to support them in their healing journey.
Each office needs to have their own set of protocols to take care of and manage difficult patients when they Show up in your practice.
There are also your chronically difficult patients. Some of these patients have a lot of health concerns to address and other's have long stories they want to share at each visit. In our office we would refer to them as not being a ball bearing in our practice, which simply means they are out of the usual flow of our practice. With these patient's it is important to never schedule them during "drive time" - the busiest time of your practice where you schedule your easiest flowing patients. Instead, schedule them in a place where you have more flexibility for what may arise. It is also important with these patients to have systems in place to protect the Doctor's time and support the Doctor to move the patient through the office in a caring and timely manner.
Each office needs to have their own set of protocols to take care of and manage difficult patients when they show up in your practice. This way you are prepared when the patient comes in for care. By having a course of action for difficult patients, this creates optimal results for the patients within your clinic while creating minimal disruption to the flow of your practice. This becomes a win-win for the patient and your office team.
Anne Prinz is a consultant and has spent over 20 years as an office manager for a successful chiropractic clinic, honing her skills so she could teach others how to do the same. Anne is also the author of the book, Living Your Exclamation Point Life!, and the owner of Exclamation Point Living, LLC. To learn more or contact Anne visit her website: www.AnneLPrinz.com.
