Patient Encounters of a Difficult Kind

Excerpt

Approximately one in six patient encounters are perceived as “difficult.”4 Given this high prevalence, we are likely to see “difficult” patients or at least have difficult conversations with patients every day in clinic. Jackson and Kroenke2 examined several correlates of patients perceived as difficult. These patients were more likely to have a mental health disorder, have multiple physical symptoms, have severe symptoms, experience chronic pain, and have poor functional status. Furthermore, patients with more unmet expectations after a clinic visit, less satisfaction with care, and who were high “utilizers” were more likely to be involved in difficult encounters. …