The pandemic has dramatically increased financial, emotional, and psychological pressures. As a result of this increased stress, patients are more likely to become frustrated and confrontational with you and your staff. Here’s how to satisfy these upset patients, and build loyalty to your practice in the process.

You’ve probably noticed most patients have a shorter fuse these days. The combined effect of a global pandemic, social and political upheaval, economic instability, and the possibility of another world war have put even the most easy-going patients on edge. As a result, ordinary annoyances that provoked only mild irritation in the past can cause a patient to explode in anger these days. Indeed, many team members are reporting that patient-rage is on the rise, with a significant increase in ugly altercations.

How can your practice best manage this growing number of disgruntled patients? First, your team needs to resist the knee-jerk reaction to call out the patient’s outrageous behavior by being confrontational or becoming adversarial to “put them in their place.” While this approach may feel good