Published in:
01-08-2014 | From the Editor's Desk
Patient Encounters of a Difficult Kind
Author:
Matthew J. Bair, M.D., M.S.
Published in:
Journal of General Internal Medicine
|
Issue 8/2014
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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 Kroenke
2 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. …