Responding effectively to patient anger directed at the physician.

Background And Objectives: Patient anger because of a long wait is a common occurrence, but few studies have looked at how the anger should be addressed. This study determined patient levels of satisfaction, rating of importance, and preference for a variety of approaches for addressing anger being directed toward a physician.

Methods: A video trigger tape of an angry patient and 12 physician responses to the angry patient were shown to 130 participants who then rated the physician responses based on four approaches, alone or in combination (apology, explanation, self disclosure, and acknowledgment) for satisfaction and importance of the response.