A method for working with displeased patients-blast.

Clinicians inevitably encounter patients with complaints and concerns about the quality of their care. This causes some to experience anxiety, fear, anger, resentment, guilt, and depression, especially when they believe they may have erred or caused harm. Lack of customer-service training and experience may contribute to these emotions. The "BLAST" technique is a complaint-resolution method that is useful in patient care and as a clinical teaching tool. The mnemonic stands for: Believe (what the patient is saying), Listen (actively, to assess and restate the patient's unmet expectations), Apologize (for the patient's unmet expectations), Satisfy (the patient), and Thank (the patient for expressing his/her concerns and providing a second chance to satisfy the patient). The technique appears to help clinicians become more at ease and confident when handling patient complaints. This may be especially helpful for clinicians who must routinely interact with post-treatment and post-procedure patients who commonly express surprise, concern, or complaints about their results and healing. BLAST may be an effective teaching tool enabling students, residents, and clinicians to become more comfortable and adept at working with displeased and concerned patients.