How to Deal with Patient Complaints: Sample Response & Best Practices

How you handle patient complaints directly impacts your bottom line through patient retention, word-of-mouth referrals, and staff morale.

Healthcare providers who tackle complaints head-on see measurable benefits — from higher patient satisfaction scores to stronger community reputation. They also get critical insights for operational improvements, as each complaint highlights a blind spot you might have missed.

That said, effectively dealing with patient complaints can be a real challenge, especially if you don’t have a structured approach.

This article provides practical strategies for turning patient dissatisfaction into loyalty-building opportunities — from understanding complaint psychology to implementing a proven resolution framework.

Why do patients complain?

To address patient complaints effectively, you must first understand what drives them to complain. 

And we don’t mean the specific problems they complain about, like long wait times, poor quality of care, or billing issues; we’re talking about common patient motivations or desired outcomes when making a complaint.  

Here are the most common reasons why patients complain in this sense:

• Seeking an explanation: Patients often file complaints because things feel confusing or unclear about their medical treatment, diagnosis, or an incident they experienced. They expect the healthcare provider or facility to explain clearly what happened, why, and how it impacted their care.
• Desire for acknowledgment: Patients who have a negative experience want assurance that their experience is recognized as important. This might involve an apology that sincerely acknowledges mistakes or inconveniences — making them feel heard and valued.
• Ensuring accountability: Patients often complain because they want assurance that someone is taking responsibility for the problem. They seek evidence that the healthcare provider acknowledges accountability and is committed to addressing the issue seriously.
• Seeking compensation: Patients who have suffered financial loss, inconvenience, or significant distress may seek reimbursement or some form of financial or material compensation.
• Wanting corrective action: Patients frequently complain because they want to prevent similar issues from affecting others in the future. They expect healthcare organizations to review and improve policies, procedures, or staff training, demonstrating a commitment to ongoing improvement.
• Emotional validation: Complaints are sometimes driven by a simple need to have their emotions and experiences validated.

It is important to have these reasons in the back of your mind during the complaint resolution process.

Steps for handling patient complaints

We work closely with healthcare providers to help them collect patient feedback — be it positive and negative. Over the years, we have seen that successful complaint management follows four essential steps. It’s a framework that ensures you capture, investigate, and resolve issues while preventing future occurrences.

1. Review and document the complaint

Your first response sets expectations for the entire resolution process, so listen purposefully.

When taking complaints in person, maintain eye contact and use affirmative phrases like "I understand" or "That's important information." Don't interrupt — patients who feel heard are more likely to accept your resolution.

If the complaint has not been given in person, send confirmation within 24 hours of receiving a complaint — this simple step reduces escalation rates. Then, if needed, get complete information with targeted follow-up questions:

• "What exactly happened after you checked in?"
• "How did this affect your treatment?"
• "What would resolve this situation for you?"

This serves as your roadmap for investigation and becomes valuable data for tracking complaint patterns across your practice.

2. Investigate the complaint

A thorough investigation begins with pulling relevant records, reviewing appointment logs, checking billing documentation, and collecting firsthand accounts from staff. Focus on facts, not assumptions or emotionally driven arguments.

Approach each complaint as a process issue rather than a “person problem”. This mindset shift helps staff participate without fear of blame. 

Look beyond symptoms to identify systemic issues. For instance, a billing complaint often reveals training gaps or software limitations rather than individual errors.

Finally, document each investigation step. This creates accountability and builds an evidence base for your response.

3. Respond to the complaint

To keep things timely, aim to provide substantive responses within 7 days. If more time is needed, send a specific update explaining the delay and giving a concrete timeline.

Once you do respond, avoid medical jargon and bureaucratic language. Write at a lower reading level — this significantly improves patient satisfaction with complaint responses. When warranted, acknowledge failures specifically: "Our lab mislabeled your sample, causing your delayed results and unnecessary return visit."

Explain exactly what you've changed following the complaint, and address their concerns —  respond directly to their requested outcome, even if you can't provide exactly what they want. Offer concrete alternatives when necessary.

4. Make the necessary changes

The ultimate test of complaint management is whether it prevents recurrence, so focus on fixing broken systems. Based on your findings, implement specific improvements:

• Update confusing forms or instructions
• Revise staff training on high-risk processes
• Modify scheduling procedures that create bottlenecks
• Enhance communication tools between departments.

Then, track relevant metrics before and after changes. 

To drive the lessons learned, discuss anonymised complaints in staff meetings to build organisational awareness. Focus on process improvements rather than individual errors.

Finally, follow up with the complainant 30 days after resolution — this demonstrates commitment and often converts detractors into promoters.

Implementing a systematic approach transforms complaint handling from reactive damage control to proactive service recovery — building patient loyalty while continuously improving operations.

Sample response to a patient complaint

Patient complaints arrive through multiple channels — in-person conversations, phone calls, emails, or via feedback platforms like InsiderCX. 

Most complaints do not warrant a full-blown investigation with a detailed written response. For example, many healthcare companies solve these kinds of problems via phone. If they get a negative review on their online profile, they will leave a short reply — and again follow-up via phone.

The response framework below works across all communication methods and can be adapted to your specific scenarios.

Example #1: Response to a waiting time complaint

Mrs. Taylor expressed frustration about waiting 55 minutes past her scheduled appointment time. She mentioned this was her third consecutive visit with extended waits, that she had to pay additional parking fees, and that she missed an important work call as a result. 

She requested an explanation and compensation for the parking costs.

Response framework:

1. Acknowledge the specific issue: Thank the patient for bringing the extended wait time to your attention. Validate their frustration about repeated long waits.
2. Explain your investigation: Outline how you reviewed scheduling records. Mention consultations with front desk staff. Identify the cause (emergency situation created cascading delays).
3. Take responsibility: Take ownership of the failure to keep the patient informed. Recognise the impact (missed call, extra parking costs).
4. Detail corrective actions: Offer concrete compensation (parking fee reimbursement). Explain system changes: e.g., adjusted scheduling template with emergency buffers, a new express lane option for time-sensitive patients, etc.
5. Provide a personalised solution: Suggest morning appointments that typically have fewer delays. Offer personal assistance with future scheduling. Provide direct contact information for follow-up.

Sample response to a patient complaint:

Example #2: Response to a procedural error complaint

Mr. Thompson reported receiving incorrect medication dosage instructions following his colonoscopy. He followed the written instructions provided at discharge but experienced severe abdominal pain and had to visit the emergency room. He questioned the competency of the care team and requested his medical records.

Response framework:

1. Acknowledge the serious nature of the incident: Thank the patient for reporting this safety issue. Reference the specific procedure and date. Emphasise that patient safety is the top priority.
2. Share investigation findings: Outline the review process (medical records, staff interviews, protocol analysis). Identify the root cause (outdated instruction sheet after protocol update). Be transparent about the system failure.
3. Take clear responsibility: Explicitly state this was a system error, not patient misunderstanding. Accept full responsibility for the mistake and resulting suffering. Avoid defensive language or minimising the impact.
4. Detail specific improvements: List concrete changes implemented: e.g. updated electronic templates, a new, mandatory double-check protocol, revised document update procedures, etc.
5. Provide a tangible resolution: Address specific requests (medical records provided). Offer appropriate compensation (ER copay reimbursement). Outline clear next steps and timeline. Provide direct contact options for further concerns.

Using patient feedback to prevent future complaints

Patient complaints don't emerge from nowhere — they're often the final expression of frustration after encountering multiple small issues. Smart healthcare providers identify and address these warning signs before they escalate into formal complaints.

Routine patient feedback reveals operational blind spots long before they trigger complaints: 

• Consistently "neutral" ratings about appointment scheduling often precede angry complaints about access issues. 
• Comments mentioning "confusion" about billing are known to evolve into formal payment disputes. 
• Brief mentions of staff seeming "rushed" frequently become serious complaints about care quality.

Effective feedback collection requires both breadth and depth. Gather feedback across all touchpoints in the patient journey, from pre-visit through billing. Be sure to ask targeted questions that pinpoint specific operational areas — including open-ended questions that capture unexpected issues.

Now, we have clients who receive hundreds of responses each month. For them, going through each survey is simply not practical or scalable.

That is why we developed AI-powered sentiment analysis. It is a tool that transforms massive feedback volumes into actionable intelligence.

The InsiderCX platform automatically categorises comments by department, issue type, and sentiment, helping you identify emerging negative trends before they start generating complaints. 

How InsiderCX helps clinics manage and resolve patient complaints

Most healthcare providers discover patient dissatisfaction too late, losing the opportunity to address the issue before a client decides to switch providers. This can have a devastating impact on patient retention. 

InsiderCX's changes that dynamic by catching dissatisfaction in real time. 

If a patient leaves a negative comment or gives a low NPS score as a part of ongoing feedback collection, the system immediately sends out a detractor alert to your team. You can customise threshold settings for different service areas and route the complaint to responsible department leaders.

This is complemented by a purpose-built complaint ticketing system that: 

• Automatically routes negative feedback to the appropriate resolution team. 
• Provides comprehensive case management with full interaction history. 
• Gives you pre-filled response suggestions that enable one-click response capability from any device. 
• Enforces custom SLAs and resolution timeframes for different complaint types. In other words, resolution metrics are tracked against targets for continuous improvement.

This is designed to help clinics catch and address issues as soon as humanly possible. Our clients successfully use it to transform negative experiences into opportunities for improvement and reduce patient churn.

Leverage patient complaints for continuous improvement

Complaints often highlight a process weakness, while complaint patterns reveal priority improvement opportunities with immediate ROI.

As a nice bonus, resolved complaints can create stronger patient loyalty than those who never had a problem (this is known as a service recovery paradox).

If you haven’t already done so, evaluate your complaint management system: 

• Are you able to capture patient dissatisfaction before it becomes a formal complaint?
• Can your leadership team identify your top three complaint categories and their root causes? 
• Do you resolve most complaints within seven days? 
• Has complaint data directly influenced operational improvements in the past quarter?

The cost of poor complaint management compounds daily through lost patients, damaged reputation, and staff burnout. Healthcare organizations that master complaint management don't just solve problems — they transform detractors into loyal advocates while continuously strengthening their operations. 

Partner with InsiderCX today to accelerate this transformation and turn every patient interaction into an opportunity for growth.