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Assessment of pediatricians by a regulatory authority.

Violato C, Lockyer JM, Fidler H

Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. violato@ucalgary.ca

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether it is possible to develop feasible, valid, and reliable multisource feedback data for pediatricians. METHODS: Surveys with 40, 22, 38, and 37 items were developed for assessment of pediatricians by patients, co-workers, medical colleagues, and themselves, respectively, using 5-point scales with an "unable to assess" category. Items addressed key competencies related to communication skills, professionalism, collegiality, continuing professional development, and collaboration. Each pediatrician was assessed by 25 patients, 8 medical colleagues, and 8 co-workers. Feasibility was assessed with response rates for each instrument. Validity was assessed with rating profiles, the percentage of participants unable to assess the physician for each item, and exploratory factor analyses to determine which items grouped together into scales. Cronbach's alpha and generalizability coefficient analyses assessed reliability. RESULTS: One hundred pediatricians participated. The mean number of respondents per physician was 23.4 (93.6%) for patients, 7.6 (94.8%) for co-workers, and 7.6 (95.5%) for medical colleagues. The mean ratings ranged from 4 to 5 for each item on each scale. Few items had high percentages of "unable to assess" responses. The factor analyses revealed a 4-factor solution for the patient survey, a 3-factor solution for the co-worker survey, and a 4-factor solution for the medical colleague survey, accounting for at least 64% of the variance. All instruments had high internal consistency. The generalizability coefficients were .85 for patients, .87 for co-workers, and .78 for medical colleagues. CONCLUSION: Surveys can be developed to provide feedback data on key competencies.

Published 2 March 2006 in Pediatrics, 117(3): 796-802.
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