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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Assessment of pediatricians by a regulatory authority
Claudio Violato1, Jocelyn M Lockyer, Herta Fidler
1Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. violato@ucalgary.ca
Insights
Developing multisource feedback surveys for pediatricians is feasible, valid, and reliable. These tools effectively assess key physician competencies using patient, co-worker, and medical colleague input.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Healthcare Professional Development
- Pediatric Practice
Background:
- Multisource feedback (MSF) is crucial for evaluating healthcare professionals.
- Developing valid and reliable MSF tools for pediatricians presents unique challenges.
- Assessing key competencies in pediatric practice requires robust evaluation methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate multisource feedback instruments for pediatricians.
- To assess the feasibility, validity, and reliability of these feedback tools.
- To evaluate pediatrician performance across essential competencies.
Main Methods:
- Developed 40-item patient, 22-item co-worker, 38-item medical colleague, and 37-item self-assessment surveys.
- Utilized 5-point scales with an 'unable to assess' option for all instruments.
- Assessed feasibility via response rates, validity via factor analysis, and reliability via Cronbach's alpha and generalizability coefficients.
Main Results:
- High response rates achieved: 93.6% for patients, 94.8% for co-workers, 95.5% for medical colleagues.
- Factor analyses supported distinct solutions for each survey type, explaining significant variance.
- All instruments demonstrated high internal consistency and reliability (generalizability coefficients ≥ 0.78).
Conclusions:
- Feasible, valid, and reliable multisource feedback instruments can be developed for pediatricians.
- These surveys provide valuable data on key physician competencies.
- MSF tools are effective for ongoing professional development in pediatrics.
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.
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