Evaluations of Neurologists by Their Patients and Residents Are Inversely Correlated

We hypothesized that evaluation scores for attending neurologists by patients and residents would parallel one another. Additionally, we hypothesized that provider productivity would be also be associated with performance evaluations by patients and residents.

In a university neurology department, we collected individual Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient satisfaction scores and standardized resident evaluation scores (n = 22 faculty members). We performed bivariate analysis of doctor-patient satisfaction versus resident evaluation scores.

Attending neurologists with higher patient satisfaction received lower resident evaluation scores (P < .05). There seem to be disproportionate neurologists with low evaluations not meeting clinical productivity targets.

Finding a significant inverse correlation was surprising. Perhaps what is valued by patients in their physician is not what residents value in teachers. That deserves further study. Maybe attending physicians who spend their energy on the patient experience do not have sufficient time to devote to teaching and vice versa. That neurologists with low evaluation scores appear more likely to not meet productivity targets supports this idea.