Optimizing Clinical Reasoning Assessments With Analytic and Holistic Ratings: Examining the Validity, Reliability,...

Post-standardized patient (SP) encounter patient notes used to assess students' clinical reasoning represent a significant time burden for faculty who traditionally score them. To reduce this burden, the authors previously reported a complex faculty-developed scoring method to assess patient notes rated by nonclinicians. The current study explored whether a simplified scoring procedure for nonclinician raters could further optimize patient note assessments by reducing time, cost, and creating additional opportunities for formative feedback.

Ten nonclinician raters scored patient notes of 141 students across 5 SP cases by identifying case-specific patient note checklist items. The authors identified the bottom quintile of students using the proportion of correct items identified in the note (percent-scores) and case-specific faculty-generated scoring formulas (formula-scores). Five faculty raters scored a subset of notes from low, borderline, and high-performing students (n = 30 students) using a global rating scale. The authors performed analyses to gather validity evidence for percent-scores (i.e., relationship to other variables), investigate its reliability (i.e., generalizability study), and evaluate its costs (i.e., faculty time).

Nonclinician percent- and formula-scores were highly correlated ( r = .88) and identified similar lists of low-performing students. Both methods demonstrated good agreement for pass-fail determinations with each other (Kappa = .68) and with faculty global ratings (Kappa percent =.61; Kappa formula =.66). The G-coefficient of percent-scores was .52, with 38% of variability attributed to checklist items nested in cases. Using percent-scores saved an estimated $746 per SP case (including 6 hours of faculty time) in development costs over formula-scores.

Nonclinician percent-scores reliably identified low-performing students without the need for complex faculty-developed scoring formulas. Combining nonclinician analytic and faculty holistic ratings can reduce the time and cost of patient note scoring and afford faculty more time to coach at-risk students and provide targeted assessment input for high-stakes summative exams.