The feasibility and value of using patient satisfaction ratings to evaluate internal medicine residents

Abstract

Patient satisfaction ratings provide valuable information about a resident's ability to establish an effective physician-patient relationship. However, the number of ratings required to obtain a reliable estimate of resident skill may limit the feasibility of using patient ratings as part of residency evaluation.

Improving in-training evaluation programs

“…Finally, professional and interpersonal behaviors can be best evaluated through in-training assessment as residents relate to patients, allied health professionals, and colleagues. 1,[13][14][15][16][17] …”

“…11,12 Increasingly, however, the use of other observers, particularly nurses, 1,13,14 has been suggested to be of value, particularly in the assessment of communication skills, ethical behaviors, reliability, and integrity. [15][16][17] Peer and resident assessments remain primarily research tools at the present but will likely be useful in future evaluation. 3,18 Patients have also been shown to provide valuable information pertaining to resident performance.…”

“…3,18 Patients have also been shown to provide valuable information pertaining to resident performance. 16 Self-evaluation has not been extensively studied, but the development of such skills has been proposed as a form of guidance and support to residents. 19 …”

Feasibility and Validation of Real-Time Patient Evaluations of Internal Medicine Interns' Communication and Professionalism Skills

“…However, previous research of patient evaluations of residents is relatively limited and focused predominantly on the ambulatory setting. [17][18][19][20] In a residency ophthalmology clinic, a patient satisfaction survey was able to detect differences in patients' perceptions of communication among individual residents. 20 Given that many trainees spend most of their time in the inpatient setting, it is important to assess trainees in that setting.…”

“…17,25 Strategies to overcome this barrier may include expanding evaluation collection to the inpatient setting to yield higher numbers of evaluations. Second, while electronic surveys using a tablet device have been shown to improve patient response rates, 26 it is not known whether using electronically completed, tablet-based evaluations while patients are still hospitalized can improve response rates.…”