Assessment of psychiatrists in practice through multisource feedback

Objective: To assess the feasibility and evidence for the reliability and validity of a set of questionnaires for psychiatrists, given that multisource feedback (MSF) or 360° evaluation allows medical colleagues, coworkers, and patients to provide feedback about competencies to enhance physician improvement in intended directions. Method: Surveys with 40, 22, 38, and 37 items were developed to assess psychiatrists by 25 patients, 8 coworkers, 8 psychiatrist colleagues, and self, respectively, using a 5-point agreement scale with an unable-to-assess category. Items addressed key competencies related to communication skills, professionalism, collegiality, and self-management. Feasibility was assessed with response rates for each instrument. Validity was assessed with a table of specifications, the percentage of participants unable to assess the psychiatrist for each item, and exploratory factor analyses to determine which items grouped together into scales. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha and generalizability coefficients. Results: A sample of 101 psychiatrists provided data. A total of 2456 patients (24.32/25.00 per psychiatrist), 744 coworkers (7.37/8.00 per psychiatrist), 764 colleagues (7.56/8.00 per psychiatrist), and 101 self forms were analyzed. The overall internal consistency reliability of the instruments was a Cronbach's alpha of 0.98, 0.96, and 0.98 for patient, coworker, and medical colleague surveys, respectively. The generalizability coefficient for the patient, coworker, and medical colleague was 0.78, 0.82, and 0.81, respectively. Conclusion: It is possible to develop a feasible MSF program for psychiatrists with evidence of reliability and validity that can provide feedback about key clinical competencies.