Existing instruments for assessing physician communication skills: are they valid in a computerized setting?

Objectives: This study aims to highlight the differences in physicians' scores on two communication assessment tools: the SEGUE and an EMR-specific communication skills checklist. The first tool ignores the presence of the EMR in the exam room and the second, though not formally validated, rather focuses on it.

Methods: We use the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test to compare physicians' scores on each of the tools during 16 simulated medical encounters that were rated by two different raters.

Results: Results show a significant difference between physicians' scores on each tool (z=-3.519, p<0.05 for the first rater, and z=-3.521, p<0.05 for the second rater), while scores on the EMR-specific communication skills checklist were significantly and consistently lower.

Conclusion: These results imply that current communication assessment tools that do not incorporate items that are relevant for communication tasks during EMR use may produce inaccurate results.

Practice Implications: We therefore suggest that a new instrument, possibly an extension of existing ones, should be developed and empirically validated.