Faculty ratings of resident humanism predict patient satisfaction ratings in ambulatory medical clinics.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether patient satisfaction ratings can be predicted by faculty ratings or self-ratings of resident humanism.

DESIGN

A prospective three-month collection of patient satisfaction ratings in two ambulatory care clinics and simultaneous acquisition of faculty ratings and self-ratings of resident humanism using ABIM questionnaires.

SETTING

Two teaching hospital ambulatory care internal medicine clinics.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty-seven internal medicine residents and 17 faculty internists were sent questionnaires for evaluation of humanism of individual residents. One thousand one hundred ninety-four consecutive outpatients cared for by the residents were eligible for patient satisfaction questionnaires.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Thirty-three residents and 13 faculty completed evaluations of resident humanism while 792 patients completed satisfaction questionnaires, which were used for analysis. The faculty ratings of resident humanism correlated strongly with patient satisfaction ratings, while the resident self-ratings did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Faculty ratings of resident humanism were highly predictive of patient satisfaction with the care rendered by internal medicine residents in two ambulatory care clinics. This suggests that ambulatory care settings are useful for evaluation of noncognitive behavioral features of resident performance.