Letter to the Editor |
Assessment of GPs in practice
To the Editor: In their interesting study Enzer et al. [1] describe the reliability of their instrument, the LIVMAAS scale. This instrument was developed on the basis of the MAAS-GP because psychometric properties of the original proved unsatisfactory [1,2]. Another disadvantage, according to the authors, is that the MAAS-GP has never been used to assess the performance of GPs in real practice. Unfortunately, this is not true. The MAAS as described by the authors has been the subject of three revisions during recent years and as a result the current instrument has changed considerably [3]. A detailed assessment procedure for GPs of communicational and medical performance in daily practice has been developed and described [4]. This assessment procedure appeared to be valid, reliable and feasible. It has been successfully implemented in the educational programme for GPs in general practice and is available for practising GPs in the Netherlands and Australia [5]. Apparently, the authors are unaware of these studies, as they are not referred to. We regret this as we think that the authors might profit by our experiences, as we may benefit from their study. The MAAS-Global 2000 manual, rating list and relevant literature are available on our website: www.hag.unimaas.nl/maasglobaal.
Centre for Quality of Care Research, Department of General Practice Maastricht University, The Netherlands
References
- Enzer J, Robinson J, Pearson M, Barton S, Walley T. A reliability study of an instrument for measuring general practitioner consultation skills: the LIV-MAAS scale. Int J Qual Health Care 2003; 15: 407–412.
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Robinson J, Walley T, Pearson M, Taylor D, Barton S. Measuring consultation skills in primary care in England: evaluation and development of content of the MAAS scale. Br J Gen Pract 2002; 52: 889–894.[Web of Science][Medline]
- MAAS-Global Manual 2000, Maastricht University, The Netherlands: www.hag.unimaas.nl/maasglobaal
- Ram P, Grol R, Rethans JJ, Schouten B, van der Vleuten C, Kester A. Assessment of general practitioners by video observation of communicative and medical performance in daily practice: issues of validity, reliability and feasibility. Med Educ 1999; 33: 447–454.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
- Lew S, Farmer EA, Salamone, A. Using performance based assessment for certification of Australian general practitioners: lessons from the coalface. Ottawa Conference on Medical Education, Ottawa, 2002.
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