Evaluating Physician Communication Competence Scales: A Replication and Extension

Extending the work of Schirmer et al. (2005), physician communication skills of 14 physician communication competence measures were analyzed. Two coders determined what communication skills were assessed by the measures using the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement and the work of Duffy et al. (2004) as frameworks for the investigation. Findings suggest that physician communication competence measures do not all assess the same communication skills. Although a few measures included almost all of the skills, some included very few. In addition, communication adaptability and family interviewing skills should be included in physician communication competence measures, but are absent from many indices.