Multisource feedback systems for quality improvement in the health professions: Assessing occupational therapists in practice

Introduction: The objective was to develop and psychometrically evaluate (feasibility, reliability, validity) a questionnaire-based multisource feedback (MSF) system for quality improvement (QI) for occupational therapists (OTs). Methods: Surveys were developed for assessment of OTs by clients, co-workers, and themselves, respectively, using 5-point scales with an "unable to assess" category. A sample of 238 OTs participated. Results: The number of respondents for the co-worker questionnaire was 2621, and for the client questionnaire it was 2881. The mean ratings ranged from 4 to 5 for each item on each scale. All of the instruments' full scales had very high Cronbach's α > 0.92. The factor analyses revealed a 7-factor solution (66.3% of the total variance) for the co-worker survey, and a 4-factor solution for the client questionnaire (73.2% of the variance). Discussion: An MSF system employing surveys that have high reliability, validity, and feasibility was developed to provide feedback to OTs on core competencies and skills. It is suggested that similar MSF systems are feasible for health professionals in general.