Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Communication Assessment Tool (CAT), a paper-based patient survey, is 1 method to assess residents' interpersonal and communication skills. To further enhance the interpretation of the CAT, benchmark data are needed. OBJECTIVE: We sought to expand upon initial benchmarking data for the use of the CAT as an evaluation tool in family medicine residency programs. METHODS: Data were collected on 120 residents from 7 family medicine residency programs. Following an appointment with a resident, 1703 patients completed the CAT. RESULTS: The overall mean percentage of items rated as excellent was 73%. Significant differences were found in the overall percentage of items rated as "excellent" based on location of training (78% US graduate versus 71% international medical graduate) and native language of the resident (76% English speaking versus 69% non-English speaking). There were no significant differences found in the overall percentage of items rated as excellent based on the year of training or sex of the residents. CONCLUSIONS: These benchmarking data allow family medicine residency programs to compare the performance of their residents with other programs. The CAT can be used as an evaluation and a learning tool in family medicine and may be applicable to other specialties.