“The ongoing challenges in hiring clinical and administrative staff in medical practices often leaves people leaders with a major dilemma: Finding the time and resources to train, re-skill and upskill existing staff to manage the fast-paced and evolving duties across a facility. But to build the right programs and commit resources to them, healthcare leaders must first understand the need — and not all of them use an effective starting strategy. A March 19, 2024, MGMA Stat poll found that 16% of medical groups use skill gap assessments, compared to 78% that do not.” – MGMA, 2024
It’s no secret why healthcare is such a highly regulated industry. With patient safety on the line and a high cost applied to mistakes, the ability of organizations and their staff to measure and validate skills, or to quickly adapt training to address skill gaps, is essential for success.
While this perspective isn’t in dispute, the mechanisms for validating these all-important skill sets are sometimes difficult to scale, hard to implement, or lacking real-world authenticity. In this article we’ll look at the importance of valid skills testing in healthcare, the challenges of relying solely on traditional testing methods, and how advanced assessment solutions can transform healthcare skills testing.
Supporting patient safety with skill gap analysis
Scenario-based assessments are a powerful tool for identifying skill gaps in healthcare, providing a clear view of where staff knowledge does not translate into practical ability. By testing performance in realistic, high-stakes but safe scenarios, these assessments ensure that staff can carry out tasks accurately and confidently, directly supporting patient safety. For example, a nursing simulation might reveal that a clinician understands a procedure in theory but struggles to execute it under time pressure. Identifying these gaps at both the individual and team level allows healthcare organizations to deliver targeted training interventions, close skill gaps, and reduce risk to patients.
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Moving beyond traditional testing methods
Traditional testing methods like multiple-choice tests often fail to capture the full complexity of healthcare tasks, limiting tests to knowledge recall rather than knowledge application. Scenario-based assessments and observational testing offer greater validity because they evaluate practical skills in realistic contexts. By simulating real challenges, from administering medication to handling emergencies, these assessments measure not only what staff know but also how they apply their training in practice, providing a more accurate and trustworthy measure of competence.
The need for better recruitment methods
“The worldwide talent gap in health care and life sciences is widening faster than senior executives foresee. Recent analysis confirms that the World Health Organization (WHO) projects a shortfall of 10 million health workers by 2030, with the most recent estimate edging upward to 10.2 million…even accelerated hiring won’t close the talent gap unless organizations invest in targeted training, automation and competency based progression frameworks. To stay competitive, healthcare organizations must harness new technologies to drive innovation and improve patient outcomes.” –Keller, 2025
Modern assessments are an essential tool in closing the healthcare talent gap. With the World Health Organization projecting a shortfall of more than 10 million health workers by 2030, relying on hiring alone will not be enough. By integrating scenario-based and skills-focused assessments into recruitment, healthcare organizations can identify candidates who are not just knowledgeable but capable of performing in real-world clinical situations. This competency-based approach ensures new hires are ready to contribute immediately, supports long-term workforce development, and helps organizations build a resilient and skilled workforce that can meet rising patient demands and new technologies.
Why scenario-based and observational assessments are effective for bridging the skills gap
Scenario and observational assessments are considered top tier for assessing the true competency and skills of an individual, making them preferred for all manner of high-stakes industries. Scenario-based assessments are particularly powerful, as they enable organizations to create real-world challenges reflected in authentic ways, without compromising safety.
For example, doctors may be assessed on how they respond to an evolving patient case, making diagnostic and treatment decisions under time pressure or a pharmacist might be tested on their ability to manage complex prescriptions and potential drug interactions.
Observational assessments are also useful as they enable supervisors to watch how tasks are carried out in practice and are good for ‘in the field’ assessing. Whether it’s following infection-control protocols, conducting a physical assessment, or handling sensitive patient conversations, observation provides valuable evidence of competence in real-world settings.
Both methods deliver insights that go far beyond traditional testing, taking healthcare assessments from ‘tell me’ to ‘show me’. This helps organizations to pinpoint individual learning needs, identify skill gaps, and pivot training to account for challenges.
By combining scenario-based and observational assessments, healthcare organizations gain a clear, actionable view of their people’s readiness. This ensures staff at every level are prepared to deliver safe, high-quality care and adapt to the fast-changing demands of modern healthcare.
Scenario-based assessment benefits in a nutshell
- Tests beyond recall with real-world relevance: Mirrors actual job tasks, making assessments more valid and reliable by going beyond simple knowledge recall.
- Richer & more actionable performance data: Identifies specific skill and performance gaps, promotion opportunities, and information that’s useful for recruitment.
- Results you can trust: Identifying real performance, rather than only knowledge recall, increases stakeholder confidence and ensures compliance is maintained.
- Better learner engagement & accessibility: Supports media-rich questions and interactive formats to boost learner engagement.
- Delivers dynamic & evolving scenarios: Organizations can build scenario that are specific to their business and have them unfold step by step, mimicking real-world decision-making.
- Includes ‘in the field’ testing with observational assessments: Whether it’s measuring bedside manner or dental hygienist skills, observational assessments allow for healthcare skills to be measured beyond a desk.
How Questionmark enables scalable scenario-based assessments
With a focus on scenario-based questions and critical thinking skills, the question types supported by our advanced assessment capabilities allow for NCLEX or CNA-style questions that more closely mirror today’s healthcare challenges. From identifying illnesses from a range of symptoms to analyzing a fictional patient’s records to determine the appropriate care required, advanced assessments provide an excellent means of assessing healthcare professionals in an authentic and tangible way.
Building a culture of confidence and compliance
When skills testing is valid, secure, and reliable, it does more than check a compliance box. It gives healthcare organizations the confidence that their teams are ready to perform when it matters most. It also reassures patients and regulators that safety and quality are top priorities.
Conclusion
By embracing modern assessment solutions that measure both knowledge and real-world performance, organizations can reduce risk, improve training outcomes, and ultimately deliver better patient care. This is especially important in a world where technology is rapidly changing the process of entire industries and the skills needed for staff to be successful are far different to what they were only a few years ago.
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Bring real-world stakes to your healthcare skills training today.