A Blog For Locum Tenens Recruiters

Staff Care just released its 2013 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends. This annual report, based on data collected from healthcare executives and locum tenens physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants nationwide, also examines trends revealed by temporary physician staffing assignments Staff Care conducted in 2012.

The survey, now in its 10^th year, reveals the prevalence of locum tenens physicians in medical facilities; why a growing number of physicians are choosing to practice locum tenens; and what types of clinicians are most in demand by Staff Care’s clients.

This year, new questions were added to the survey to gauge the growing effect of healthcare reform on temporary physician staffing trends, with some interesting results.

Some of the key findings of Staff Care’s survey include: 

• The primary use of locum tenens is to fill in for physicians who have left, with 58% of respondents indicating they have used locum tenens physicians to fill in for physicians who have left their facility. As physician employment increases, so does turnover, and an increasing demand for locum tenens to fill in the gaps.
• Healthcare reform is providing new reasons for healthcare facilities to use locum tenens physicians. Five percent indicated they used locum tenens providers as a stopgap measure while transitioning to an employed physician model;  4 percent said they use locum tenens to cover absences for electronic medical record (EMR) training.
• For the second consecutive year, and for the fifth time in the past six years, primary care (family practice, general internal medicine, and pediatrics) was the specialty area in greatest demand, accounting for 24 percent of total days requested. Behavioral health clinicians were second in demand, accounting for 18 percent of total clinician days requested in 2012.

By Bonnie Owens, Staff Care Vice President of Client Sales 

Spring break is just around the corner, and just a few months after that, school will be out for the summer.

While this is good news for students, it can be quite stressful for physicians who want to take time out of their busy schedules to vacation with their families, and even more stressful for the healthcare facilities that will need to cover those absences.

An increasing number of healthcare facilities are turning to locum tenens providers to fill those gaps. According to Staff Care’s 2012 Survey of Physician Staffing Trends, 75 percent of healthcare facilities have used locum tenens physicians in the past year, and of those, 46 percent used locums providers to fill in for vacations.

Here are the top three reasons locum tenens physicians can be an effective solution for covering vacation absences.

Your doctors need a break 

In the Physician’s Foundation Survey of American Physicians: Practice Patterns and Perspectives, 24.9 percent of respondents cited long hours and lack of personal time as the least satisfying aspect of medical practice. Additionally, 52.8 percent said that they were at full capacity in their practice, and 22.6 percent said they were overextended and overworked. These physicians are facing burn out. If your physicians are burned out, your turnover rate will reflect it. According to the Healthcare Governance Academy’s Trustee Guidebook, to recruit a family practice physician, a hospital can expect to spend $280,000 on items such as income guarantee or salary; benefits/perks; recruiters; identification of candidates; interviews; relocation; and practice marketing. When you weigh the cost of a locum tenens provider versus the cost and time of replacing a full-time physician, the locums option becomes more attractive.

You don’t want to lose revenue 

Many facilities cite cost as a deterrent to using locum tenens. However, when you examine the cost of NOT having a doctor on staff, the perspective changes. For example, family practice doctors generate an average of $138,569 a month in revenue, or $34,643 per week. General surgeons produce even more; a month without a general surgeon results in an average revenue loss of $176,041, or $44,010 per week.  (Source: Trend – The Growing Use of Locum Tenens Providers as a Supplement to Permanent Medical Staff)  You could very well stand to lose more revenue from an absent physician than you would spend on a locum tenens provider.  

You want to take care of your patients 

Revenue issues aside, your ultimate mission is to provide quality care for your patients. Your patients’ healthcare needs don’t go on vacation with their physicians. According to Staff Care’s survey, 64 percent of healthcare facilities cited the ability to provide continuity of care to its patients as a top reason for using locum tenens.  

If you are concerned about any of the topics mentioned above and would like to learn how Staff Care can help you plan for vacation coverage, please contact us today!