2023 State of Locum Tenens Report

So, what role does locum tenens play in all of this? Locums physicians help solve two critical problems healthcare currently faces. They come into those underserved areas and provide patients the care they desperately need. They also alleviate some of the burden being put on staff physicians, allowing them to take a vacation, a leave of absence, or just have some additional help. And it’s not just traditional locums; we’re also seeing growing demand for tele-locums, with physicians working online, never having to leave the comfort of their homes.

Working locums is also a great way for physicians to find better work/life balance for themselves by working where and when they want. Often physicians, especially later in their careers, contemplate early retirement as a way to escape the burnout and stress of the job. Locums allows them to extend their medical practice and allow them to continue to serve patients. Locums lets physicians bend their work around their life, in contrast to the years they spent bending their lives to fit around their education, training, and careers.

While locum tenens can be a great solution for both facilities and physicians, it’s far from being the solution to everything healthcare is facing today. Unfortunately, very little is being done to systematically address physician burnout. Health systems have been so used to using physicians in a certain way that breaking the cycle of excessively long hours and high-stress situations is proving to be very difficult. There also needs to be more focus on better patient-to-provider ratios and more focus on the wellness of all staff.

For our part, both for our staff and the physicians and other healthcare professionals we work with, we are dedicated to providing a working environment that supports health and wellness, strong work/life balance, and building a community that meets the needs of the health systems we serve.

Secondly, as something to watch for, professionals working in staffing may be tempted to become more transactional in their candidate interactions. Savvy recruitment professionals know the value of building relationships with quality talent throughout a candidate’s career. The pressures from the pandemic have forced many professionals to do more with less, and less and less, and now do much of their work from behind a computer in any number of locations. The need to be more efficient and quick in our hiring timelines adds pressure to automate and process quickly. Recruiters will need to be mindful of these pressures so as not to lose sight of what makes their approach so organizational-centric and candidate-positive.

Physicians are also becoming a lot more proactive about their careers. The newest physicians entering the workforce are smarter than ever in looking for particular cultures or compensation models and are acting with greater savvy in their negotiation skills. Physicians at all levels want to be involved in decisions that impact them; they want to be supported to reduce administrative time and increase patient time; and they want career paths and opportunities for growth and mentoring. And unlike physicians of the past, if they don’t get these things, they will leave. Staying out of loyalty is not as high of a value as it once was. Unfortunately, organizational retention plans are still few and far between. To get ahead of this growing turnover trend, employers must address provider turnover with fresh, consistent, and measurable strategies with a sincere desire and willingness to make changes when the feedback directs it. Without this focus, staffing professionals will remain as busy as ever but with clear losses to organizations in productivity, profitability, and access to quality care.