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There are many reasons why a healthcare facility may experience a dramatic rise in patients needing immediate care. It could be seasonal fluctuations, consumer demand for procedures or simply a growing patient community. These are all good scenarios because they bring more business to your facility, but they can also present staffing challenges. You don't want to create a patient care gap or lose potential revenue, but you also don't want to run the risk of overstaffing, which can quickly cut into profits.
This is why it's important to have a staffing strategy that goes beyond hiring more full-time physicians. You'd be smarter to maintain flexibility with your staff so you can manage patient influx without overspending. This is where supplemental physician staffing or locum tenens can provide incredible value.
 Why locum tenens?
Locum tenens provide quality care on a flexible schedule and can serve as a powerful resource to address many staffing challenges. Here are common opportunities to use locum tenens:
- Expand physician skill set -- Filling specialty gaps with locum tenens can expand your care offerings. This can be particularly prudent for smaller or rural healthcare facilities, which may not have the funds or patient load to warrant keeping certain specialties on staff full-time. But by bringing in locum tenens part-time, these facilities can provide specialized care to patients who might not have access to it otherwise.
- Be ready for peak season -- Patient influx is often the result of seasonal travel and extra doctors are often needed to accommodate the surge. For example, many retirees spend the summer months in the north, then migrate south during the winter to escape the cold weather. These snowbirds often have health issues that require medical attention year-round, so regional facilities can use locum tenens to handle the increase in patients until it subsides.
- Staff up surgical specialties -- Outdoor adventure destinations bring weekend warriors who can end up needing specialized surgical care. For example, facilities in ski towns like Aspen or Salt Lake City can get a lot of patients with knee and shoulder injuries, but the demand goes away once the snow season is over. These facilities could greatly benefit from staffing locum tenens orthopedic surgeons during the winter months only.
- Improve physician retention -- Staffing locum tenens during peak season can help alleviate stress placed on overworked full-time physicians, contributing to increased employee satisfaction. Happier doctors are more likely to stay put and provide better patient care.
- Extend physician reach -- Further improve efficiency and patient access to care by staffing advanced practice professionals, including physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). They can conduct routine procedures amounting to around 80 percent of a physician's workload, helping generate revenue while costing even less to staff.
Who Should You Partner With?
When considering using locum tenens, it's important to know who to partner with. Look for these criteria when choosing a recruiting and staffing company:
- NALTO affiliation -- Look for healthcare staffing companies that are affiliated with the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO), a governing body that supports the locum tenens industry. NALTO members have access to continuous education programs and are held to an ethical code to ensure they follow the highest standards of service.
- Broad physician network -- Staffing companies that have good relationships with physicians and work with multiple specialties are better equipped to fulfill a variety of staffing needs.
- Accessibility -- Staffing companies whose consultants are readily available will be better able to fill a staffing vacancy at a moment's notice. Likewise, staffing consultants should be on hand for the locum tenens to ensure that the assignment process goes smoothly, acting quickly to resolve any unexpected delays so as not to affect timely delivery to your facility.
- 360-degree support -- The more services that a staffing company provides means the more cost and time savings for you. Consider all the details that need to be taken care of before a locum tenens can start an assignment: licensure, credentialing, hospital privileges, travel and housing arrangements, and malpractice coverage.
- Customer service -- It's not only quantity that matters but also quality of service. Look for a company that offers continued support before, during and even after staffing your facility (especially important for risk management planning).
- Financial stability -- In this changing economy, a staffing company's financial stability should not to be overlooked. It's worth researching a company's payroll history to determine if it has the financial resources to pay locum tenens regularly.
As you think about your options to address patient influx, consider developing a staffing strategy that leverages locum tenens. It is more cost effective than over-hiring permanent physicians, and it gives you the flexibility to ride the peaks and valleys of patient flow that is different for every healthcare facility.
Pat Kennedy, Group President for CHG Healthcare Services, oversees all strategy and operations for the company's staffing brand Weatherby Healthcare (weatherbyhealthcare.com). She is a proven business leader with 25 years of experience in the staffing industry, including 16 years as a senior executive and member of multiple association boards.
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