Dallas, Texas – March 10, 2022 – The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations^® (NALTO^®) recently introduced new and re-elected members to its Board of Directors at its 2022 Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jarin Dana of Fusion Healthcare Staffing was elected President-Elect, and Liz Hale of MPLT Healthcare was elected Vice President of the organization.

The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations^® (NALTO^®) recently announced two new officers to its Board of Directors.

Jarin Dana, CFO of Fusion Healthcare Staffing, has been elected Vice President of NALTO^®.

“NALTO^® is the most collaborative industry association I have ever seen. I’m honored to be a part of it and serve in this new capacity. I look forward to the challenge of taking on key industry issues over the years to come,” says Dana.

Accounting for Locum Tenens Providers in the Vaccination Process

You may proudly recall that at 6pm on March 28, 2020, thousands of New Yorkers stepped out on their balconies, leaned out their windows, and cheered as healthcare’s first responders walked out of their shifts at medical facilities across the city. At that time, there were over 70,000 healthcare professionals that volunteered to combat the pandemic, with many more on the way. Among them were over 8,000 doctors.

Dallas, Texas – August 10, 2020: The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations^® (NALTO^®) is leading healthcare staffing agencies in honoring locum tenens providers as part of this week’s fourth annual National Locum Tenens Week celebration.  

“National Locum Tenens Week is the time when we reflect on and honor the incredible work locum tenens clinicians do every day,” says NALTO® President Matt Erickson.

The National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations^® (NALTO^®) recently introduced newly elected President, Matt Erickson of LocumTenens.com, at its annual convention in Tampa, Florida.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the impact Matt has on engagement through educational endeavors during his tenure as President,” said former NALTO® President John S. Daniel.

Electronic Medical Records have great potential in healthcare. They can, however, cause issues, including physician burnout. Using Locum Tenens clinicians can avoid this problem.

Since their implementation, Electronic Medical Records (“EMR”) have helped clinicians treat and care for patients. These digital records provide healthcare organizations with the unique opportunity to monitor patient care over time. While they may ultimately improve clinical outcomes in the future, unfortunately, current use of EMRs has come at a cost, including the issue of clinician burnout.

There are a number of types of medical settings in which to practice locum tenens and each offer a unique and valuable experience to advance your career.

• Private Practices. This setting provides locum tenens doctors a glimpse into what it’s like to practice medicine with the most autonomy. Private practices typically have a limited staff challenged with the responsibilities that come with any small business. Conversely, locum tenens will also see first-hand the greater rewards to taking such risks with running a private practice. This includes more potential for financial rewards, opportunities for partnership, and a long-term career in one location from which to get involved in the community.

• Medical Groups. Doctors in this setting experience some of same benefits of smaller practices, but with less personal risk from a business perspective. Locum tenens will also notice that physicians in medical groups don’t have quite as much opportunity for dynamic income growth as those in a private practice, but there’s more safety and security in being part of a larger medical group. In addition, this setting often lends itself to opportunities to learn from more senior physicians through practicing together in an environment of close proximity.

• Hospitals. Hospitals offer locum tenens the opportunity to be part of a large operation with individual departments, collaborative team atmospheres, and experience with an inpatient environment. They’ll notice it resembles more of a corporate structure, offering their full-time peers a number of benefits and safety, albeit with minimal autonomy and more confined pay structure than those physicians at a private practice for instance. Hospitals can also offer locum tenens invaluable experience in fast-paced environments as well, such as in emergency room settings.

• Urgent Care Clinics. Urgent care facilities are almost always in need of help, and it is quite easy for a qualified physician to pick up shifts in this setting. Working in an urgent care clinic can be quite rewarding. Here physicians get to do what they do best; treat patients in a one-on-one setting and many of them need immediate care.

• Federal Healthcare & Correctional Facilities. Here lies an opportunity for locum tenens to work closely with governmental healthcare administrators and through such networking, potentially open up doors for advancement and additional opportunities down the road. For physicians who previously served in the armed forces, it could be a chance to give back to their fellow veterans. And at correctional facilities, behavioral healthcare professionals are in need at an all-time high.

• Rural Health. Working in an area with an undeserved population is also quite rewarding and the demand for locum tenens in these areas is extremely high due to the physician shortage. It is an excellent setting to achieve great career experience and help people who really need it.

Regardless of your choice in a practice setting, locum tenens is the best option for today’s physicians to grow from experiencing each one listed above. Contact a NALTO member company today to get started. 

Locum Tenens (Latin for “in the place of”) staffing is a growing industry, supporting healthcare facilities nationwide to meet needs for qualified practitioners. As many as 6% of all active practitioners have worked locum tenens at some point in their careers, most with great satisfaction.

When it comes to understanding the “nuts and bolts” of hiring locum tenens, some common questions emerge. We’ve got your FAQ’s here. Contact us if you have any others.

Hospitals can face harsh penalties for high readmission rates. To avoid the repercussions from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, utilize Locum Tenens clinicians.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) can penalize hospitals when patients are re-admitted for care. These penalties can cost hospitals up to 3 percent of payments from CMS. While some readmissions are unavoidable, many can be prevented with the right support, including Locum Tenens clinicians.

The healthcare landscape has been evolving. Facing an aging population, increased access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, and a growing physician shortage (an estimated 14,900 to 35,600 just in primary care by 2025), healthcare organizations have been looking for ways to increase efficiency and improve the bottom line, while servicing communities of every size. A growing trend: turning to locum tenens staffing solutions to both enhance care and boost profitability.

The Real Cost of Hiring

What is the real cost of hiring in today’s healthcare industry? By some estimates, it can be as high as $40,000 per physician position filled. When you factor in the time spent reviewing and interviewing applicants, plus the hidden costs such as placements that do not work out and high turnover, it’s no wonder that staffing is sometimes considered one of the most stressful aspects of running an effective organization.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2017

National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations^® (NALTO^®) Announces Stacey Stanley as President, New Members to Board of Directors

The challenge for medical practice managers facing a vacancy of physicians or advanced practitioners right now is arguably more difficult than the same battle faced by their counterparts with ties to larger healthcare delivery systems.

Major hospitals, regional medical facilities, networks comprised of multiple clinics, and practices employed by the like have more resources at their disposal when approaching this issue. Corporate healthcare hiring managers have more provider bandwidth in the event of turnover, more time to react, deeper pockets for prolonged searches, in-house recruiters at their disposal, and access to a number of other resources that are more applicable to an organization of their size.

The healthcare field is growing rapidly. The demands on all facets of the industry have increased with this marked growth. Full-time physicians and advanced practitioners, as well as Locum Tenens professionals, are providing great benefits to patients and healthcare facilities across the United States. Arranging these unions between providers and facilities, however, is left in the expert hands of healthcare recruiters. While this position can be exciting, fulfilling, and lucrative, it also has the potential for burnout. Fortunately, healthcare recruiters have the ability to manage their stressors, using a few simple techniques.

The Stressors of Healthcare Recruiting

Every recruiter knows the term “KPI.” Recruiters know that they must meet or exceed these standards in order to become successful in their field. While this challenge can be exciting and can incite healthy competition, it can also be quite stressful. Often, this means making countless phone calls, managing client needs, and creating harmonious provider/facility matches, among other necessary duties.

The key to avoiding practice turnover and retaining today's medical providers is to focus on their overall job satisfaction from day one. Keeping a pulse on the health and well-being of your staff to look for early signs of burnout, and paying close attention to the concerns of their loved ones outside your practice are vital.

Top Reasons for Turnover

Medical providers who wish to practice in multiple states have traditionally faced a timely and cumbersome licensure process to do so. Therefore, many locum tenens companies have entire departments dedicated to helping physicians and advanced practitioners complete the necessary verification and credentialing requirements needed to begin any assignment. This includes assisting providers who need to attain (or renew) their license to practice medicine, a process that’s historically taken as long as six months in a single state.

Therein lies the recent good news from the Federation of State Medical Boards regarding the onset of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (or “IMLC”), designed to expedite the process for physicians to obtain multiple licenses through a single application.

Celebrating NALTO National Locum Tenens Week, August 14-18

Thank you for the interest we’ve received thus far in response to our announcement of the first-ever National Locum Tenens Week, August 14 – 18, 2017. We’d like to provide everyone with a quick update on what to expect from NALTO in the coming weeks, clarify our purpose and communicate the valuable opportunity that lies in promoting our industry together.

As we pass the midway point of 2017, the demand for locum tenens staffing continues to trend upward.

The need for locum tenens remains driven in part by the shortage of full-time providers. Meanwhile, our industry is also experiencing an influx of new in-house recruiters constantly challenged with maximizing their facility’s revenue stream by adjusting to a mix of permanent and contract providers.

More and more healthcare facilities are turning to locum tenens staffing solutions for good reasons: with physicians, PA’s, nurse practitioners and specialists available when you need them, the stress of hiring has been lessened. Beyond just the convenience, however, most healthcare facilities want to understand the value of hiring locum tenens.

If you are considering hiring locums, rest assured you are making a wise decision. Here is the information to consider.