Sumo Medial Staffing

Quick quiz: what are the major costs of a poor match when bringing on a locum tenens healthcare pro to your medical facility? 

1. Unfilled shifts 

2. Perm staff burnout as a result 

3. Patients “enjoying” a lower quality of care. 

You know this, of course. 

But what are the hidden costs? 

What we mean by a poorly matched locum 

Most people might say that a bad match is a locum without the needed skills and experience.  

Yet locums that aren’t a good fit for a healthcare facility’s communication style and culture can result in severe and costly ripple effects. 

Operational efficiency and team dynamics

• Poor integration of locums will disrupt established workflows. 

• Communication breakdowns can spell an increase in errors. 

• Potential higher support staff turnover. (It costs more than $56K to replace an RN.)  

The impact on patient satisfaction

• Poor communication can affect your facility’s HCAHPS scores. 

• A 10 percent decrease in patient satisfaction can reduce admissions by 5 percent, which impacts your facility’s overall revenue. 

Improving locum selection by expanding evaluation criteria

Consider looking at locums’:

• Flexibility in adjusting to different personalities 

• The ability to understand facility-specific protocols. 

• Cultural competency with your local patient population. 

Take a look at locums’ team integration/leadership experience:

• How well do they handle different team structures? 

• Do they have a successful track record of successful adaptation? 

• Are their interactions with permanent staff generally positive? 

Three suggestions for implementation

Work with the locum staffing firm to enhance its selection

Do so by asking it about its cultural fit assessments and adding any additional criteria that are specific to your facility. It’s also wise to include behavioral interview questions applicable to our facility for the staffing service as it interviews potential locums for you. 

You also may want to look at trial periods for each locum when they are working what could become a long assignment. 

Improve onboarding

Create a detailed cultural orientation (provide this to the locum service, as well) and assign mentors from your permanent staff to your locums.  

Choose locum recruiting firms that focus on cultural matching

Ask for detailed locum profiles (including their soft skills). Keep track of how well locums succeed according to the metrics you choose. 

How to measure success

We suggest monitoring the following: 

• Patient satisfaction scores 

• Staff retention rates. 

• Team efficiency metrics 

• Permanent staff thoughts on how well locums integrate 

Bringing locum tenens professionals into your facility is never about “filling shifts.” It’s ultimately about keeping your facility’s healthcare delivery system running smoothly while also ensuring a positive ROI on your locum staffing costs via locums’ team integration and cultural alignment. 

Learn more about how SUMO Staffing can provide you with locums truly suited to your healthcare facility.