Unlocking the Value of Locum Tenens in 2024

These last few years have been hard for so many people in so many ways.

Healthcare professionals included.

Many – so many! – healthcare pros left the profession after the Covid pandemic began in early 2020. How many? More than 145,000 (as of July 2023).*

(This number was far larger in Q4 2021 when a total of 230,609 had left work since the pandemic’s start.)*

Physicians and nurse practitioners made up the most of these departures.

Locum tenens staffing can help in times of worker shortages

A locum tenens partnership between you and a locum services provider actually can help you “strategically” address healthcare staffing shortages. Many healthcare providers are starting to look at locums as revenue generators rather than cost centers due to the fact that many health providers used locum tenens services to man their telehealth services during the pandemic.

As one expert said in a Becker’s Hospital Review article in earlier this month:

“Health systems don’t want to miss out on revenue because a patient can’t be seen due to staffing shortages.”

Using locum tenens professionals can help your healthcare facility make money

Locums not only can save you money, but can bring in revenue:

For example, using a locum revenue generator, bringing on an internal medicine specialist for 14 days could provide more than $8K of gross profit (so long as you collect on 75 percent of the specialist’s services).

Locum revenue generator

Locum staffing can provide organizational agility

All healthcare providers want to ensure that they provide their patients with continuous high-quality care, no matter if there’s a staffing shortage, a major holiday or other situation that’s affecting the number of professionals available to tend to patients.

Engaging a locum tenens staffing firm will help close service gaps and thus sustain patient volumes, helping maintain your revenue stream.

Another huge benefit is how locum staffing can bring “fresh eyes” to your facility

A locum tenens staffing partner can provide healthcare professionals with specialized expertise in areas your permanent staff lacks. What’s more, the professionals sent to you by a locum provider can give you access to a broader range of skills, knowledge and best practices, thus enhancing your facility’s overall quality of care.

You also may find that locum professionals help create a more diverse and dynamic environment, possibly leading to better patient outcomes as well as more inspiring professional experience for your in-house medical teams.

In short, it’s a highly cost-effective (even revenue-generating) staffing alternative that helps healthcare providers keep their finances healthy while also running more efficiently.

Learn more about our locum staffing capabilities.

*Note: these numbers come from two different studies, with the first listed stating it had adjusted its numbers to take into account the fact that some healthcare pros had returned by July of this year.