Your Essential Checklist for Hiring Locum Tenens Doctors

General.

In today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, facilities must adapt quickly to changing circumstances. You know that providing high-quality patient care is essential to the success of your organization, but staffing shortages, unexpected absences, and other challenges can make it difficult to maintain the level of care your patients expect and deserve.

The healthcare industry is facing a shortage of physicians, APPs, nurses, and other professionals, putting a strain on providers and hospitals alike. Locum tenens physicians are a valuable resource for clinics and hospitals looking to address this shortage. These experienced, qualified clinicians can provide temporary coverage for a wide range of services and gaps in staffing, supporting the permanent staff during times of high patient volume or unexpected absences.

But locums are not just a stopgap measure. They can bring unique skills, experiences, and a fresh perspective to your facility, which can help you identify opportunities to improve your hospital’s operations and patient outcomes. Moreover, they can help your regular physicians manage their workload, reduce burnout, and improve work-life balance.

However, hiring locums is not always a straightforward process. It requires thoughtful consideration and planning to ensure the best possible outcome for your organization, staff, and patients. As a highly experienced locum tenens agency, we’ve created a checklist of key considerations when hiring locums to help simplify and streamline your locum recruitment process. To make things even easier for your next opening, use this PDF version of the checklist!

Request coverage

The first step on your hiring journey is partnering with us and requesting coverage through our website, Ihcl.com. At Integrity Locums, we understand the unique and changing staffing demands of healthcare facilities of all sizes. Our team of experienced consultants will work with you to develop a staffing plan tailored to your specific requirements, and our strong network of locums physicians and APPs ensures that we can quickly meet your needs for any specialty or setting.

Discuss your needs and develop a job description

The next step is to define your needs and create a job description that accurately reflects them. You should outline the duties, qualifications, and skills you expect from candidates and specify the schedule and any special requirements, such as required certifications, licenses, and experience. Your consultant can help you develop a comprehensive job description that meets your needs and attracts the best possible locums for your facility.

Send providers for name clear

When healthcare facilities require personnel urgently, they may employ multiple agencies to expedite their search. Therefore, the consultant “name clears” locum candidates before consideration to prevent “double presentation” by different agencies.

Review presentations

Once name cleared, your consultant will send you the presentations of potential candidates for your review. These presentations include a comprehensive overview of each physician’s or APP’s rates, experience, qualifications, and skills to help you decide on the best fit for your facility. If you have any questions or concerns about a particular presentation, your consultant can provide additional information.

Once you’ve made your decision, your consultant will work with both you and the locum to finalize all necessary arrangements, including dates, schedules, and onboarding.

Facilitate credentialing

Credentialing and privileging are crucial steps in the recruitment process. The facility must verify clinicians’ qualifications and licensure to practice medicine in a particular state or region and grant privileges to those who meet the criteria.

Integrity Locums has an experienced credentialing department, and your consultant can help streamline your processes so you can get doctors on-site as quickly as possible. In addition, they’ll ensure that all the necessary documentation is submitted expeditiously to the relevant personnel in your facility and provide ongoing support to all parties.

Once credentialed, your team can issue privileges to the clinician, enabling them to start treating and caring for patients.

Finalize travel and accommodation arrangements

The final step before the clinician arrives is to finalize all travel arrangements, such as flights,rental cars, and hotels. Your partner consultant works with the physician to ensure they have everything they need for a comfortable journey and stay. They can also provide information about your facility and the local area to help the locum settle in quickly and feel supported.

Welcome your locum

Your locum will arrive at your facility ready for orientation and to start work. They’ll hit the ground running and should transition seamlessly into your team, providing the same quality care as your regular personnel. With the ongoing help of your consultant and Integrity Locums, you can be assured that your new team member has everything they need to succeed in their placement.