Behind the Scenes of a Locum Assignment

What Happens Behind the Scenes of a Locums Assignment?

I'm glad you asked! Before we get into the weeds of what goes into making a successful Locums placement, let us first paint a picture in your head for reference. Flashback to the early 2000s when the Oreo Cakester first came out. The hit commercial features grade school students at lunch in the cafeteria. Billy, one of the students, pulls out an Oreo Cakester causing all of the students to go into a frenzy of sharing that information. One by one, word is passed on until it reaches the last kid who then confusedly states what he just heard, "Bobby got his first chest hair?"

The Locums placement process is like that. Obviously not to that extreme, but there is a larger than needed communication chain that accounts for a large portion of inefficiencies.

So how exactly does it work you might ask. Well let's get into that using a streamlined example.

Chain of Communication

In Idaho, a hospital is facing a shortage of physicians in their radiology department, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. To address this issue, the department head will contact the facility's physician recruiter who will assist in finding a suitable candidate to fill the coverage gap. The recruiter will collaborate with one or more locum tenens agencies to conduct a search for a radiologist. They will discuss the job description and rates with the account manager of the locum agencies.

Once the account manager receives the necessary information, they will share it with their client representative. The client rep will then disseminate the information to their providers' representatives (Locum Physician recruiters). The provider reps will initiate outreach efforts, contacting locum physicians who are known to them as well as potential physicians who might be interested in helping the facility in Idaho. Their objective is to find a qualified physician willing to work at the lowest pay rate feasible, maximizing revenue while ensuring the client's billing comfort.

When it comes to matching a provider with a job description, it's definitely not an exact science. There are often negotiations and puzzle-solving involved in making everything work smoothly. Locum agencies often need to engage multiple providers to create a schedule that provides maximum coverage for the healthcare facility.

If a provider expresses interest in the job opportunity, they will provide their most recent CV (Curriculum Vitae or in-depth resume), clinical capabilities form, and answer pre qualifying questions. These steps are necessary to ensure the provider can be credentialed with the facility and be covered by the locum agencies' malpractice insurance. The provider rep will then pass this information to the client rep, who will forward it to the account manager. The account manager, in turn, will provide it to the healthcare recruiter, who will present it to the department director for review.

If the department director is interested in the presented provider, the healthcare recruiter will contact the account manager to arrange an interview. The account manager will then coordinate with the client rep, who will contact the provider rep, who will finally reach out to the physician to determine their availability. The provider rep will provide the client with a few options for interview times, and the chain of command for information exchange starts again. The healthcare facility confirms one of the proposed interview times, and the information is relayed through the chain of command to the provider.

The healthcare system and the provider connect via a call or video chat for the interview. If the interview goes well, the director and recruiter inform the account manager that they would like to proceed with the provider, specifying the assignment length and billing rate. The chain of command is activated once again to ensure that the provider agrees with the assignment details outlined by the client. The provider confirms their acceptance.

Now, the internal credentialing and hospital privileging process begins, along with any necessary licensing and travel arrangements. The locum company assists by prefilling the provider's hospital privileging application using their own internal application, which the provider had previously completed. Throughout the privileging process, the locum company acts as the intermediary, facilitating the exchange of questions, answers, and documentation, while ensuring that the assignment's start date is met and all mandatory information is obtained and completed. The travel department collaborates with the client rep, provider rep, and provider to arrange all required travel (flights, rental car, hotel), seeking approval from the healthcare recruiter regarding costs.

Once all these steps are completed within the designated time frame, the physician will be ready to embark on their locum assignment.

A Successful Placement

It's a long drawn out process that we're all too familiar with. Now obviously, this is a smooth locum placement without taking into account factors such as physicians being unresponsive, changing of original availability or preferences, or the physician has already taken other positions because the process was taking so long. These are all very real factors that locum agencies deal with on a daily basis, causing a lot of inefficiencies which ultimately affects the quality of patient care throughout the nation.

Conclusion

Now we know it was a monotonous process to peel back the curtain and shed some light on the reality of the industry, which is why we're glad you made it this far! With that being said, over here at Staff Worx we're working on a revolutionary platform that will replace all of the links in that communication chain. Without the numerous hands that each assignment passes through the speed of which assignment are confirmed will increase. For Hospitals, their cost to find a Doctor will decrease exponentially, and the rate for a Physician providing coverage will increase dramatically. If you're interested in learning more about how we're changing the industry give us a call or start a chat with us!