by Rob Berton | Aug 31, 2017 | Blog |
Discover Great Jobs and Staffing Solutions With Locum Tenens
The medical field is growing at a rapid pace. Many of the occupations with the fastest rates of growth are in the medical industry, with positions such as physician assistants experiencing rates of growth as high as 30.4 percent.[1] If you are a nurse, nurse practitioner, medical assistant, physician assistant or clinical laboratory specialist, there are many jobs awaiting your discovery. If you are looking to hire people in the medical field, Locum Tenens is an ideal solution. Discover how you can search for jobs or recruit top talent into your organization or governmental agency.
Posting Your Resume or CV for Recruiters
If you have qualifications such as a CNA, PA, or RN license, you could be an important part of the available staffing solutions with Locum Tenens. You could upload your resume or curriculum vitae to Locumtenens.com for recruiters from hospitals, medical practices, universities and clinics to peruse. Once your resume is uploaded, you can update it at any time. If you gain new qualifications or have additional skills to add, it is easy to update your information. Posting your resume allows employers to communicate with you, but you can remain anonymous if you wish.
Search Through the Job Openings
If you are considering a new position or you just want to see what’s out there in your field, Locumtenens.com is easy to search. Be sure to search through the postings regularly because new jobs are posted on a daily or even hourly basis. For example, openings for nurse practitioners are expected to grow by 41 percent between 2014 and 2024, which means that jobs falling under this category could be added frequently.[2] You can search based on a variety of parameters, such as certification, facility type, full-time or part-time or location. You can even set up and save your searches. For convenience, set up your account to automatically send you a message when there is a new job that meets your search criteria.
Recruit or Search for Candidates for Your Organization
Staffing solutions with Locum Tenens help your organization to fill crucial positions. You can search through resumes and contact people who meet your organization’s needs. You could set up search criteria such as specific skills or certifications or look specifically for candidates who are located close to your facility. Government organizations and human resources managers can also contact candidates anonymously and ask them for more information. If you find an ideal candidate, Locumtenens.com can also be used to schedule an interview. There is no cost to post job openings. The goal of Locum Tenens is to ensure that patients are able to get the care they need from qualified and experienced clinicians who are passionate about delivering high-quality care.
References
[1] https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_103.htm
[2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm
by Rob Berton | Aug 28, 2017 | Blog |
Why Is the Nation Facing Health Care Staffing Shortages?
Across the United States, medical facilities and institutions are facing an ever-increasing shortage of health care professionals. Due to a variety of factors, the worrisome trend of health care staffing shortages is expected to continue for the next several years.[1]
The Problem
One of the primary factors that seems to be creating challenges with medical staffing is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Implemented in 2010, the ACA has allowed millions of people to receive government-mandated health insurance.[2] These large numbers of previously undertreated people have been seeking medical care, and facilities aren’t as well-equipped as they want to be to handle the influx. In addition, the retired population continues to expand dramatically, as increasing numbers of Baby Boomers leave the workforce each year.[4] This results in gaps in the workforce, which can be hard to replace for a variety of reasons. In addition, as the average life expectancy continues to increase, more and more elderly individuals are requiring medical care. This puts even more strain on the system as time passes.[1]
While medical professions are some of the most attractive jobs in the United States (doctors regularly receive salaries in excess of $180,000 a year), demand appears to have outpaced supply.[3] Many medical professionals also show clear preferences for areas where they are likely to be paid more, leaving some regions with more physician vacancies than others. When there aren’t enough people staffed in a clinic, employees can become overworked, compounding the issues faced by health care providers.[1]
Possible Solutions
To deal with the increased number of people seeking medical care and the shortage of physicians, some facilities are using nurses as replacements for physicians when general care is needed. This can work effectively and provide care for those who need it, but this strategy can cause problems of its own. Nurse practitioners who provide general care in the absence of doctors are then absent from their original field, causing the shortage there to worsen as well.[2]
It is clear that many more medical professionals are needed in the health care workforce, which continues to grow rapidly with each passing year.[4] As the population of retired individuals grows and more people acquire health insurance, clinics will have to figure out a way to close the gaps in employment.[4] Attracting medical professionals with financial incentives is one suggested tactic, but this is not a cure-all for the problem at hand.[2] A long-term solution would be to enlarge current programs at educational institutions across the nation and work to attract more students to the medical field.[1]
There is no immediate solution to the problem of health care staffing shortages, but current problems can be mitigated by the use of management agencies and the implementation of more flexible policies.[2] As the health care industry has added over 327,000 jobs in the past year alone, clinics and medical institutions will have no choice but to continue to grapple with the problems posed by staff vacancies.[5] The field will remain highly competitive for the foreseeable future.
References
[1] http://orbiseducation.com/the-orbis-solution/shortages-in-healthcare/
[2] https://www.amnhealthcare.com/industry-research/2147484673/1033/
[3] http://www.businessinsider.com/highest-paying-medical-jobs-in-america-2017-8
[4] http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/hr/healthcare-staffing-outlook-strong-worker-demand-eyed-2017?nopaging=1
[5] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
by Rob Berton | Jun 25, 2017 | Blog, Locum Tenens |
Proper preparation goes a long way to providing a smooth transition when bringing in a locum tenen. It requires a small amount of attention and pays large dividends for you, your provider and your locum tenens patients.
Protect Your Patients
Gear everything you do during the onboarding sequence toward protecting your patients. The last things you want to hear about are medical errors resulting from a lack of communication or preparation. A face-to-face meeting between the current physician and the locum tenens provider goes a long way in decreasing dangerous errors. In fact, it’s been shown that this process can result in a 30 percent decrease.
Do the Paperwork Ahead of Time
Don’t distract the incoming physician’s first few hours with paperwork. This should be a time for getting used to operations, meeting staff members, going through initial training, etc. If the paperwork is out of the way, everyone enjoys a smooth transition.
Overlap Physician Schedules
Though it’s not always possible, try to arrange schedules so that the locum tenens doctor has the ability to follow the current physician for at least one day. The best way to handle the inevitable questions that come up is to have both people talk face-to-face during that first day.
Conduct a Complete Orientation
Give the locum tenens physician a tour of the facilities, especially the parts of the building they’ll frequent most. Allow them to discover where supplies are kept, meet the staff members they’ll work with most and otherwise get acquainted. Do a review of coding practices, how vital equipment works, documentation procedures and your electronic health care records system.
Conduct a comprehensive introduction to your hospital. Whether you invest a full day or only a couple hours will depend on how long your incoming physician will work locum tenens at your facility.
One Main Point of Contact
Entering a new facility is stressful for even the most experienced locum tenen. Give this person one main point of contact they can go to whenever they need help. This creates a feeling of familiarity. It allows your incoming professional to feel confident that there is someone available specifically to help make his or her assignment a successful one.
Plan the Exit Interview
It’s vital that the locum tenens physician meets with your medical records team prior to leaving the building for the last time. You don’t want to get into a situation where orders are missing signatures or documentation remains incomplete.
Ref: [1] http://getbetterhealth.com/medical-errors-reduced-by-30-when-doctors-required-to-speak-to-one-another-at-shift-change/2014.11.06
by Rob Berton | Jun 17, 2017 | Blog, Locum Tenens |
The increased demand for urgent emergency room care has meant increased staff shortages at many hospitals. Many facilities are now turning to locum tenens to compensate for staffing issues.
Locum Tenens as Emergency Medical Professionals
There are more than 100 million emergency room visits in the United States per year, and the demand for such care has been steadily increasing. Because of this increased need for ER staff, more hospitals are turning to locum tenens to fill the void and retain optimal levels of patient care.
Meeting a Demand for ER Care
Even with changes to health care coverage and availability, many people are still in the habit of only seeking care when it’s absolutely necessary. Because of this ongoing trend, there’s an increased demand for qualified ER doctors to provide sufficient care and help manage the patient load. More and more medical facilities are seeking to enhance their ER staff with temporary physicians. According to various estimates, anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of hospitals now use locum tenens to fill ER positions and maintain sufficient staff levels.
Quickly Developing Skills and Competencies
For physicians willing to work in a variety of settings, locum tenen positions as emergency medical professionals present several unique opportunities. Working in an ER setting often means having to apply a variety of skills to address everything from unexplained aches and pains to serious injuries that require immediate attention.
Working in an ER as a locum tenen also means a chance to practically apply skills and demonstrate competencies that may make you a more appealing applicant for future positions, such as the ability to quickly assess symptoms to determine the best approach to care. In addition, pay rates are often higher for ER physicians.
Improving the Patient Experience
The increased reliance on locum tenens as emergency medical professionals also means you’ll be improving the overall patient experience. Well-staffed ERs are often more efficient and full-time doctors won’t be as fatigued from having to work extra hours to make up for staff shortages.
Adding locum tenens physicians to hospital staffs can reduce patient wait times and speed up the process of making a diagnosis, providing care and recommending follow-up treatment. Working in an ER is just one of several opportunities you’ll have as a locum tenen. It can be a rewarding experience because you’ll work with patients with a variety of needs, making your time a positive addition to your resume.
References:
1. Emergency Department Visits. Available at: “https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm”. Accessed April 21, 2017.
2. Emergency Medicine: The Good, the bad, and the ugly. Available at: “http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/750482”. Accessed April 21, 2017.
3. Demand Grows for Locum Tenens Emergency Medicine Physicians Nationwide. Available at: “https://www.staffcare.com/demand-grows-for-locum-tenens-emergency-medicine-physicians-nationwide/”. Accessed April 21, 2017.
by Rob Berton | Jun 10, 2017 | Blog, Locum Tenens |
There are three key points to keep in mind when negotiating a successful contract for a physician.
How to Successfully Negotiate a Physician’s Contract
The prevalence of chronic diseases and the aging of the population have resulted in a high demand for physician services. When negotiating a physician contract with any new employee, keep these three key points in mind.
Balancing Risks and Revenue
During any contract negotiation, both parties must balance the risks versus the revenue. When negotiating a contract with a particular physician, your medical practice or hospital must balance risks such as a lack of experience or the opportunity cost of hiring this physician as opposed to another candidate who might apply with the potential revenue that the physician can bring to the organization. If the doctor turns out to be a bad fit for your clinic, you would be out the costs of hiring and be short-staffed until a replacement physician can be hired. On the physician’s side of the contract, the doctor must balance the risk of tying himself or herself to an organization against the income that working for your hospital will provide.
Take Negotiations Step by Step
Negotiating the contract for a physician is not a sprint. Think of the process as a marathon. It will take a while, and you need to take it step by step in order to succeed at reaching the finish line. Consider each term of the negotiation as one step in the process. For example, first consider the start date when the physician will join your organization. Then, consider the scheduling, followed by the work duties, on-call requirements and end date of the contract.
Remember That Everything Is Negotiable
It is essential to remember that everything is negotiable when you are working on a physician contract. You could negotiate for anything within the law, from wages to work hours and uniforms. Prioritize what you want the most for your organization, and focus on those aspects. If you get two out of your three most desirable terms and the physician is able to negotiate for items of his or her interest, such as paid time off, flexible hours for work and family balance, or a longer daily lunch break, consider your negotiations a success.
References:
1. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/contract-negotiation-basics-33337.html
2. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248732
