Hospital use of locum tenens physicians rose in 2013

About 90% of hospitals and other healthcare facilities reported using locum tenens physicians at some point in 2013, up from 74% in 2012, according to a survey conducted by Staff Care, a national temporary healthcare staffing firm. Filling in for a physician who left was the most cited reason for use of locum tenens physicians, listed by 55% of respondents. Other top reasons organizations use locum tenens physicians were:

• Vacation/continuing medical education: 46%
• Fill in during peak patient usage times: 11%
• Maintain flexibility to upsize or downsize staff as needed: 10%

Respondents could include more than one answer.

Organizations also used locum tenens for longer periods of time in 2013 than in 2012: 31% of respondents reported using one to 10 days of locum tenens coverage in a typical month last year. Just 27% did so in 2012.

Source: Becker’s Hospital Review