Last year was a banner year for the locum tenens industry, with 90% of healthcare organizations using locum tenens providers to supplement their existing staff, according to the 2014 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends. The 2013 figure represents an increase of more than 16% over 2012 and is the greatest percentage recorded in the survey’s history. It was particularly a big year for locum tenens advanced practice nurses and physician assistants. The percentage of organizations that used locum tenens nurse practitioners nearly tripled between 2012 (4.8%) and 2013 (12.35%). There was similar growth in the percentage of organizations that used locum tenens certified registered nurse anesthetists (2.8% to 6.47%). Use of physician assistants nearly doubled in the same time period jumping from 2.8% to 6.47%. On the physician side, the specialties that saw the greatest increase in usage between 2012 and 2013 were emergency medicine (9.7% to 14.71%) and hospitalist (18.6% to 24.12%). Primary care physicians remained the most commonly used locum tenens physicians with 28.24% of organizations using them in 2013. However, it’s a decrease from 2012 when 35.2% of organizations used locum tenens primary care physicians. The increase in overall locum tenens usage is directly related to the physician shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020—a number that will grow to more than 130,000 by 2025. As demand for the limited supply of physicians increases, hospitals, medical practices, and other healthcare organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain quality physicians. This is evinced in the survey results, where the majority of organizations (55%) said they use locum tenens professionals to fill in for staff that have left and to fill in until a permanent doctor is found. The shortage also explains the uptick in locum tenens nurse practitioner and physician assistant usage, as many organizations turn to these non-physician providers to meet patient demand. Whatever the reason, it is encouraging to see the vast majority of healthcare organizations are using locum tenens providers to solve their staffing challenges. It is even more encouraging to see that 79.5% of organizations say locum tenens providers are worth the cost.
About Barton Team
We're Barton Associates, the Locum Tenens Experts. We work with thousands of hospitals, medical practices, and organizations across the United States and its territories that need talented providers for short- and long-term engagements. Inspired by the pioneering, humanitarian work of Clara Barton, the Barton Team recruits physicians, PAs, NPs, dentists and CRNAs in a wide variety of specialties, so that we can quickly place them in locum tenens assignments nationwide.
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