Editor’s Note: Updated June 2019
Over the past year, our team has seen explosive growth in the locum tenens Hospitalist staffing market. We currently have four teams of Hospitalist physician recruiters and account managers serving clients nationwide from offices in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Nevada to support this growth.
A couple of key stats:
- The number of locum tenens staffing requests handled by our team increased by 43% in 2011 (v. 2010).
- The average length of each assignment handled by our team increased by 152% in 2011 (v. 2010). This is a strong indicator that hospitals are increasingly relying on locums for long term, chronic staffing challenges.
The growth in the Hospitalist locum tenens market will continue:
Our Hospitalist locum tenens team is convinced that this trend is set to continue for the foreseeable future, due to a wide variety of factors, including:
Increased implementation of Hospitalist programs nationwide:
- The existence of a Hospitalist program at a facility is a key selling point and can lead to increased admissions and thereby increased revenue opportunities.
- Hospitalist programs allow facilities to implement efficient processes and more effective cost control strategies when compared to the traditional model.
- Hospitalist programs can lead to higher quality and more efficient patient care when compared to the traditional model.
There is nationwide shortage of physicians (including Hospitalists). This shortage is expected to continue through the next decade, and that is a conservative estimate. This shortage is having an especially significant effect on Primary Care physicians, making the existence of a robust Hospitalist program a must-have offering for hospitals nationwide.
The demand for Hospitalists will continue to grow due to many other factors as well, including health care legislation and an aging population. Due to physician ramp up time and structural issues in our medical education system, it could take 10+ years for the supply of physicians to compensate for increased demand.
The shift-based nature of Hospitalist work makes locum tenens staffing an ideal solution for short staffed hospitals and physicians interested in obtaining additional work.
How is Barton Associates supporting the growth of this market?
Barton Associates is committed to providing robust support for the growing Hospitalist locum tenens market.
- In 2011, we developed Hospitalist teams in both Connecticut and Florida (in addition to our Massachusetts team) to manage increased demand. We are currently planning to add an additional Hospitalist team on the West Coast in 2013.
- In 2011, the size of our Hospitalist team increased to meet demand. We plan to further increase the size of this team by an additional 50% in 2012.
- Our Hospitalist teams focus exclusively on Hospitalist locum tenens assignments – they are experts in the market and are rigorously trained in the intricacies of the field.
- We have ramped up our new license assistance program in 2011 whereby we pay new state license fees and handle licensing logistics for physicians. This has drastically improved our ability to support clients in need of coverage and opened the door to new opportunities for our locums.
