Locum tenens helps healthcare organizations maintain coverage and gives clinicians more flexibility, autonomy, and career mobility. Below are answers to common questions from both healthcare facilities and healthcare providers about working with Barton Associates.
Locum tenens staffing is the practice of hiring temporary healthcare providers to fill short-term or long-term coverage gaps. Facilities use locum tenens physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates, CRNAs, dentists, and other clinicians to maintain patient access during staffing shortages, seasonal spikes, leaves of absence, or recruitment transitions.
Staffing timelines depend on specialty, state licensing requirements, credentialing complexity, and facility urgency. In many cases, Barton can provide initial clinician submissions within days due to its national provider network and AI-supported matching capabilities.
For urgent coverage needs, hospitals and healthcare organizations often use locum tenens to reduce operational disruption, protect revenue continuity, and maintain patient care access.
Barton Associates staffs physicians, advanced practice providers, dentists, and CRNAs across dozens of specialties and subspecialties, including:
Barton supports facilities and clinicians through credentialing, privileging coordination, and state licensing logistics. Credentialing delays are one of the biggest causes of healthcare staffing disruption, which is why Barton provides dedicated operational support throughout the assignment lifecycle.
Barton also leverages digital credentialing workflows and provider data verification tools to help accelerate onboarding and reduce administrative friction.
Yes. Barton and Wellhart support hospitals and health systems operating within MSP and VMS staffing environments.
This includes:
Healthcare organizations use locum tenens staffing to:
For many hospitals, locum tenens has evolved from emergency coverage into a long-term workforce strategy.
Barton uses a combination of recruiter expertise, provider relationship history, specialty alignment, licensing data, and AI-assisted matching to identify clinicians who fit the clinical scope, care setting, scheduling needs, and operational environment of a facility.
In more than 80% of U.S. counties, access to essential healthcare services is limited. Barton supports rural hospitals, community health centers, critical access facilities, correctional health systems, and underserved markets nationwide to support continuity of care.
Locum tenens staffing is often critical in regions experiencing provider shortages or limited permanent recruitment pipelines.
Locum tenens is temporary healthcare work where clinicians provide coverage at hospitals, clinics, private practices, health systems, and other care settings on a short-term or long-term basis.
Assignments can range from a few shifts to several months depending on the facility need and clinician preference.
Healthcare providers pursue locum tenens for different reasons, including:
Many physicians, NPs, PAs, CRNAs, and dentists also use locums to avoid burnout and regain more control over how they practice medicine.
Locum tenens pay varies by specialty, experience level, geographic demand, shift type, and assignment urgency.
In high-demand specialties like anesthesiology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, CRNA staffing, and hospital medicine, locum rates can materially exceed equivalent employed hourly compensation.
Most locum assignments also include:
Yes. In most cases, Barton coordinates and pays for travel, lodging, and malpractice coverage associated with an assignment. The level of support depends on the assignment structure and client agreement.
Yes. Barton has dedicated licensing and credentialing teams that help clinicians navigate state licensing requirements, application timelines, documentation collection, and onboarding logistics.
Multi-state licensure can significantly expand locum opportunities and earning potential
No. Locum tenens is used by clinicians across multiple career stages.
Early-career clinicians often use locums to explore practice settings and geographic regions before committing to a permanent role. Mid-career providers may use locums for flexibility or supplemental income, while late-career clinicians often pursue locums to reduce administrative overhead while continuing clinical practice.
Barton Associates provides malpractice insurance coverage for eligible locum tenens assignments, helping physicians, CRNAs, dentists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants focus on patient care instead of administrative risk.
Our team coordinates coverage details as part of the assignment process, and if a claim ever arises while you’re on assignment through Barton, you’ll have support from both Barton and our malpractice insurance partners throughout the process. The goal is to make locum tenens work feel as seamless, supported, and low-friction as possible.
Assignments can range from:
Many clinicians choose assignments based on lifestyle preferences, family needs, travel interests, or income goals.
Yes. Some clinicians use locum assignments as a way to evaluate facilities, leadership teams, patient populations, and geographic areas before accepting a permanent role.
Facilities may also use locums as part of a long-term recruitment strategy.
The best states for nurse practitioners often combine strong compensation, high demand, full practice authority, and lower cost of living. States like California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Colorado frequently rank highly for NP opportunity, while rural and underserved regions may offer higher pay, faster hiring, and greater schedule flexibility.
Read the NP salary guide here.
Most nurse practitioners earn between $130,000 and $145,000 annually, with specialty certifications, leadership roles, and full-practice-authority states pushing compensation higher.
That range is driven primarily by practice setting, specialty focus, and employment structure and state scope laws.
Read the NP salary guide here.
Most physician associates (PAs) earn between $130,000 and $135,000 annually, according to recent industry salary reports and compensation surveys. Higher-paying specialties like cardiovascular surgery, dermatology, emergency medicine, and critical care can push compensation well beyond $150,000 annually, with some experienced PAs earning more than $180,000.
Locum tenens physician associates may also earn higher hourly rates, particularly in high-demand specialties and underserved regions.
Read PA salary guides across major specialities here.
Yes. Locum tenens utilization has expanded significantly as healthcare organizations face physician shortages, burnout, retirement waves, and increasing patient demand.
Hospital systems are increasingly integrating locum staffing into broader workforce planning strategies rather than treating it as emergency-only coverage.
“Locum tenens” is a Latin phrase meaning “to hold the place of.”
In healthcare, it refers to clinicians temporarily filling coverage gaps for another provider or organization.
For many clinicians, locum tenens offers:
The right fit depends on personal goals, specialty demand, and lifestyle priorities.
The National Provider Identifier Registry is a free public search directory managed by the US federal government. All active NPI records can be accessed through the registry by any individual. Information including the provider’s role, NPI number, and primary practice address will be displayed in the NPI.
An NPI number is a mandatory component of HIPAA-standard administrative and finance transactions. The NPI was created as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 2004 to help send health information safely and effectively.
Here are some common NPI use cases:
