Maximize Your ROI with Locum Tenens and Advance Planning

While at first glance the cost of using locum tenens physicians may seem high, when compared with leaving key revenue-producing clinical positions vacant, it is well worth considering. Andrea Boehme-Hernandez, CEO of Medstaff National Medical Staffing, explains how planning ahead for physician staffing needs can maximize your return on investment.

When to utilize a locum tenens physician
When healthcare executives think of locum tenens, what usually comes to mind is the need to get a doctor in place on an urgent or last minute basis. Certainly, when unforeseen staffing problems arise, locum tenens physicians provide an excellent solution. The best way to maximize your return on investment when it comes to using temporary physicians, however, is to plan ahead whenever possible.

By working closely with a locum tenens company, you develop a relationship that allows the agency recruiters to understand and respond to your physician staffing needs, both current and future. We recommend a quarterly review with all of our clients to help them project and plan to cover vacancies due to vacations or sabbaticals, maternity leaves, physicians retiring or leaving the community, seasonal changes in patient volume, or when a new program or service is being developed. By planning ahead for physician staffing needs, you will have more candidates from which to choose and more time to get credentialing and billing-related paperwork in order so that cash flow is not interrupted.

Locum tenens physicians are highly qualified, experienced, and fully credentialed medical doctors who enjoy working as independent contractors for many reasons including the flexibility it offers and the ability to focus on quality patient care rather than on the business side of medicine. We screen our physicians thoroughly to ensure they have not only the clinical capability, but also the right personality to seamlessly fit into your unique setting or group.

What is the cost
That may be the question which comes to mind, but in truth the consideration should be on the cost of leaving the position open or unfilled. Often, the use of a locum tenens physician is equal to or less than of a permanent staff physician whose package includes base pay, benefits, incentives, vacation, CME allowance, liability insurance and taxes. Once totaled, the full cost of a family practitioner, for example, could be $220,000 or more. On average, that same position filled by a locum tenens would cost $197,000 annually. That is about $780 per day with the physician’s liability insurance included.

Once you factor in the revenue produced by the physician in professional fees (in this case approx. $1600 per day) and additional revenue to the hospital via referrals, admissions, and other services such as labs or radiology, you are actually looking at a net gain. The total revenue generated by a family physician can be up to $4000 per day. This calculation can be done for any specialty. Imagine the cost of an empty operating room or having to transfer patients from your emergency department due to lack of specialty coverage.

How locum tenens physicians improve permanent recruitment
Another ROI issue is related to physician recruiting, which can take several months to a year. If you are in the process of replacing a physician, using a locum tenens physician makes good business sense. Planning ahead to have a locum tenens physician in place while you are recruiting works to your advantage by preventing your existing physicians from becoming overworked, overwhelmed and burned out while waiting for their new associate to arrive. You also give yourself time to find the best candidate for your organization.

Improve your bottom line with locum tenens physicians and increase your ROI with advanced planning and developing a relationship with an experienced, professional agency. For the very best results, we encourage our clients to include physician staffing needs in their strategic plans and annual budgets.

Valuable reasons to use locum tenens physicians
• Produce revenue and profits
• Improve continuity of patient care
• Retain patient flow and volumes
• Limit overwhelming present medical staff
• Maintain physician and nurse retention
• Lower liability risk
• Create higher patient satisfaction

Andrea Boehme-Hernandez is CEO of Medstaff National Medical Staffing. Boehme-Hernandez has over 12 years of experience in healthcare staffing and 20 years in employment services management. Since 1985, Medstaff has been a national leader providing locum tenens and permanent placement of physicians in all specialties. The company also provides other physician care solutions and medical management programs including long-term guaranteed coverage in called MedstaffONE. For more information, please visit www.MedstaffLT.com.