Nearly two years ago, Interim Physicians placed a locum tenens physician in an urgent care facility in Georgia. The physician was such a perfect fit that he was offered a permanent position after just a week.
While it may not have been financially advantageous for Interim to lose the locum tenens placement so quickly, making the perfect match was more important, so we happily facilitated the locum-to-perm transition for our client. Of course, we also stayed in touch with the facility’s medical director to help with future locum placements.
Relationships First
Our solutions-oriented staffing approach was soon validated. Last year, the Georgia-based facility was acquired by a national urgent care system that partners with other large health systems and manages their urgent care business line. The acquisition meant they now had a far greater need for locum tenens coverage.
The medical director contacted us around Thanksgiving with an immediate need. The holiday season can be a stressful time for locum tenens coverage due to increased patient volumes, staff vacations, administrative hurdles, budgetary constraints, and more. The health system had recently opened three new urgent care facilities in the community, and it was taking their internal staff three to six months to complete the credentialing process.
This situation left the health system needing daily coverage across multiple locations. Understanding the situation’s urgency, Interim rose to the occasion and found a locum tenens physician within 48 hours. We credentialed him in just a week because he had previously been credentialed for urgent care.
As the health system grows and integrates an urgent care center, its need for immediate providers becomes critical, especially during the initial recruitment phase for permanent staff. That’s where our expertise has proved invaluable. That’s why the national urgent care system, now with facilities in eight locations across four states, sought our services for coverage from November 2023 through March 2024, as they planned for long-term staffing needs. In a matter of days, we successfully placed seven providers at three urgent care facilities.
The Go-To Agency
Next, we plan to build a roster of candidates in each location so that when they need a provider, we can take action quickly. It’s not an exclusive partnership, but thanks largely to our focus on leveraging a local network, we’re quickly becoming this healthcare system’s go-to locum tenens firm.
Some of our providers, working three shifts a week, are locally based, enabling them to cover many short-term shifts. Our diverse provider schedules—including some working seven days on, others monthly, and a few consistently three days a week until the end of the month—help optimize costs for the urgent care centers.
Our strategic use of a local network saves on airfare and expenses, a benefit not every agency offers. We’re committed to developing a sustainable provider network where a database of local providers proves to be a significant advantage.
“Our communication is solid. The medical directors know they can text me, call me, or email me any time of the day. If I get an email at midnight and I’m awake, I’ll respond. I’ve established that whenever they need me, I’m there,” says Jaron Leake, Senior Account Executive at Interim.
Dependability & Trust
Interim stands out because we listen to our clients’ needs—whether for a locum-to-perm placement or local candidates who can report on short notice. We drill down to understand each facility’s process to avoid potential credentialing pitfalls. Our team gathers all this knowledge before presenting candidates, saving the client time and moving placements along quickly.
“The best part of working with this client is that we’ve established trust and dependability,” Leake says. “They needed an agency to help them in a crunch, but watching that grow has been rewarding. We consistently followed through then, and by continuing that follow-through, we’ve solidified this relationship.”
We have already set plans in motion for the future. Interim will be there every step of the way as the urgent care facility opens more locations. It’s our job now to build a larger candidate pool so we’ll be able to step in as needed.
“It’s a really exciting place to be,” Leake said. “We have doctors there, and we want this to be a long-lasting relationship. I’m looking forward to watching it grow.”
