It’s no easy feat to staff hundreds of multi-specialty medical programs across the United States during a physician shortage. Thankfully, locum tenens providers are a great solution for filling schedule gaps. And a reputable staffing agency can identify quality physicians to alleviate your scheduling burden.
In 2013, a practice management group contacted Interim Physicians. Over the years, we’ve provided coast-to-coast multi-specialty coverage and nurtured strong relationships with their leaders.
A Key Staffing Partner
Although we’ve worked with several of the group’s medical directors as their preferred vendor, one of the directors leaned heavily on our services. Five years and 10 startup programs later, he declared Interim his exclusive staffing partner.
Recently, the group absorbed a new hospitalist department contract. And shortly after, this medical director discovered he was short 5-6 FTEs. So, he immediately gave us a call.
Interim Physicians built a consultative strategy and full-service solution, including:
- Credentialing 16 locum tenens providers in less than 45 days to ensure extra coverage for vacations and illnesses.
- Managing their entire schedule for six months.
- Filling 100% of their open shifts for the first three months and providing as-needed, ongoing coverage as they hire FTEs.
- Helping them transition three of our locum tenens providers to permanent placements.
Trusted with Schedule Autonomy
During this hospitalist contract, the medical director was confident we’d select the right providers and rotation. We communicated and collaborated with full transparency right away, he trusted our game plan to fill the schedule and gave us free rein.
With direct access to their medical staff office, we connected our credentialing department to streamline the timelines, dates, and guidelines of each shift. Our team acted as a liaison between providers and the office, expediting paperwork for efficient onboarding.
We credentialed extra locums providers to cover any gaps in scheduling as the medical director gradually added FTEs. This allowed him to focus on hiring the right part-time, per-diem, and permanent staff without managing shifts. In fact, three of our locums providers were such a good fit for the program that they decided to stay permanently.
“I choose to use Interim Physicians for all my startups because the caliber of their physicians makes every transition run that much smoother. Every single locums that Interim sent me far exceeded my expectations. They’re the best group of physicians I’ve ever had out of all the starting contracts I’ve done. If I could keep them all, I would!”
Temporary Solution, Permanent Relationships
Our physician track record is so strong that the medical director no longer interviews our candidates. If Interim presents them, he automatically trusts that we meet his standards.
As we’re pulled in to help with more programs in repeat states, we often use a lot of the same locums providers. After working together in previous startup programs, physicians and directors have created a rare level of trust. This level of comfort enhances each transition, highlighting our careful physician-facility matching.
Even when the assignment ends, our physicians know there’s a high likelihood they’ll work together with their colleagues or the director again. That knowledge fosters deeper relationships between our providers and directors and dovetails nicely with the long-term partnership we’ve cultivated with this practice management group.
“The best part of working with this client is our open line of communication and the level of trust we’ve built. This group is very transparent, and they continue to give us the opportunity to handle their entire schedule. It’s not normal in locums to have that level of trust, so I’m proud we continue to deliver and live up to their high standards of us. We’ve built a relationship where they understand that we’re the locum experts, so they let us run with locum staffing and that’s really rewarding to me.”
As the need for locums phases out, we’ll slowly withdraw our providers until the facility is covered with their own staff. We’re excited to keep assisting them in developing robust programs nationwide.
