As healthcare facilities strive to maintain uninterrupted care amidst workforce shortages, fluctuating patient volumes, and an aging population, the demand for interim healthcare staffing solutions continues to rise. Industry projections show continuous growth in locum tenens staffing, with 15% growth anticipated in 2024 and an additional 6% growth expected in 2025. These figures underscore the pivotal role that locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners play in addressing staffing gaps and ensuring seamless access to healthcare.

With a growing demand for locum tenens, it has become increasingly important to learn how to effectively integrate locum physicians and advanced practitioners into practice. We reached out to our partners at hospitals, physician groups, and other healthcare facilities to gain insight into how they successfully integrate locums into their permanent teams and facilities.

Top Three Tips for Successfully Integrating Locum Tenens into Your Healthcare Facility

1.) Establish an Efficient Onboarding Process

A streamlined onboarding process is key to ensuring that locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners have all the necessary information and resources to succeed during their assignments. From administrative procedures to clinical protocols, providing comprehensive guidance from day one is important. By developing a structured onboarding process, healthcare facilities can minimize the learning curve for locum tenens providers and optimize their success from the start.

2.) Extend Personalized Welcomes and a Comprehensive Orientation

A personalized welcome can help make locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners feel welcomed and appreciated. Consider sending individualized welcome letters containing important details and points of contact a few days before their scheduled start date. Complement this with orientation packets that include all necessary paperwork and key information for reference. By tailoring the onboarding experience to meet the needs of each provider, healthcare facilities demonstrate their commitment to supporting their locums.

3.) Assign a Mentor and Foster Continued Support

Building strong connections between locum and permanent providers helps foster a cohesive team environment. To establish these connections, organize opportunities for locum tenens to shadow permanent team members and familiarize themselves with the facility's culture and workflows. Encourage department chiefs and administrators to actively engage with locum tenens and express genuine interest in their success. Inclusive initiatives, such as inviting locums to social gatherings and departmental meetings, help reinforce their role within the team. It also promotes support beyond the initial onboarding period, ensuring locum providers have access to the tools necessary for addressing ongoing needs. By investing in continued mentorship opportunities, healthcare facilities can help locum tenens providers integrate seamlessly into the team and align their efforts with organizational goals.

Partnering with Medicus Healthcare Solutions

At Medicus, we recognize that healthcare facilities face a range of challenges that require more than a one-size-fits-all approach to locum tenens staffing. That’s why we offer two distinct interim healthcare staffing solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of our partners.

For traditional locum tenens coverage, we work closely with healthcare facilities to ensure that locum tenens providers are seamlessly integrated into the team, allowing them to hit the ground running and make a positive impact from day one. Our comprehensive support alleviates the burden on healthcare facilities, enabling them to focus on delivering exceptional patient care while we handle the logistics of sourcing, scheduling, and onboarding quality locum tenens providers. 

For more complex or large-scale needs, the Medicus Transition Program offers a project-based solution that delivers the same level of precision and partnership on a larger scale. Whether your organization is transitioning from an outsourced to an employed model, navigating provider turnover, expanding services, or opening a new facility, the Medicus Transition Program helps stabilize operations and support continuity of care.

Across both interim healthcare staffing models, our goal remains the same: to act as an extension of your team, providing reliable locum tenens staffing solutions that protect care quality and sustain clinical operations during times of clinical staffing challenges.

Interested in partnering with Medicus for interim healthcare staffing? Complete the form below to connect with a member of the Medicus team.

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