The Demography, Career Pattern, and Motivation of Locum Tenens Physicians in the United States

Simón, A.; Alonzo, Angelo

doi:10.1097/00115514-200411000-00005

Cited by 10 publications

(42 citation statements)

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“…The phenomenon of contingent and nonstandard employment in the hospital context is relatively new but can be observed in several countries, e.g. the US and the UK (Alonzo & Simon, 2008;De Ruyter, Kirkpatrick, Hoque, Lonsdale, & Malan, 2008;Houseman, Kalleberg , & Erickcek, 2003;Kirkpatrick & Hoque, 2006;Simon & Alonzo, 2004). Houseman et al (2003) analyzed agency work of nurses and showed that, in contrast to hospitals, agencies were able to recruit nurses and other hospital professionals by paying them more than hospitals did.…”

Section: Physicians' Employment In German Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Want to Break Free”: German Locum Physicians Between Managerialism and Professionalism

Wilkesmann

Ruiner

Apitzsch

et al. 2019

P&P

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In the last decades, managerial instruments have gained importance to medical decisions and the logic of managerialism is juxtaposed with the logic of medical professionalism. Recent changes in the hospital employment structure raise the question of contradictory logics not only at the organizational but also at the individual level. Therefore, we investigate the rise of locum doctors which is a relatively new phenomenon in Germany. Our qualitative interview study with 21 locum tenens, permanently employed physicians, and chief physicians shows that locum physicians re-contextualize professional standards in hospitals. According to their self-perception, patient care stays at the center of their medical practice regardless of economic, bureaucratic, and hierarchical requirements as well as hospital-specific routines. We argue that the interrelationship between professionalism and managerialism exists not only within organizations but also on an individual level of locum doctors.

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Section: Physicians' Employment In German Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Want to Break Free”: German Locum Physicians Between Managerialism and Professionalism

Wilkesmann

Ruiner

Apitzsch

et al. 2019

P&P

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“…In the United States, the term locum tenens is often used to refer to all temporary physicians (eg, physicians hired temporarily when clinical volumes increase). 3,22 The definition of a locum tenens by CMS is consistent with the term's formal definition. Accordingly, CMS restricts billing under the locum Q6 modifier to care episodes that meet this definition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Association Between Treatment by Locum Tenens Internal Medicine Physicians and 30-Day Mortality Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries

Blumenthal

Olenski

Tsugawa

et al. 2017

JAMA

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“…This creates a potential for future research direction. Prior research suggests that locum physicians consistently consider factors such as pay rate, licensing, and the ability to travel when choosing among assignments [2, 5]. Stress from uncertainty surrounding the requirements of the assignment appears to be a significant drawback for locum tenens physicians [5].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some other commonly cited reasons for pursuing a career in locum tenens include schedule flexibility, high pay rate, lack of involvement in organizational politics, and opportunities for travel [5]. Earning a secondary income and the potential to increase retirement resources were additional reasons that motivated physicians to pursue locum tenens assignments [2]. Some commonly cited drawbacks to locum tenens include the likelihood of practicing away from home, stress from the uncertainty of the assignments, lack of benefits, and burden of credentialing process [5, 17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content analysis of locum tenens recruitment emails for anesthesiologists

DiMeglio

Furey

Laudański

2018

BMC Health Serv Res

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BackgroundLocum tenens continues to be an increasingly utilized employment option among healthcare organizations to cope with short-term provider vacancies. There exist no studies that explore the job characteristics of such assignments. The purpose of this study was to characterize the clinical responsibilities and compensation of anesthesiology locum tenens positions through content analysis of recruitment emails. Through this data, anesthesiologists interested in locum tenens will be better equipped to evaluate the merit of potential opportunities.MethodsThe study was conducted using a compiled database of unsolicited emails received by one of the authors. A total of 241 emails containing 794 assignments were included during the period of 1/09/17 to 1/26/18 (383 days in total). The information was extracted using a standardized template and was entered into a database. Additional validation of the content was done using a data mining tool.ResultsMost of the job opportunities originated from five staffing agencies. A total of 37, 25, and 17% of the assignments were allocated to hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and trauma centers respectively. The mean caseload for the assignments was between 8.5 and 11.1 cases per day. The mean daily work shift was 9.1 hours, and the average duration of the assignment was one week. The most frequently requested cases included general (74%), orthopedics (54%), and OB/GYN (51%). However, information regarding training qualifications and licensing was not routinely provided. Only 13.1% of assignments specified a system of medical documentation with paper charting being the most common. The mean hourly rate for locum anesthesiologists in our sample was $186.19, significantly higher than the national average of $127.88. Around 28% of staffing agencies covered the licensing expenses of specialists while 23% covered the expense of travels and 20% covered accommodation costs.ConclusionsDescriptions for locum tenens positions follow common anesthesiology practices and feature superior compensation to national estimates. However, vital information is often omitted from recruitment emails, and practice settings are highly variable. Anesthesiologists are urged to fully investigate opportunities before accepting based on recruitment emails. Managers should require more details to be provided in job offers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3758-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The Demography, Career Pattern, and Motivation of Locum Tenens Physicians in the United States

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

“I Want to Break Free”: German Locum Physicians Between Managerialism and Professionalism

“I Want to Break Free”: German Locum Physicians Between Managerialism and Professionalism

Association Between Treatment by Locum Tenens Internal Medicine Physicians and 30-Day Mortality Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries

Content analysis of locum tenens recruitment emails for anesthesiologists

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