Healthcare requires providers to exhibit sustainability, in that care must be delivered consistently every time, without interruption or weakening. This intensity has been well documented, and 56% of physicians reported feeling burnout in 2021, a record high. Feelings of burnout fell to 45% in 2024,¹ but it’s no surprise that healthcare organizations are looking for new practices to help their staffing models be a little more sustainable.
A locum tenens is a clinician who temporarily fills in for another clinician when they are unavailable, and 52,000 physicians work locum tenens assignments in the US each year.² 82% of healthcare organizations use locum tenens to fill in for a provider search, but as the ongoing physician shortage is exacerbated, many organizations are turning to locums to help meet shifting patient demand. Hospitals like Baptist Health (Kentucky) and Sentara (Virginia) are turning to retired physicians to work a locums-type role to enable a more flexible staffing model.³
Today, only 27% of healthcare organizations hire locums tenens to help mitigate burnout and reduce staff workload, while 42% of organizations agree that locum tenens do reduce burnout.²
Consider if there are opportunities for your organization to use established processes in a new, creative way to help solve problems. Are there lessons available to your company from other industries? Please reach out if you’d like customized in-depth research on an industry, trend, customer or staffing insights.
Caitlin Zager, VP of Research czager@shorecp.com
- https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/physician-burnout-statistics-2024-latest-changes-and-trends
- https://chghealthcare.com/chg-state-of-locum-tenens-report
- https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/the-other-physician-pipeline-problem.html