Some pretty crazy numbers being thrown out in this thread. $400, $500, $525 an hour. I doubt you're actually generating that much, so I assume these are "loss leaders" for the CMGs.
On another note, keep in mind those high rates aren't free. There's a reason these guys have to pay this much for some shifts. There is a good thread on Sermo right now that explains why:
A few months ago, I started working a few shifts per month for a "Contract Medical Group" with a contract in AZ. One of my scheduling requirements that I stated in writing to the CMG Medical Director was that I only work 12 hour shifts (one of the facilities covered by the contract still had physicians working 24 hours), and that I have no night to day turnarounds in the 5-6 days I would be working each month.
The first month I was scheduled appropriately. The second month I had a 24-hour shift followed by a 24-hour PM to AM turnaround. The CMG Medical Director "assured" me that this was an unintentional oversite and would not happen again.
The 3rd month - this month - I was scheduled for 5 day shifts. I noticed on the schedule that no physician was scheduled to relieve me at 7pm on the last 2 days that I worked. I contacted the CMG Med Director who assured me that arrangements had been made for physician coverage and that I need not worry - in fact I was told that the physician was going to come early (around 4 pm) the first shift to acquaint himself with the EMR and the hospital routine.
4pm arrived but the scheduled night doc did not..... 7pm arrived and the night doc still had not arrived. No one had the night doc's phone number or way to contact him. Calls to the CMG Med Director (who prepares the schedule) and the facility medical director (local physician) all went to voice mail. However, Nursing supervisor told me that she had called the CMG MedDir who texted her that the night doc "was running late" but "should be at the ER by 9 pm.
At 10:15pm with night doc still absent, I texted the CMG Med Director and reminded him that I was scheduled to work the following day shift and that the night shift doc scheduled for this night was also scheduled for the following night. if I had no relief I would be looking at 36 and potentially 48 hours of continuous ER duty in a relatively busy and moderate acuity ER. I advised via text message that this was not healthy for me or safe for the patients. No response to text - calls all went to voice mail immediately.
At 2 AM I receive a response from CMG Med Director that stated "...What? Dr. ******* didn't show? I have NEVER had a doctor fail to show for his first shift! I am really upset about this and you must also be very upset......" The text response failed to articulate any plan to relieve me however. I immediately called the CMG MedDir back and....... call went immediately to voice mail. Another call 1 hour later also went to voice mail. Several of the nurses commented that this scenario had happened several times since the new CMG had taken over the hospital contract and several of the docs had been forced to work 36 hours shifts even though only scheduled for 12.
At 6 AM nursing staff began calling several local ER docs and one was reached who agreed to come in to relieve me by mid-morning. Later I talked with the Facility Med Director who had been out of town the night before. He was really pissed and also confirmed that this pattern of not filling uncovered shifts and dumping responsibility to the doc presently working had happened several times - in fact he stated that because of holes in the schedule he had been forced to work 61 straight days without a day off filling in for missing docs. After a moderate amount of vulgar commentary(appropriate from my perspective) on the CMG and it's Med Dir, the FMD confirmed that I would be relieved and not required to work 36 hours and the schedule would be covered. I suppose the scheduled night doc might have gotten sick, or involved in an MVA, or perhaps a massage parlor sting operation in Phoenix on his way to our hospital..... I should, I suppose, be generous until all the facts are known.
I ended my "prolonged" shift with a STEMI and just enough time to email my letter of resignation to the CMG MedDir - fortunately my contract specified 30-days notice only and I was not scheduled to work again until 31 days later. I thought briefly about staying on the schedule and giving the CMG and its Med Dir one more chance, but then reasoned that the best case scenario was that the CMG MedDir was incompetent while the worse case scenario was that he was a liar and a sociopath. In either case, a medical director with either attribute was not one that I wanted to work for under any circumstances.
Later after flying home I received an email from the CMG MedDir stating that "...if only you had contacted me the night before and made me aware" of the no-show doc, "I would have fixed the problem." He finshed his email with the comment..." You know, I am on call 24/7 365 and my phone is ALWAYS on..." This resolved any confusion over which attribute to attach to his behavior - clearly the worst case scenario applied.
I'm not sure how much money I want to be paid to deal with crap like that, but $525 isn't enough.
