Locums - Any recent experiences? Could use some info

[Jay K]

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Can anyone give me the scoop on locums gigs or good locums companies to work with?

Pros/Cons?

I'm just wondering if anyone's made a career of it.

Thinking of making a change and wonder if it'll fit me.

Thanks.

 

[aneftp]

Summer is always a good time for locums. After Labor Day the locums market drys fast.

All about supply and demand. More desirable areas the less demand.

Market overall is tight. I wouldn't suggest doing locums as a career with this current market especially if u have a family.

If u are single than locums may make sense if u like the flexibility.

I suggest u randomly call groups directly where u want to try to work locums. They may give u better rates than locums companies.

 

[ssmallz]

Been doing the locums thing for about a year and half know while awaiting the start of a fellowship. Overall, I really like it and feel it's a great way to make connections and get in roads into a tight market. It's not for everyone and it takes a certain set of skills to be successful

Pluses - You're truely in control of your life. Work when you want, do what you want, don't do what you don't want. This is the biggest and most obvious plus to working as a locums and the major selling point. It's defiantly a nice feeling to tell your boss "Sorry I'm unavailable this month because I'm on vacation". You are not held hostage to one group or one hospital and you get to be above the politics. If things go south, you can leave at a moments notice and while others are scrambling to find a job you've got stuff already lined up.

Minuses - You do the stuff no one else wants to do and work when no one else wants to. As a locums, your bread and butter is providing coverage during vacations, weekends, and holidays. You don't have steady work so you need to be proactive about finding work

If this is the route you would like to choose, I would recommend being an independent contractor and not working with an agency unless you can't find work any other way. Scout out the area and make contact with as many local groups and ASCs as possible. Try to get in good w/at least 1 group that can provide you with somewhat steady work. Your goal as a locums is to make vacation coverage as seamless as possible, the more the surgeons trust you and nursing staff likes you the more valuable you are. You need to be very proactive about finding work, ask people about future vacations, request to take some weekend calls, contact other groups in the area, just make sure to book yourself out 2-3 months at a time to make sure you have a steady supply of work. Once you have 2-3 groups that trust you, you should have plenty of work to where you can start to be more selective about when and what you do. If you've got good skills and pleasent personality there will always be work for a good locums guy/gal

 

[Jay K]

Thanks for the replies so far.

If you're 1099-ing it, how are you handling your malpractice insurance?

The groups cut you a check according to an hourly rate?

It's appealing for all the reasons you've listed, but it looks like you're doing a lot of footwork to ensure work.

I'm assuming the CA license ensures a lot of work. I hear CA, TX and NY are the licenses to get if you're going to locums.

 

[pgg]

Thanks for the replies so far.

If you're 1099-ing it, how are you handling your malpractice insurance?

The groups cut you a check according to an hourly rate?

It's appealing for all the reasons you've listed, but it looks like you're doing a lot of footwork to ensure work.

I'm assuming the CA license ensures a lot of work. I hear CA, TX and NY are the licenses to get if you're going to locums.

It depends. When I'm not camping in the 3rd world, I do some moonlighting in CA as a locums. No agency, just cold-called some hospitals in the area I was interested in and contracted directly with the groups. They pay by 1099. Some of it is hourly. Some is flat fee for pager call coverage. Some of the other locums people do their own billing - I wasn't interested in that. All depends on what the group offers and what you negotiate.

Some contracts include malpractice coverage. It seems that's more common with short term vacation coverage, since the locums guy can be covered by the vacationer's policy. For longer term "locums" people, I don't think this works out as easily. Except for the past few months, I've been working at the same places as a locums more or less continuously for several years now, so I have my own part-time claims-made policy.

 

[ssmallz]

Most groups in my area are 1099 so we all carry our own malpractice. Usually your contract will state how you get paid and most groups are just strait billing w/a blended unit. This situation is nice for a locums b/c it makes it easy to fill in b/c you just collect your units and go home.

It's defiantly a bit more legwork than being a part of a group but as a locums guy you need to realize that YOU are the business. You're the talent, the scheduler, the marketing guy, the PR firm. You are everything and the pluses and minues that it comes with. This stuff can be a bit of work at the beginning but once you get in w/a few groups and they realize your good, there's plenty of work to be found and relatively few people you need to talk to in order to find it