Locums Tenens doctors

[Agast]

I'm not sure how many here have experience relevant to my situation but any advice would be appreciated!

I'm a solo pain doctor within an orthopedic surgery group and at some point I will be going on maternity leave. I'm not sure what to do about coverage when I'm gone.

1) I could redirect my patients to colleagues I trust, and risk that the patients don't come back to me

2) I could hire a locums tenens pain doctor, which may be difficult to find a responsible physician in a specific time frame

3) I could hire a PA/NP who could at least do medication refills and not see new patients or do injections, but most of my referrals really need procedures done

4) I could try bringing a new graduate pain doctor and expand my clinic. I have enough referrals that this could be a good option in the future but would have to have it OK'd by the orthopedic surgeons.

The other problem is while I'm gone, my staff will still need to be paid and I am responsible for the overhead of my clinic. So it would be nice to have someone generating an income in my account while I'm not around.

The last ditch option which isn't great is that my fiancé and I would both work part time in our respective jobs for the first few months so one parent is always at home with the baby.

Or I could quit my job, run away and join the circus! I've gotten quite good at guessing people's age and weight.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted185747]

Where are you? Can you pay $3000/day for a locum?
I'm a full time pain physician and my wife is a full time dentist and owns her own practice. She took 2 weeks off after each birth because she couldn't afford to not work. She did this for each of our 4 kids. Brutal.

 

[lobelsteve]

I'm not sure how many here have experience relevant to my situation but any advice would be appreciated!

I'm a solo pain doctor within an orthopedic surgery group and at some point I will be going on maternity leave. I'm not sure what to do about coverage when I'm gone.

1) I could redirect my patients to colleagues I trust, and risk that the patients don't come back to me

2) I could hire a locums tenens pain doctor, which may be difficult to find a responsible physician in a specific time frame

3) I could hire a PA/NP who could at least do medication refills and not see new patients or do injections, but most of my referrals really need procedures done

4) I could try bringing a new graduate pain doctor and expand my clinic. I have enough referrals that this could be a good option in the future but would have to have it OK'd by the orthopedic surgeons.

The other problem is while I'm gone, my staff will still need to be paid and I am responsible for the overhead of my clinic. So it would be nice to have someone generating an income in my account while I'm not around.

The last ditch option which isn't great is that my fiancé and I would both work part time in our respective jobs for the first few months so one parent is always at home with the baby.

Or I could quit my job, run away and join the circus! I've gotten quite good at guessing people's age and weight.

Paging Dr. Mukai. Ai Mukai.

 

[NJPAIN]

Where are you? Can you pay $3000/day for a locum?
I'm a full time pain physician and my wife is a full time dentist and owns her own practice. She took 2 weeks off after each birth because she couldn't afford to not work. She did this for each of our 4 kids. Brutal.

Sign me up for $3000/day


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Agast]

Where are you? Can you pay $3000/day for a locum?

Wow is $3000 the going rate for locum tenens?? I just can't imagine what quality of pain doctor or circumstance would lead to someone doing locum instead of full time work.

 

[lonelobo]

$3000 is what you pay agency, $2000 goes to Doc
Locums would give you the freedom to take time off, I know some guys that take off half the year and make around 250K...not a bad gig

 

[BobBarker]

can you find a old mentor, faculty member, etc that might want to work for a few months then go back to retirement? I wouldn’t trust he practice to random locums doc.

 

[nvrsumr]

U are an employed physician who is responsible to pay for idle staff and unused office space when on matenity leave?

Sounds like the worst of all worlds.

 

[Ducttape]

U are an employed physician who is responsible to pay for idle staff and unused office space when on matenity leave?

Sounds like the worst of all worlds.

Why all the negativity? Did u not get Scrooged yet this year?

 

[hyperalgesia]

It would be cool to have an online roster for locums. An airbnb of locums...

 

[nvrsumr]

Just sounds a little unfair to pay for unused overhead individually when on maternity leave. The ortho group sounds like Scrooge to me

 

[BobBarker]

Ortho group treating female employed non orthopedic physician unfairly. So surprising.

 

[Agast]

Ortho group treating female employed non orthopedic physician unfairly. So surprising.

I got the exact same partnership contract they give the other orthopedic surgeons. It’s an eat what you kill model with unlimited bonus earning potential if you’re aggressive. Everyone pays their own overhead and I have free reign in how I set up my clinic. They’ve never told me how many patients to see or what to do with them. But pain management will never bring in the same profits as ortho from clinic and procedures alone. Partnership buy-in is kind of expensive but they did offer it to me and then increased my bonus % when I told them I couldn’t afford it. I consider myself lucky in many ways.

 

[BobBarker]

If you are not a partner, you shouldn’t be responsible for overhead. I disagree that pain can not equal the income of ortho. If you are doing the procedures at their hospital they are making over a million plus off you there alone. If they have their own MRI, PT, etc. the numbers are humongous.

 

[Agast]

If you are not a partner, you shouldn’t be responsible for overhead.

Everyone covers their own overhead, including the surgeons who are not partner yet. I keep 90% of the profits after the bills are paid and own shares in our ASC. The only other ancillary our group owns directly is utox which is credited directly to my account. I don’t expect them to make exceptions for me.

 

[BobBarker]

Sounds good. The ortho group here is a behemoth that has everything, except things that don’t make money.

 

[hyperalgesia]

I'm not sure how many here have experience relevant to my situation but any advice would be appreciated!

I'm a solo pain doctor within an orthopedic surgery group and at some point I will be going on maternity leave. I'm not sure what to do about coverage when I'm gone.

1) I could redirect my patients to colleagues I trust, and risk that the patients don't come back to me

2) I could hire a locums tenens pain doctor, which may be difficult to find a responsible physician in a specific time frame

3) I could hire a PA/NP who could at least do medication refills and not see new patients or do injections, but most of my referrals really need procedures done

4) I could try bringing a new graduate pain doctor and expand my clinic. I have enough referrals that this could be a good option in the future but would have to have it OK'd by the orthopedic surgeons.

The other problem is while I'm gone, my staff will still need to be paid and I am responsible for the overhead of my clinic. So it would be nice to have someone generating an income in my account while I'm not around.

The last ditch option which isn't great is that my fiancé and I would both work part time in our respective jobs for the first few months so one parent is always at home with the baby.

Or I could quit my job, run away and join the circus! I've gotten quite good at guessing people's age and weight.

I've gone on a few long vacations from my solo practice and referred pts to a friend in town. My philosophy is that if they feel more comfortable with him, they are perfectly free to switch docs. If this actually started happening at scale I would consider calling a few pts and asking why.

If a colleague in the field is trying to snag pts in this way, it's a major dick move and not good for business long term. OTOH, if the pt really wants to switch, they should. Maybe just a more convenient office.

 

[nvrsumr]

You are friends with another pain doc?! Haha

 

[Ducttape]

i am friends and colleagues with all the pain docs in town, with the exception of the ones in the Ivory tower (who keep to themselves). i will never steal a patient from someone else.

another reason i wouldnt make it in PP i guess.

 

[hyperalgesia]

You are friends with another pain doc?! Haha

They have low standards...

 

[pastafan]

Congeniality between specialists is inversely proportionate to the distance between their practices.

 

[nvrsumr]

I am congenial with the all the pain docs in town. Eatablished docs mainly high end well trained folks so not a lot of advise asked or received. Also saturated market and newbies come and go so often not worth wasting time.

Solo doc for years now and have direct marketing biz model so don’t really hang out with docs in general. Appreciate sdn for clinical and work advise.

Merry Christmas

 

[promethius]

I am considering looking into locum tenens positions to supplement my income while I grow my practice. What are the going take-home rates nowadays for an interventional pain management specialist who does locum tenens work and what should I look out for/avoid?

I was recently quoted $1400 per day for a position where I will be developing the injection program with no narcotic management, but was told that number was negotiable; based on this thread, that number seems to be way below average, but that could be because there is not enough volume yet?

 

[DODOCSS]

2k min

 

[deleted185747]

I’d consider using some vacation days from the VA to do a locum again. Last time I did it I took off 2 days a week for 6 weeks (spent 12 vacation days) and drove out for the locum. Was paid $3000/day for doing injections and consults while the PA did Med refills. I had a great time! PM me if you need this in California.

 

[painfree23]

I’d consider using some vacation days from the VA to do a locum again. Last time I did it I took off 2 days a week for 6 weeks (spent 12 vacation days) and drove out for the locum. Was paid $3000/day for doing injections and consults while the PA did Med refills. I had a great time! PM me if you need this in California.

Does the PA fill/work under your license? Isn’t that a little risky

 

[promethius]

I’d consider using some vacation days from the VA to do a locum again. Last time I did it I took off 2 days a week for 6 weeks (spent 12 vacation days) and drove out for the locum. Was paid $3000/day for doing injections and consults while the PA did Med refills. I had a great time! PM me if you need this in California.

Unfortunately I am not in California, but I appreciate the offer!

Negotiating is always tricky when you do not know what rate the locum tenens company is charging the practice. Sounds like $2K - $3K/day is standard. I just don't want to be shooting myself in the foot for asking for too much (either exceeding what the practice is willing to pay or what the locum tenens company is willing to part with, considering the initial offer was $1400) and then be left with nothing. This position also involves a couple of hours of driving to and from with mileage being reimbursed, but still time spent commuting.

 

[painfree23]

Where did you find the gig?

Unfortunately I am not in California, but I appreciate the offer!

Negotiating is always tricky when you do not know what rate the locum tenens company is charging the practice. Sounds like $2K - $3K/day is standard. I just don't want to be shooting myself in the foot for asking for too much (either exceeding what the practice is willing to pay or what the locum tenens company is willing to part with, considering the initial offer was $1400) and then be left with nothing. This position also involves a couple of hours of driving to and from with mileage being reimbursed, but still time spent commuting.

you

 

[hyperalgesia]

Unfortunately I am not in California, but I appreciate the offer!

Negotiating is always tricky when you do not know what rate the locum tenens company is charging the practice. Sounds like $2K - $3K/day is standard. I just don't want to be shooting myself in the foot for asking for too much (either exceeding what the practice is willing to pay or what the locum tenens company is willing to part with, considering the initial offer was $1400) and then be left with nothing. This position also involves a couple of hours of driving to and from with mileage being reimbursed, but still time spent commuting.

If it's worth it to you to take 1400 but they told you it's negotiable, I would ask if they could pay 2000. Then I would accept whatever their counter is.

You can do it a few times, or even once, to get a better understanding of it. Then renegotiate.

Get your foot in the door

 

[promethius]

If it's worth it to you to take 1400 but they told you it's negotiable, I would ask if they could pay 2000. Then I would accept whatever their counter is.

You can do it a few times, or even once, to get a better understanding of it. Then renegotiate.

Get your foot in the door

Thank you everyone for your feedback. None of my colleagues in interventional pain have done locum tenens, so it's hard to negotiate with a sample size of one. I found this job through a locum tenens company.

For those in the know, does the locum tenens company present your asking rate to the practice with their mark-up for being the middle man, or is the total reimbursement pretty much fixed already before the job is even posted, and the locum tenens company makes what is left over after your cut, meaning the locum tenens company gets more or less depending on what you agree to?