Recognizing the Need for the Locum Tenens Industry and Evolving with It
Michelle Bousquet, Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness at Floyd Lee Locums, is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO). She’s been in the locums industry for about 15 years, first starting as a member of the training team at CHG Weatherby Healthcare. She previously worked for Mint Physicians for four years as their operations manager and helped open their Miami Coral Gables location.
Floyd Lee Locums has been in operation for nearly eight years and she has witnessed it grow from five employees to almost 100. At NALTO, she currently serves as chair of the marketing committee, managing all things having to do with social media, support of other committees and release of information.
What differentiates healthcare staffing agencies from one another? Do smaller shops handle different types of placements than large agencies? What are things healthcare professionals should consider when looking at how agencies place them?
I can’t speak to all other differentiating healthcare agencies, but for us at Floyd Lee, our focus is on a concierge experience for our clinicians. The nature of our business is less transactional and more personal. We take a lot of requests, small and large. Whether it’s things that we can take off their plates internally, pre-filling credentialing documents, making dinner reservations or performing custom concierge type searches. “First and foremost, I highly recommend agencies be members of NALTO. It’s the only professional association of temporary physician firms that adheres to a code of ethics to maintain a high standard of practice.” Our clinicians operate as independent contractors but that often means they’re unsupported. We try to make sure they feel like a permanent fit and our relationship is strong, rather than just deploying them to a facility. Size of firm doesn’t necessarily matter; success is fully dependent on the approach and type of relationship that you create. They should also consider insurance offerings including medical malpractice provisions for tail coverage, and other healthcare options. As a 1099 independent contractor, our clinicians do not qualify for standard employee benefits, but we can support them in other ways by building healthcare packages when they’re not on our plan or we’re not employing them.
What is your process like for identifying potential locum candidates? Without offering competitive information, has anything in that realm changed over the last few years?
Our biggest way to identify locums candidates is by referral or word-of-mouth. Just like most industries, if you know a friend that’s having a good experience with their employer, you’re more willing to also try it out. That’s how we see most of our potential locums candidates. We also get sought out because of the awards that we receive such as the Staffing Industry Analysts’ (SIA) best staffing firms which we have won for five years in a row. We take pride in how we’ve positively branded ourselves. We hire more trained, tenured, specialty-specific recruiters. If they aren’t trained, we have an intensive program to help them understand specific locums position specialties and provide a positive experience. Bottom line, we are always evolving - continually looking at new tools, technologies and opportunities to connect with our customer and client. It’s still a relationship business while many other verticals of staffing are more transactional.
It can be more necessary in an industry like this whereas in general staffing, "Locums requires a human touch and with AI increasing, it’s especially relevant now. There’s a gap for the human aspect in a lot of things that we’re looking at, demoing and trying to explore.” we can utilize more AI tools as opposed to the human touch. It takes more time for us to develop relationships but that’s necessary in our world. To properly incorporate AI, the internal system must be spotless and constantly updated with new information. Humans change their minds - if you’re not staying up to date with the changes, it makes it difficult to present opportunities for the future. If an agency does use AI, it’s crucial to have information in their system to populate outreach or communicate quickly to present things that are relevant and applicable to their scenario.
How has the demand for locum tenens providers changed in response to the evolving healthcare needs post-pandemic?
The national shortage is increasing, particularly "Locums is one of the very few staffing verticals that has seen an increased need. There’s a greater demand for it and a greater acceptance of it." in rural underserved communities, and we’re seeing increased burnout. The pandemic amplified some of that for every industry and locum tenens is no exception.
What are the best practices to handle challenges and continuity of care when transitioning between different care providers?
We can’t speak directly to what a facility’s take would be, but we’ve experienced locums supporting continuity of care. They can put a locums provider in-house to work many months while they’re doing a professional search. They have somebody in place before they sometimes take those locums providers on permanently, or they’re working to hire somebody directly within their facility permanently. That still provides more continuity than short-term stays or short-term coverage.
How did the pandemic impact/change locums work for physicians and other healthcare professionals? And how have staffing agencies adjusted/shifted their efforts today to accommodate those impacts?
I think it really helped to educate and display the need for locum tenens. When I first started in the industry 15 years ago, we often saw pushback or objections due to a misunderstanding of what "There’s less need for education on locums and more of an understanding and awareness that it exists. It’s more well respected now as a real career path.” locums is and whether it’s necessary or needed. With the pandemic and a greater need everywhere, there was no way around how we need to fill the gap and continue to keep our doors open. Locums work becomes ideal when somebody tells you they’ll give you more work in your passion with a flexible schedule, great pay and covered travel. We see this societal shift to more people wanting to prioritize their lives and provide balance.
We tend to see more interest in locums work for those at a younger age or closer to retirement age. Generally, the middle group isn’t looking for locums work as much. An issue we come across is putting someone to work directly out of residency without practical hours. The facility makes the final decision if they decide someone doesn’t have enough experience. I expect that to become more flexible as the shortage increases. I must imagine that facilities will be more welcoming to residency-trained students or graduates that are looking for work in a variety of ways. Overall, we’re seeing an increase across the board and interest in the locums lifestyle.
What are you most optimistic and/or concerned about for the future of the locum staffing industry?
I’m excited that this remains such an important industry providing a critical service. It seems people are much more open to it and embracing its importance. But my concern remains on the federal or state level and how they may try to change or challenge the status of independent contractor positions. Being a member of NALTO and working with the board is valuable because they’re consistently over the years, and now, trying to protect and preserve clinicians, facilities, and clients. There’s a physician shortage and we must make sure we continue to provide necessary care.