AI implementation in healthcare is no longer a far-off goal. It’s already showing up in everyday clinical and administrative work, and it’s moving fast enough that locum tenens physicians and APPs can’t ignore it.
In 2026, more than 80% of providers report using AI in some form, and many say the payoff is significant. About 75% believe AI can improve patient care, while 70% see it as a way to automate tasks that contribute to burnout.
The potential benefits of healthcare AI for locums are clear. You’re constantly stepping into new systems with a short runway. The right AI use can help you get oriented faster, reduce the time it takes to get settled into a new environment, and keep your attention where it belongs.
This guide will cover what locums need to know about AI implementation in healthcare, including how to streamline administrative tasks, onboard at new facilities faster, and understand legal and privacy basics. By the end, you’ll have a clearer sense of where AI helps, where it doesn’t, and how to use it safely and effectively.
Interested in learning more?
Check out part two and part three of our AI Guide for Locum Providers.
Why AI is Especially Useful for Locum Clinicians
Locum tenens providers step into situations that are baked into the job. AI doesn’t eliminate these realities, but it does make them easier to handle.
Every Assignment Comes With a New Digital Map
Getting used to a new system takes time, no matter how experienced you are. Even when the EHR brand is familiar, the build won’t be. Order sets, note templates, message pools, click paths, and local workflows vary enough to slow you down when you need to be productive.
This matters because after-hours EHR work is already common. According to one survey, 23% of physicians reported spending more than eight hours on the EHR outside normal work hours.
Locum clinicians repeat that learning curve with every assignment. AI can help you get moving faster by turning a long onboarding packet into a clean checklist, translating local documentation norms into plain English, and pinpointing the most important tasks from day one. It won’t make you proficient overnight, but it can cut the dead time you spend learning the basics.
Onboarding Is Sped Up To Fill Coverage Gaps Fast
Facilities bring you in because there’s a coverage problem. That urgency often shrinks orientation into a quick walkthrough plus a pile of required modules. Clinicians need adequate time for required training and access setup, but reality doesn’t always cooperate.
AI can’t fix a rushed onboarding, but it can help you manage it. You can use it to summarize what a facility actually expects of you in the first 48 hours, generate a list of questions for your first day, and turn scattered emails into a single plan so you’re not relying on memory under pressure.
The Administrative Burden Resets Every Time You Move
Paperwork can feel like a second job layered on top of patient care. One report suggests that physicians spend nine to 19 hours per week on administrative tasks and paperwork, depending on specialty. This aligns with broader findings on the amount of time doctors spend on nonclinical work.
For locum providers, the admin workload resets with every new assignment. That’s why using AI for nonclinical tasks can save you time. The best uses are often small and practical, which makes them effective. These small time-savers add up quickly when you’re starting from scratch each time.
Where AI Can Help Without Touching Clinical Decision-Making
One of the largest benefits of locum tenens providers adopting AI is the opportunity to shift time spent on nonclinical tasks into patient care. In a 2023 AMA survey, 57% of physicians said reducing administrative burden through automation was AI’s biggest opportunity. That matters even more in locum roles, where you’re rebuilding your workflow at every assignment.
This guide focuses only on non-clinical uses of AI. It does not address diagnosis, treatment decisions, or anything that would replace professional judgment.
Used responsibly, AI can support a range of low-risk, non-clinical tasks such as:
- Summarizing long policy PDFs, onboarding packets, and EHR overview documents
- Turning scattered emails into a short checklist of what you actually need to do
- Drafting polite, clear messages to staff, schedulers, and credentialing teams
- Organizing travel, housing, and packing lists so you’re not doing that late at night
- Creating personal templates for your own notes, handoffs, and daily routines
Health systems are already applying automation at the operational level. In one example, Geisinger reported more than 110 live automations, including admission notifications and appointment cancellations.
Other tools focus on message volume. Ochsner Health in New Orleans found that a natural language processing tool designed to flag high-acuity portal messages was associated with faster time-to-first-read for those messages.
Ambient AI scribes are another tool that can give locums their time back. The Permanente Medical Group has reported large-scale use and documented time savings in implementation reporting, with providers saving significant documentation time across millions of encounters.
Responsible AI Use Isn’t Optional for Locum Clinicians
While AI adoption in healthcare is increasing rapidly, locum tenens physicians and APPs must be aware of best practices to ensure privacy and accountability while maintaining responsibility for patient care.
AI models are trained on massive amounts of data, which raises real questions about patient privacy and HIPAA compliance. If you’re using a tool that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits ePHI on behalf of a covered entity, HIPAA rules around business associate relationships matter. HHS guidance makes clear that covered entities generally need a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement in place with vendors that handle ePHI.
Some healthcare AI products advertise HIPAA compliance and encrypt data. While this provides an extra layer of protection, it doesn’t replace your professional judgment. You still need to know what you’re putting into the tool, what the tool stores, and what your facility allows.
It’s also worth checking that any AI tools deployed in practice are compliant with state and federal laws. In 2025 alone, 47 states introduced over 250 AI bills impacting healthcare. Thirty-three of those bills were passed and enacted into law in 21 states. For locums, who often work in different states for each assignment, staying aware of changing regulations is especially important.
Beyond legal and HIPAA questions, providers still maintain final judgment over patient care. This means that AI tools should always be used to assist clinical practice rather than replace it. As a locums provider, the responsibility to ensure you’re using AI tools ethically rests with you.
What You’ll Gain From This Series
AI is already showing up in healthcare workflows. For locum tenens clinicians, the goal is to use it in ways that save time without adding risk.
In the next parts of this series, we’ll focus on practical ways locum tenens clinicians can use AI to save time, reduce friction, and stay within safe boundaries.
- Get oriented faster at new facilities by turning dense onboarding materials into clear first-week action plans
- Cut administrative workload by using AI to draft messages, summarize information, and organize tasks
- Know what AI scribes can realistically handle and where careful human review remains essential
- Spot common AI failure modes, including hallucinations, bias, and confident-sounding mistakes
- Protect yourself from compliance risks related to PHI, facility policies, and state regulations
By the end of this series, you’ll learn how to use AI to onboard more efficiently, spend more time on patient care, and stay compliant with laws and regulations.
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