Locum Tenens Radiology

Radiology

By Locumpedia Editorial

2026-08-30

Quick Facts

What the Work Looks Like

In radiology, “the assignment” can mean two completely different jobs, so settle which one you’re being offered first: on-site or teleradiology. On-site puts you in the hospital at a workstation, and depending on scope you cover procedures and anything that needs a physician in the building.

Teleradiology is remote. You pull studies off a PACS and read from home or a reading center, anywhere you hold the right license. Pay, credentialing, and the rhythm of the day all move with that one choice.

Scope tracks subspecialty, and radiology splinters more than most fields do. General diagnostic covers the body, chest, and musculoskeletal plate work that makes up the bulk of most assignments.

Neuro, breast, and pediatric reads are their own lanes, and a posting that just says “radiology” may quietly need someone who reads mammography or pediatric CT. Interventional is a different job entirely: procedure-based, on-site only, and it can’t be covered remotely. Pin down exactly which modalities and body regions a site expects before you accept, because “radiology coverage” isn’t one skill set.

Then there’s the clock. Imaging runs around the clock in any hospital with an ER, and a lot of locum radiology exists to cover the hours permanent staff don’t want. That’s where the nighthawk model comes from: overnight emergency coverage, often read remotely by radiologists working daytime hours in another time zone.

Overnight work frequently runs as a preliminary read to guide immediate treatment, with a final signed read done by a daytime radiologist the next morning. That split has a safety reason behind it, since radiologists make more interpretation errors on overnight reads than on daytime ones. If you take overnight telerad work, know which read you own; the liability and the turnaround clock differ for a prelim and a final.

Facility type shapes on-site work the way it does anywhere, and radiology spans a wide gradient. A rural or critical-access hospital may want a generalist who reads everything that comes through the door and covers basic fluoroscopy, because there’s no one else on site to hand a study to.

A community hospital sits in the middle. A larger academic or urban center is more likely to slot you into a single modality alongside a full department and residents. Outpatient imaging centers are their own setting again: higher volume, lower acuity, mostly daytime. The posting doesn’t always name the setting cleanly, so ask.

Teleradiology trades that in-person texture for volume. You’re measured on studies read, turnaround time, and hitting the group’s quality bar, with far less of the coordination that comes with being in the department.

Read-volume and RVU expectations vary widely, so get them in writing. A rate that looks strong on paper turns thin fast if the daily study target is aggressive or the case mix skews toward slow, complex reads. The same hourly can describe two very different days.

Where the Demand Is

Radiology demand rests on a documented, long-term shortage, not on any one region running short. The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute projects the radiologist workforce growing about 25.7% between 2023 and 2055 if residency slots stay flat, while imaging demand climbs faster. Its conclusion is blunt: the current shortage holds for three decades without a real intervention.

The radiologist shortage is projected to persist through 2055 unless the workforce grows or per-person imaging use falls.

Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, radiologist workforce projection

Two things sharpen it. Radiologist attrition jumped roughly 50% starting in 2020, and subspecialists are 37% more likely to leave the workforce, with pediatric radiologists thinning out fastest. Practice consolidation piles on: radiology-only practices shrank about 31% from 2014 to 2023, pushing coverage toward large groups and teleradiology networks that lean on locums to fill the edges.

The gaps cluster where recruiting is hardest: rural and community facilities, overnight and weekend coverage, and thin subspecialties like breast, pediatric, and neuro. Teleradiology is the pressure valve, which is why so much locum radiology is remote and why the demand is less tied to geography than a specialty that needs a body on site. A shortage in one state can be covered by a radiologist licensed there but sitting anywhere. Seasonality is mild, since imaging volume doesn’t pause; the swings that show up track permanent-staff leave, not the calendar.

What It Pays

Locum radiology generally pays in the high-$200s to mid-$300s an hour. The one independent, crowdsourced figure has physicians self-reporting an average near $289/hr, and our pay barometer lands a little higher, roughly $300 to $360. They agree more than they disagree, which is about as much certainty as radiology rate data gives you.

Here’s why it’s a barometer and not a hard number: no survey publishes radiology compensation and the annual clinical hours for the same physicians, so there’s no honest way to compute an exact locum rate the way you can for a few other specialties. So we anchor to full-time pay, apply one stated assumption, and show every input.

Set that beside what gets reported. The crowdsourced $289/hr average comes with a note that it can understate what physicians actually negotiate. Agencies advertise higher ceilings, and one agency page floats up to $1.1M a year, but that’s a marketing ceiling, not a typical rate. Teleradiology and short subspecialties like neuro and breast tend to pay above general diagnostic, though no independent dataset publishes clean subspecialty or telerad rates, so treat those as directional.

Four things set your rate: subspecialty (neuro, breast, and pediatric reads command more where they’re short, and interventional is priced as procedural work), on-site versus teleradiology and shift (overnight, weekend, and STAT-turnaround coverage carry premiums, often baked into the contract rather than shown as a line item), volume expectations (a high daily study target changes what a given hourly is really worth), and urgency (hard-to-fill rural and overnight gaps pay more than planned daytime coverage).

Contract Terms That Matter in Radiology

A few clauses carry more weight in radiology than in most specialties, mostly around teleradiology licensing and per-facility privileging. Read these closely.

Questions Providers Ask