Locums fill America’s healthcare gaps
Welcome to Locums CME 47, Locumpedia’s bi-weekly roundup of news designed to help physicians and APPs maximize the locum lifestyle.
Our lead story: A new CHG Healthcare study reveals that over 70% of locum tenens assignments between 2022 and 2024 were in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), addressing critical healthcare inequities. These underserved areas, home to approximately 75 million people, often lack adequate physician coverage. Locums provide vital services by offering consistent care, sharing expertise, and instilling community trust.
Also in this edition: Nine essential tax deductions every locum provider should know; how physician assistants navigate varying practice environments; why burnout among EM docs is soaring, and what’s being done about it. Plus, look back at 2024’s biggest locum tenens stories in our 2024 Locum Tenens Rewind, from staffing growth to the fight against healthcare inequities.
Continue your locums education with Locums CME 47 below.
Most Locums Fill Needs in Healthcare “Deserts”
December 19, 2024 | CHG Healthcare
A CHG Healthcare study of locum tenens assignment data finds that most locums are not just filling one-off staffing gaps but helping address big-picture healthcare inequity issues. Most locum placements are in health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). These are geographic areas, populations, or facilities with a chronic shortage of physicians. From 2022 to 2024, more than 70% of all locum worksites were in HPSAs; some states had nearly 100% locum placement in HPSA zip codes.
The country has around 7,500 HPSA designations, equating to about 75 million people with inadequate medical care. Some states are almost entirely HPSAs. Patients and providers alike in these areas face a staggering need, and locums help in many ways:
- Providing greater access to care. Locums bridge gaps in healthcare, providing physician and APP support, general practitioners, and specialists.
- Building trust in medical professionals. By helping to provide consistent care, locums demonstrate investment in the community.
- Providing hope. As a part of a comprehensive medical team, locums help create solutions.
- Offering professional support. Locums share new ideas, best practices, and information learned from their broad experience with their permanent staff counterparts.
Locums who work in HPSAs also benefit as they broaden and deepen their experience in diverse locations and with varied populations.
Your Locums Prescription
9 Big Locums Tax Deductions, 1 Crucial Best Practices Tax Tip
December 16, 2024 | Trusted Locum Staffing
As independent contractors, locum tenens must manage their tax-related paperwork—income and deductible expenses—for federal taxes and those in every state they work in. This can feel overwhelming, and many locum providers opt to work with a tax professional.
Whether you do your own taxes or seek assistance, you can do things throughout the year to set yourself up for success at tax time (which, by the way, independent contractors may be required to do quarterly tax filings). Here are nine examples of expenses that locums commonly write off as long as they have not been reimbursed as part of your contract:
- Home office
- Lodging while working away from home
- Business travel
- Meals while on the job
- Health insurance
- Continuing education
- Uniforms and equipment
- Phone
- Fees, such as for licensing, and insurance costs, such as for malpractice and disability
Considering all those possibilities, you can guess what the leading best practice tax tip is: organize. Locums providers have a lot of information to manage on top of their complex jobs, so well-labeled, easily found folders—digital, paper, or both—are key. Organize by type of expense or other document and, within each folder, by date. This preparation will help when it comes time to sit down with your CPA or in your own (deductible) home office.
2024 Locum Tenens Rewind: Locums Staffing Growth Steals the Spotlight
December 18, 2024 | Locumpedia
It’s official. Locum tenens is the powerhouse of the healthcare sector, and our 2024 Locum Tenens Rewind looks back on the most significant healthcare stories of the year. For 12 months, we provided information and insights to help you stay current in this ever-changing work. As we have seen, many of those stories were about locums smashing records even as challenges grew elsewhere in healthcare:
- Proving indispensable in the fight against burnout
- Ensuring patient care in underserved communities
- Delivering flexible staffing solutions
Beyond these key areas, we also covered stories on physician mental health and agency impact and created a guide to the Locums’ Lingo. The top reads included our breakdowns of the growing resources for AI in healthcare, NALTO news and events covering the industry, and locums’ recognition through awards and celebration weeks.
This year is young enough that we can still learn from last year, and that’s precisely what we hope our review will help you do.
Where Can Physician Assistants Practice without Supervision?
December 19, 2024 | Barton Associates
Due to the physician shortage and an aging population with more consistent and complex needs, physician assistants (PAs) are vital to the continuity of care in most communities. Wait times to get an appointment with a doctor can be long, so PAs help increase care availability. However, physician supervision is still required for PAs to practice, though the degree to which they must collaborate varies drastically from state to state.
Only six states—Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming—are rated as having an “Optimal Practice” environment for PAs, meaning they enjoy the most autonomy. Depending on their experience level and professional connection with other providers, they may even be able to run their own practice. Eleven states fall at the other end of the spectrum, with the most “Reduced” scope of work available to PAs. Most states are in the middle, with administrative requirements mandated by state law limiting practice flexibility.
These legal restrictions are often the deciding factor for PAs when choosing where to practice and which locums assignments are the most attractive.
The More You Know, the More You Can Earn
December 12, 2024 | All Medical Personnel
Maximizing income as a healthcare professional involves strategic planning, thorough research and evaluation, proactivity, and seeking professional guidance. Here are some top tips to enhance earning potential:
- Understand the compensation and benefits of untraditional positions. Contract roles and locum tenens assignments typically pay higher hourly wages than permanent positions and offer benefits like lodging and meal stipends.
- Be confident in negotiations. You must go into a job discussion knowing that everything from pay rates to completion bonuses can—and should—be negotiated.
- Stay informed about taxes. Tracking expenses and deductions can be a benefit for contract and locums providers.
- Optimize with professional development. Earning specialized certifications and focusing on high-demand practice areas can create higher earning potential.
- Optimize with geography. The cost of living, supply, and demand differ from state to state and city to city, affecting salaries.
- Leverage relationships. If recruiters understand their providers’ professional goals, they can help them get offered the best roles.
All You Need to Be a Locum Is You
December 11, 2024 | Locums National
While some locums establish a corporation, LLC, or other entity to operate under, most locum providers enjoy similar benefits and greater flexibility by working as independent contractors.
- Being an entity does not protect against personal liability; providers must still ensure they have appropriate malpractice coverage.
- There are no significant tax benefits to being an entity.
- Having a corporation is not the best way to validate worth—academic degrees, work experience, and patient relationships are the actual markers of skill, talent, and success.
Physician Wellness Retreat
Emergency Physician Burnout Increases, as Do Efforts to Combat It
December 18, 2024 | Medscape
Even during the pandemic, emergency physicians were in the middle of the pack when it came to professional overwhelm: Under half said they felt burned out, landing the specialty at 14th out of 29 surveyed. While the workload and stress were incredibly high, it felt temporary, even if the ending was unknown, and precisely what emergency physicians train for. Interestingly, since then, that percentage has shot up, with more than 60% reporting burnout, driven by several factors:
- Workload: Now that the ER is many patients’ primary source of healthcare, physicians manage more than just emergency cases.
- Nursing shortage: The shortage of nurses is particularly noticeable in the high-speed, high-trauma world of emergency medicine.
- Boarding crisis: An increasing number of admitted patients are forced to wait in the ER for hours, sometimes even overnight, until a bed becomes available.
- Employer responsiveness: Emergency physicians express that their concerns and ideas go unheard by leadership.
There are growing attempts to address this nationally and at the hospital level. Here are some concrete actions:
- Licensing boards are removing requirements that physicians disclose their own mental health treatment.
- Professional organizations recognize and honor hospitals that meet staffing, capabilities, and working condition requirements.
- Hospital systems hire wellness officers, form wellness committees, and offer employee wellness programs.
Boundaries May Be Physicians’ Only Defense Against Burnout
December 10, 2024 | KevinMD.com
Wellness practices such as eating nutritious foods, getting good sleep, exercising, and meditating are key to physical, mental, and emotional health. But they may not keep burnout at bay. Healthcare challenges are too systemic and pervasive for a strong body, clear mind, and good attitude alone. They may hold off on burnout longer or lessen the symptoms, but many physicians find that they must also set professional boundaries.
Reconfiguring work schedules is simpler said than done—employment structure and income needs can make boundary-setting feel impossible. It isn’t. Working locums, which puts physicians in the driver’s seat when it comes to scheduling and compensation, is one way for physicians to set boundaries that will ultimately help them personally and professionally.
Doctor’s Notes
The World Is the Resident’s Oyster as Job Offers Reach a Record High
December 12, 2024 | MDedge
No resident will have trouble finding a permanent position based on job offer numbers alone. It’s common for a resident to receive 100 or more solicitations, a 30-year high. Employers are recruiting residents earlier, even offering residency stipends as signing bonuses. New physicians are more in control than ever when choosing location, schedule (work/life balance), and compensation, the reported top three considerations.
Completing residents may also consider going out independently or exploring locums in addition to a typical facility offer. A minority of residents choose to open their own practice (6%) or partner with another physician (20%). Still, there has been an increase in recruiting for independent medical practice ownership, particularly concierge medicine.
Burnout Numbers Are Dropping—Maybe Because Burned-out Physicians Have Left
December 5, 2024 | MedCity News
At last month’s Forbes Healthcare Summit, healthcare leaders shared that they don’t believe that lower reported burnout numbers mean that burnout is less pervasive than it has been—just that more burned-out physicians have changed careers by now. To address the unsustainable situation, they recommended a multipronged approach, including:
- Creating a positive work environment
- Offering positive feedback
- Hiring chief well-being officers
- Adopting software and AI practices to reduce administrative work
- Advocating for federal and state reforms around prior authorization
Which Job Is Best for You? The Decision Is (Basically) All Yours
December 23, 2024 | Medical Economics
With the physician shortage driving exceptional demand, the job market has never been better for physicians:
- Compensation is up. Enticements are getting creative; for example, an organization may pay rent while a physician secures a permanent place to live. That also means many offers start at the organization’s best, so negotiation for more may not be possible.
- APP hiring does not negatively impact physician opportunities. The increase in NP and other APP hires is not resulting in a decrease in physician job openings. There is more than enough work for everyone.
- The types of employers hiring are diversifying. Opportunities exist not only with hospitals and private practices but also with retailers, urgent care centers, and telehealth services.
While this is exciting news, recruiters caution job seekers to stay level-headed and consider all factors before accepting a job. It can be tempting to be swayed by an impressive offer, but it’s crucial that physicians do what they’ve been trained to do and diagnose the situation to determine if a job is the right long-term fit.
Sponsored Content
The Hottest Jobs in the Coolest Places
November 23, 2024 | Interim Physicians
Locum providers control much of their work life, including where they practice. To help them decide where in this vast, beautiful, diverse country to go next, Interim Physicians has prepared a showcase of some of their most in-demand locums assignments.
Eastern Oregon is for those board-certified in emergency, family, or internal medicine who enjoy soaking in hot springs, hiking the Oregon Trail, or fly fishing.
Across the country, ER doctors may appreciate the museums and theaters of central New York.
Southwestern Tennessee is naturally beautiful and close to Memphis and Nashville (and their music and barbeque scenes). Northwestern North Dakota boasts golf courses and waterparks, and there’s excellent farm-to-table dining in central Illinois—all great locations for emergency physicians to consider.
Interim’s website includes more information—including even more incredible places.
How a Specialized Oncology Staffing Firm Delivers Superior Locum Tenens Oncology Providers
December 20, 2024 | Cancer CarePoint
The healthcare staffing market is set to grow nearly 7% annually through 2030, driven by workforce shortages and increased reliance on staffing agencies. For specialized fields like oncology, these gaps can disrupt patient care. Partnering with an oncology-focused staffing firm like Cancer CarePoint ensures your facility delivers exceptional care.
- Oncology Expertise for Complex Needs: Oncology requires advanced certifications and evolving knowledge. Cancer CarePoint connects you with professionals who meet these high standards, from skilled oncology nurses to cutting-edge medical oncologists.
- Exclusive Talent Network: With years of focus on oncology, Cancer CarePoint taps into a rich pool of qualified specialists, ensuring quick access to top talent for locum tenens or long-term roles.
- Personalized Service: Cancer CarePoint’s boutique approach provides a dedicated contact who understands your facility’s unique challenges, culture, and goals, ensuring tailored staffing solutions.
- Faster, Stress-Free Hiring: Cancer CarePoint streamlines every recruitment step, from sourcing to onboarding, helping you fill roles quickly and focus on patient care.
With more than 30 years of expertise, Cancer CarePoint delivers strategic staffing solutions to meet your facility’s unique needs.
Achieving Harmony: Why Every Locum Tenens Provider Needs a Medical CPA
January 10, 2025 | The Doctor’s CPA
As a locum tenens provider, managing your finances can be challenging. A CPA specializing in locum tenens physicians can help you overcome obstacles, maximize savings, and build financial security. Here’s how:
- Manage Variable Income: Fluctuating earnings can complicate budgeting. A medical CPA develops flexible financial plans to align with your income, ensuring you save for the future while staying tax-efficient.
- Streamlined Bookkeeping: Accurate, organized bookkeeping simplifies expense tracking and tax preparation. With a CPA’s expertise, you save time, reduce errors, and maintain a solid financial foundation.
- Simplify State Tax Compliance: Locum work across multiple states means navigating complex tax obligations. A CPA ensures you remain compliant, avoid penalties, and easily handle multi-state filings.
- Maximize Tax Savings: Specialized knowledge of deductions and credits for self-employed physicians helps reduce your tax burden. A CPA ensures you’re not overpaying and captures every opportunity for savings.
- Build Long-Term Financial Security: From investment strategies to retirement planning, a CPA helps you create a roadmap for lasting financial success so you’re set for the future.
Work with a CPA specializing in locum tenens to take control of your finances and keep more of your hard-earned income.