Get ready! Locum Tenens Week 2025 is almost here.
Welcome to Locums Digest, Locumpedia’s free bi-weekly roundup of industry news and trends that helps locum tenens agencies and healthcare facilities make informed business decisions.
In this edition: National Locum Tenens Week returns on August 11. With 52,000 physicians practicing locums in a given year and 82% of facilities relying on them to fill staffing gaps, it’s clear that this mobile workforce of temporary healthcare providers is an essential pillar of care, especially in rural and underserved areas. To help staffing firms get loud and proud, NALTO’s 2025 marketing toolkit is now live, packed with logos, templates, and shareable content.
Also in Digest: How locum tenens can fuel facility growth, what the neurology shortage means for recruiters, and why agentic AI could reshape healthcare staffing as we know it. We also delve into what rural healthcare administrators wish agencies knew and explore three simple ways to make locum integration smoother for everyone.
Get Ready for Locum Tenens Week 2025, August 11-15
July 17 | NALTO
NALTO is gearing up to celebrate the Ninth Annual National Locum Tenens Week from August 11 to 15, 2025. This year’s theme highlights the crucial role locum tenens physicians and advanced practice providers play in maintaining healthcare access amid the rising strain on facilities nationwide. With 52,000 physicians filling locum roles each year and 82% of facilities relying on them to bridge staffing gaps, this workforce remains a vital stopgap, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Jarin Dana, NALTO president and CFO of Fusion Healthcare Staffing, emphasized the impact of these providers, describing them as the “unsung heroes” whose efforts ensure continuity of care when and where it’s most at risk. With a projected shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036, the locum tenens model has never been more crucial. NALTO member agencies play a pivotal role in deploying this talent and ensuring timely placements that prevent burnout and protect patient access.
NALTO is also offering a 2025 marketing toolkit, complete with branding assets, social media templates, and outreach materials to help agencies celebrate and promote the week. As the industry’s only association representing temporary physician staffing firms, NALTO continues to advocate for policies that bolster provider mobility and community access.
La Vida Locum
From Gap-Filler to Growth Engine: Rethinking Locum Tenens as a Strategic Asset
June 30 | Integrity Locums
The traditional view of locum tenens as a last-minute backup plan for physician coverage is officially outdated. More healthcare executives are recognizing that, with the proper planning, locum providers can do much more than fill gaps. They can drive innovation, reduce overhead, and fuel smart growth. Rather than responding reactively to staff departures, forward-thinking systems use locums to pilot new services, test market opportunities, and tap into hard-to-find specialties without committing to full-time hires.
Facilities that adopt this proactive model begin by looking six to 12 months ahead. They forecast patient volume, analyze market demand, and bring in locums with the exact skill sets needed to meet strategic goals. Temporary surgeons, specialists, and even EMR experts can help health systems validate service line expansions, support tech rollouts, and manage seasonal surges. This calculated approach reduces risk, improves alignment, and boosts return on investment.
Integrity Locums is helping lead this shift by offering consulting services that align staffing strategy with broader business goals. Their team allows facilities to evaluate workforce needs, model the financial impact of locum use, and continually optimize performance. As more systems compete for talent and efficiency, those that view locum tenens as a business lever, not just a staffing fix, are pulling ahead.
Three Smart Strategies for Seamless Locum Tenens Integration
June 20 | Medicus Healthcare Solutions
As workforce shortages and fluctuating patient volumes strain operations, locum tenens staffing is experiencing rapid growth, increasing by 15% in 2024, with an additional 6% expected in 2025. This continued rise reflects the increasing reliance on interim clinicians to maintain care continuity and cover critical staffing gaps. But for locum providers to make a real impact, healthcare organizations must move beyond placement and focus on integration.
Successful facilities are getting intentional about how they welcome and support locums. That starts with an efficient onboarding process that covers everything from admin steps to clinical workflows. Personalized welcome letters, structured orientation packets, and thoughtful introductions demonstrate to providers that they’re valued members of the team. The most effective strategy? Assigning mentors and encouraging ongoing engagement to ensure locums are not only clinically aligned but culturally connected as well.
Medicus Healthcare Solutions emphasizes a customized approach to temporary staffing. Their traditional locum services take the onboarding and logistics off facilities’ plates so clinical leaders can focus on care. For large-scale changes, such as service expansion or transitions to employed models, the Medicus Transition Program provides broader project support. In both cases, the goal is the same: to maintain high care quality and steady operations, regardless of the challenge.
Why More Surgeons Are Turning to Locum Tenens to Avoid Burnout
June 18 | MPLT Healthcare
Surgeons are increasingly opting for locum tenens work to escape the grind of traditional practice. Long hours, frequent call shifts, and mounting administrative burdens have led many to reconsider their careers. Locum tenens provides a lifeline and an opportunity to regain a work-life balance, reduce stress, and concentrate solely on patient care. With flexible scheduling and limited non-clinical duties, locum roles are helping surgeons preserve both their passion and their well-being.
Beyond flexibility, locum assignments offer diversity and autonomy. Early-career providers use them to explore different settings, while seasoned surgeons can share their expertise in high-need areas without long-term commitment. For those easing into retirement, locum tenens offers a smoother transition, allowing them to scale back on their own terms while continuing to make meaningful contributions.
Hospitals also benefit, especially in rural areas where maintaining surgical coverage can be challenging. Locum surgeons help fill gaps, keep ORs running, and support recruiting efforts. With competitive compensation, travel perks, and the freedom to choose how often they work, it’s no surprise that more surgical professionals are embracing this model as a better way to stay in the field.
Locum Leaders
Aya Healthcare’s UK Acquisition Signals Bigger Ambitions for US Staffing Innovation
June 23 | Aya Healthcare
Aya Healthcare’s acquisition of UK-based Locum’s Nest marks an expansion into the global market, but it’s also a statement about where US healthcare staffing is headed. By bringing a physician-founded, tech-first platform into its portfolio, Aya is doubling down on digital innovation and collaborative workforce models that could reshape how American health systems manage contingent labor.
Locum’s Nest has led the way in building regionwide float pools across the UK’s National Health Service, enabling hospitals to share workforce capacity and match providers to open shifts more efficiently. That kind of cross-institution coordination and flexibility is exactly what many US systems are striving for amid persistent staffing shortages and escalating labor costs.
With this acquisition, Aya gains cutting-edge tech and a playbook for scaling clinician-centered staffing solutions across multiple facilities and regions. It’s a glimpse of what’s next for US staffing: more integration, more flexibility, and smarter deployment of temporary talent at scale. For US-based agencies and hospital execs, expect the bar for innovation and efficiency to rise.
Neurology’s Alarming Shortage: Why Staffing Leaders Should Pay Attention
June 13 | LocumTenens.com
The neurology crunch is here, and it’s getting worse. By 2025, demand for neurologists is expected to outpace supply by 19%. The bottleneck traces back to a long-standing cap on federal funding for residency programs, which has left thousands of physicians unmatched and stunted the flow of new specialists into high-need fields like neurology. Healthcare leaders can’t afford to wait. These numbers call for urgent investment in smarter staffing strategies and expanded training pipelines.
Access is another pressing issue. Rural areas have 81% less access to neurologists than metro regions, and mid-sized micropolitan areas are facing a 61% gap. For patients living outside city centers, that means serious delays or limited access to essential specialty care. Telehealth is helping, but it can’t close the gap alone. Facilities need flexible staffing options that bring neurology expertise where it’s needed most, even if it’s only for a short time.
And then there’s pay. While neurologists earn an average of $343,000 to $347,715, these figures lag behind those of higher-paying, procedure-heavy specialties. That compensation gap makes neurology less appealing to new physicians. To attract and retain talent in this critical specialty, reimbursement must keep pace with demand. Agencies and facilities alike have a role to play in advocating for fair pay and building the support structures that keep neurologists in practice.
Hire Power
Agentic AI Could Revolutionize Healthcare Staffing, But Raises Big Questions
June 23 | Medical Economics
Agentic AI is emerging as a next-gen solution with serious potential to streamline healthcare operations. Unlike traditional AI tools that offer support in limited areas, agentic models are built to take action. In clinical settings, that could mean autonomously managing follow-up scheduling, drafting prior authorizations, or coordinating care, without constant human input. Think of it as a digital assistant that actually knows how your hospital runs.
This tech shift isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about redefining how work gets done. Agentic AI models can prioritize tasks, adapt in real-time, and launch workflows, making them a natural fit for high-volume, labor-strapped environments such as hospitals and staffing agencies. If adopted thoughtfully, these systems could significantly reduce administrative burden for clinical staff and give healthcare teams more time to focus on patient care.
But there’s a catch. As with any technology that operates independently, agentic AI raises genuine concerns regarding safety, trust, and accountability. Staffing leaders will need to weigh the benefits against the risks and ask the right questions about oversight and transparency. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the responsibility to get it right.
Why Allied Health Staffing Is No Longer Optional
June 18 | GQR
The demand for allied health professionals is rising fast, and smart staffing leaders are taking notice. With an aging US population, growing chronic care needs, and a healthcare system shifting toward outpatient and preventive services, allied health roles like radiologic technologists, respiratory therapists, and speech-language pathologists are becoming essential to daily operations.
Staffing shortages are compounding the issue. While nursing and physician gaps grab headlines, allied roles are quietly experiencing similar workforce pressure. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 17% increase in physical therapist jobs and a 10% growth for lab technologists by 2032. Without adequate recruitment, hospitals may experience delayed diagnostics, care disruptions, and worsening patient outcomes, particularly in rural or underserved areas.
Technology is also accelerating demand. AI-driven diagnostics and robotic procedures require skilled technologists who can operate cutting-edge systems and translate results into actionable care. As facilities expand outpatient care, allied health professionals are vital to improving recovery times, reducing readmissions, and supporting long-term health goals. For agencies and recruiters, building robust allied pipelines is a critical step to securing care for future generations.
What Rural Healthcare Admins Want Staffing Agencies to Understand
June 25 | Wilderness Medical Staffing
Rural healthcare comes with unique staffing demands, and administrators are calling for more tailored support. Standard urban staffing models don’t cut it in isolated communities where providers must be clinically skilled, independent, and able to thrive with limited resources. Agencies that listen closely to facility needs, understand the rural care environment, and source providers who are both clinically and culturally prepared will build stronger, more lasting partnerships.
Staffing in rural and remote areas often means longer rotations, tight travel logistics, and limited credentialing windows. Agencies that plan three to six months ahead and align with facilities on rotation length, travel expectations, and provider flexibility can help fill coverage gaps more effectively. Open communication is equally critical: rural administrators juggle multiple roles and can’t afford missteps caused by unclear timelines or mismatched expectations.
Cultural fit and provider preparation are make-or-break factors. Many clinicians are caught off guard by the pace, lifestyle, or onboarding process in rural assignments. Agencies that screen providers thoroughly and equip them with community insights before arrival increase the odds of a smooth placement. For rural hospitals looking to maintain trust with their communities, finding providers who truly belong takes more than just filling a shift.
Making the Rounds
From FOMO to Function: What AI Strategy Should Look Like for Healthcare Leaders
June 30 | Healthcare IT News
AI is everywhere in healthcare, but that doesn’t mean it’s being used wisely. Many hospitals are still hesitant to adopt AI, driven by a fear of being left behind, rather than deploying it with clear goals and measurable value in mind. At next month’s HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum, Tom Lawry aims to challenge health system leaders to abandon the hype and view AI as a strategic investment, rather than a flashy pilot project. According to him, the key is to define your goals, empower your team, and lead with purpose.
Lawry, a former Microsoft health AI leader, argues that most organizations are still missing the bigger picture. While AI can automate tasks, cut costs, and reduce staff burnout, it cannot do any of these things without effective leadership. This involves aligning AI with broader business and clinical objectives, fostering a culture of innovation, and expanding beyond one-off use cases. Metrics like “return on value” (ROV) should guide decisions, especially when improvements involve intangible but vital outcomes, such as reducing burnout.
While AI can transform healthcare operations, it can only do so if organizations build the internal muscle to scale it thoughtfully. That includes hiring leaders with the right blend of tech fluency and change management skills, involving frontline staff early, and integrating AI into everyday workflows. For staffing and IT teams alike, this shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity to build smarter, more sustainable systems, grounded in value, not vanity.
Microsoft’s AI Diagnostician Claims 4x the Accuracy of Physicians: Now What?
July 1 | Quartz
Microsoft just turned heads with a bold claim: its new AI tool, MAI-DxO, outperformed physicians by a factor of four in diagnosing complex medical cases. Trained on challenging cases from the New England Journal of Medicine, the system reportedly achieved 85% accuracy, surpassing that of a group of experienced human doctors. Powered by a blend of large language models, including GPT, Gemini, and Claude, MAI-DxO mimics a virtual panel of physicians that collaborates, questions assumptions, and optimizes diagnostic strategies step by step.
This AI agent isn’t just an innovative search engine. Microsoft designed MAI-DxO to work like a high-functioning clinician by starting with limited patient data, prompting targeted testing, and refining diagnoses with each new data point. The tool is part of a larger AI push from Microsoft, which also includes radiology and voice-first documentation tools aimed at reducing clinical burden and boosting care efficiency. The company says it’s aiming for nothing short of “medical superintelligence.”
For staffing professionals, this isn’t about robots replacing doctors overnight. But with 72% of employed physicians already using some form of AI, the implications are clear. AI tools like MAI-DxO are reshaping how providers approach diagnostics, documentation, and clinical workflows. As tech continues to automate certain high-cognitive tasks, healthcare organizations and agencies will need to rethink provider roles, upskilling, and the future of hybrid human-AI care delivery.
Sponsored Content
Why Supporting Locum Tenens Providers With Tax Compliance Is a Strategic Win
June 3 | The Doctor’s CPA
Locum tenens providers often choose contract work for its flexibility and financial upside, but that independence comes with complex tax burdens that many physicians aren’t prepared for. As 1099 workers, they’re responsible for their own self-employment taxes, multi-state filings, and tracking deductions. Without guidance, they risk making costly mistakes, experiencing burnout, and feeling dissatisfaction. For staffing agencies, offering tax support isn’t just helpful—it’s a competitive advantage that drives retention and builds trust.
Multi-state work is one of the biggest pain points. Many locums juggle conflicting state tax laws, reciprocity issues, and deadlines with little support. On top of that, they often miss out on deductions, like continuing education, business mileage, and home office expenses, because generic tax advice doesn’t cut it. When financial stress accumulates, it erodes the very benefits that initially drew them to locum work. And when providers feel unsupported, they’re less likely to renew contracts or recommend your agency.
The fix doesn’t require reinventing the wheel. Agencies can make a meaningful difference by connecting providers with tax specialists, offering onboarding education, and recommending reliable tax tools. Partnering with firms like The Doctor’s CPA can simplify compliance and help your physicians maximize their earnings. In a competitive staffing environment, agencies that offer real-world support, especially around finances, stand out and win long-term loyalty.
Why MSPs Alone Fall Short in Oncology Staffing, and What Agencies Can Do About It
July 11 | Cancer Carepoint
Managed Service Providers can streamline staffing and reduce administrative burdens, but their “one-size-fits-all” model often falls short in specialized areas like oncology. High-demand, niche roles require speed, expertise, and relationship-based recruiting, which is something generalist MSPs aren’t built to deliver. Oncology-focused agencies like Cancer CarePoint argue that the MSP model may be efficient for common roles, but it lacks the nuance needed to staff dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and oncology-certified nurses effectively.
Facilities are not powerless in this equation. By supplementing their MSP partnerships with specialized staffing firms, health systems can fill critical gaps, avoid delayed placements, and maintain quality patient care. A hybrid model enables hospitals to retain the broad efficiency benefits of MSPs while delivering high-touch, concierge-level service for their most complex needs. Agencies offering oncology-specific expertise can move more quickly, provide vetted talent, and maintain stronger relationships with providers.
Staffing professionals should also keep a close eye on vendor neutrality and transparency. Some MSPs are accused of prioritizing their own recruiters, which can lead to delayed order fulfillment and lower candidate quality. Oncology programs can protect themselves by checking MSP response times, requesting clarity around order distribution, and building in contract flexibility to engage outside specialists when needed. Specialized care requires specialized staffing, and agencies that understand this will continue to earn trust and fill roles more quickly.
