Defining the Attributes of a Quality Locum Tenens Organization

- How to Choose a Locum Tenens Company

ATLANTA-- The hiring of locum tenens is now viewed more as a necessity than a luxury; hospitals and other medical facilities now spend in excess of $2 billion a year on locum tenens.

Healthcare organizations and physicians agree that working with the wrong locum tenens company can damage their opinion of the industry. However, this can be avoided by being selective and only working with a quality locum tenens company.

The first step in identifying a quality locum tenens organization is to list your wants and needs. What do you want out of the experience? Is geographic location important to you, or are you more interested in the patient profile? Asking yourself these types of questions will result in a rewarding locum tenens experience.

After you know what you are looking for, contact locum tenens organizations that have a good reputation for providing the things you desire. The key is to pay attention to how the recruiters talk to you. How much effort do they put into determining your goals? The recruiter should take the time to ascertain your goals. A quality recruiter will ask you a lot of questions. The more they know about you, the better they can match you with an assignment. If a recruiter doesn’t ask you many questions, you may be offered unsuitable placements that don’t fit your personality and/or career goals.

Once you’ve eliminated the locum tenens companies but the ones who genuinely seemed interested in getting to know you, it’s your turn to start asking questions. The first thing you want to ask about is the compensation package. If the locum tenens organization isn’t forthcoming about how they compensate their doctors, do not accept their assignments. A quality locum tenens organization will be happy to provide you with details about their compensation package. Look for a company that has a standard pay period.

A paycheck is not the only compensation a physician can receive. Some locum tenens companies will cover other costs such as licensure, credentialing, travel, housing, and professional liability insurance. A good measure of quality is how these services are provided by the locum tenens organization.

As a locum tenens physician, it is to your benefit to be licensed to practice in as many states as possible (unless you only want to work in certain areas). A high degree of versatility will bring you more job offers, and in turn, higher compensation. A quality locum tenens agency will handle licensing for you. The primary benefit to a licensure service is that it saves you paperwork headaches, but there are other benefits as well. Licensure services do license applications full-time, so they get them done quickly and accurately. This ensures you are able to start an assignment immediately.

Concerns about professional liability insurance coverage often provide another level of uncertainty about locum tenens work. These days no doctor can afford to be unaware of insurance issues, but this is especially true for locum tenens physicians. There is an inherently higher risk involved with temporary practice. First of all, don’t work for locum tenens companies that don’t cover you under their own professional liability insurance policy. Not having to pay for or deal with professional liability insurance is one of the biggest reasons that many doctors begin doing locum tenens work in the first place.

Although having your insurance taken care of is a huge benefit of locum tenens, don’t settle for just any insurance policy. Get all the details about a locum tenens company’s insurance carrier and their policy before agreeing to work with the company.

Most organizations will provide you with a "claims-made" policy. This type of policy covers a physician for all incidents that occur and are reported during the active period of the policy. Many malpractice claims are made well after the incident, and therefore would not be covered under a claims-made policy unless the locum tenens organization purchases an extended reporting endorsement, or "tail" coverage.

There is no law that compels the locum tenens organization to buy a tail; insurance companies are not required to write a tail. Do not rely on good-faith promises of the locum tenens company that a tail will be purchased. To protect your professional future, work for a locum tenens organization that provides "occurrence form" professional liability insurance for its physicians.

An occurrence policy covers the physician for all incidents that occur during the active period of the policy, regardless of when they are filed. There is no need to buy a tail once the occurrence policy has been bought; the physician is covered for the life of the patient. This type of insurance amounts to a physician’s "golden parachute", and is very expensive to obtain. The high cost of an occurrence policy is the reason most locum tenens companies cover their physicians with claims-made despite such a policy’s lower quality. Medical Doctor Associates in Atlanta is the only national, multi-specialty locum tenens organization that offers occurrence form professional liability insurance to its physicians.

Check how a locum tenens company’s insurance carrier is rated by independent research companies like A.M. Best and Standard and Poor’s. These companies conduct independent research into an insurance carrier’s global market position, balance sheet strength, sustained profitable growth, and the demonstrated success of its management’s strategies. The insurance carrier is then assigned a letter grade, which represents the carrier’s relative financial strength. The locum tenens company’s insurance carrier should be rated "A-" or higher.

Finally, before signing on with any locum tenens organization, ask them to provide you with a list of physicians who have worked with them in the past. By calling other physicians and asking them about the company, you will be able to determine if the locum tenens organization has represented itself to you accurately. Remember, a quality locum tenens organization will be happy to provide you with all the information you deem necessary as you research them prior to signing a contract.

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About MDA
Founded in 1987, MDA is one of the largest privately held medical staffing companies in the U.S. MDA is the only national multi-specialty locum tenens company that offers Occurrence Form malpractice insurance to its providers.
The company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with a regional office in Dallas and satellite offices located throughout the United States. MDA provides recruiting expertise for all physician specialties, allied health, and healthcare professionals. For more information about MDA call 1-800-780-3500 ext. 2168.