Sumo Medical Staffing

Staffing gaps aren’t just a doctor problem when it comes to your healthcare facility’s personnel needs: nurses and allied health professionals are the backbone of medicine and if your facility is experiencing a shortage, your patient care could suffer. Greatly. Locum tenens recruiting covers allied health pros and other medical workers today. Looking to leverage locums for all of your medical staffing requirements? 1. Identify where your critical shortages take place. Look for where you’re bleeding staff. For example, is the ER or OR running at half of their needed personnel? Are you turning away elective surgeries? Are you short on PTs with patients waiting weeks for appointments as a result? 2. Explore locum companies that provide the types of healthcare pros you often need. Rech out to at least three for quotes, references, availability, etc. Make sure to ask for information on the service checks locums’ credentials, etc. 3. Create a streamlined onboarding process. As example: consider having an experienced RN provide the locum nurse a comprehensive tour and introduction to your EMR system. 4. Monitor the locums’ impact. Track important metrics often (weekly is best). Has your surgery backlog increased and/or are you able to provide more elective surgeries? Your patients can’ wait: get one or two locum services on speed dial and get ready to fill any staffing gaps as soon as you’re aware of them. #LocumTenens #LocumStaffing #HealthcareStaffing

Are your medical staff members on their proverbial “last legs”? Locum tenens staff can be the “pep” they need. • Identify their stress points. Survey your team to find where there stretched the most. Perhaps your ER physicians are pulling double shifts or your NPs are skipping lunch? • Bring in an ER locum for night shifts for a temporary NP to cover lunch hours. You could give your staff some much needed down time. • Monitor and adjust as needed. Track staff satisfaction regularly (weekly is wise). Are those 15-hour shifts now “merely” 12-hours long? • For example, 56 percent of a locum service’s clients said using locums reduced burnout for their existing staff. (See link in first comment.) Locums can provide considerable relief for your existing staff. Have you used them as a respite in your facility? #LocumTenensRecruiter #MedicalStaffing #HealthcareWorkerBurnout

Unfilled positions in your hospital or medical facility are costly. Remember 2022? The healthcare industry in the U.S. lost more than half a million employees each month that year. (See link in first comment.) Every day that role remains empty means your facility is bleeding revenue. What’s more, you’re stretching remaining team members to their breaking points. Locum tenens can be a critical answer. Follow these three steps: 1. Identify critical staffing gaps. Locate where you’re understaffed and ascertain how much each vacant position costs you. 2. Reach out to a reputable locum tenens recruiting agency to match you with qualified locums who will quickly become real assets to your patient-care services. 3. Have a streamlined onboarding process already in place so that your locum pros can get up to speed within hours, not days. Using locums decreases the burden on your permanent staff, helping to ensure that patient care remains consistent. What’s more, your facility will stop bleeding money. #LocumTenensStaffing #LocumTenensRecruiters #MedicalStaffing

Is your in-house recruiting costing more than it’s worth at your hospital/medical facility? Conduct a cost-benefit analysis between using the services of a locum tenens recruiting firm and in-house recruiting. ·        Calculate in-house costs: tally HR/recruiter salaries, fees for ads on job boards and time HR and hiring managers spend screening CVs. (Also, don’t forget the hidden costs of unfilled positions.) ·        Estimate locum tenens expenses. Get quotes and salary ideas for the specific positions you need. ·        Compare how each locum service vets candidates to how long it takes your facility to do so. Be sure to also compare quality of candidates: ask the service to send you CVs of potential locums and compare them to those you have stored in-house. As an example: filling a hospitalist position might take six months in-house, whereas a locum hospitalist could start next week. Remember: in-house recruiting builds solid teams long-term; locums offer immediate coverage…while you take the time needed to fill the position with the right candidate. (What’s more, the locum could become a permanent member of your team if both of you agree to it.) #LocumTenensRecruiters #LocumTenensStaffing #MedicalStaffing

Most hospitals and healthcare facilities experience an influx of patients at least once a year: flu season. Locum tenens professionals provide great care for your patients for as long as you need them to do so. Such temporary, qualified pros help hospitals and other medical facilities maintain optimal patient-to-staff ratios when great patient care is critical. Locums can ensure consistent care quality and reduce staff burnout when patient demand surges. Finding one or two locum staffing providers before flu season arrives can help ensure your facility prevents staff “overwhelm” from ever happening: the service can vet and prep a number of these temporary healthcare professionals well in advance of your need so that when a surge in patients occurs you can ramp up professional personnel immediately. #FluSeason #PatientSurge #LocumTenens

Anticipating staffing shortages at your hospital/healthcare facility? Locum tenens pros can help ensure that your patient care doesn’t suffer. Locum tenens staffing can bring you highly qualified healthcare professionals eager to help you provide the care your patients need while they enjoy working at your facility for a few weeks or months…as needed. Locum tenens staffing firms tend to have rigorous vetting processes yet can place a highly qualified locum – or locums – at your facility within days. Locums can help you fill critical gaps quickly, helping to keep your facility’s operations running smoothly and your patient care at a level your patients deserve…and expect. #LocumTenensRecruiter #LocumTenensStaffing #LocumTenens

How well will you be able to handle – in a moment’s notice - increased patient demand when an emergency strikes. Locum tenens professionals can play an important role in your facility’s response. As well as the planning for it. The time to plan is now. Do you have a partnership with a good locum tenens staffing service? Working with a locum service sooner rather than later means you’ll be able to: • Scale up quickly when the emergency occurs. • Ensure that you’ll be able to relieve full-time staff as it continues, thus preventing staff burnout. • Maintain a high level of care for non-emergency patient needs. Adding locum tenens pros into your disaster response plans makes sure that your hospital/medical facility will respond well in any crisis. #LocumStaffing #LocumTenens #EmergencyPrep

A culture of “this is how we’ve always done it” at your healthcare can hamper innovation. locum tenens pros can help your facility’s culture remain nimble and innovative while also making sure that your patients receive the level of care they deserve. Locums often bring fresh perspectives because they’ve worked in different healthcare settings as well as cultures. They can be the ones who challenge a facility’s “we’ve always done it this way and there’s no reason to change” way of thinking. Locums can (and often do): • Suggest terrific new-to-you practices that they’ve learned on other assignments. • Root out inefficiencies that long-term staff may overlook. • Bring specialized skills that can raise the care you provide your patients. • Encourage “cross-pollination” of ideas, skills and outlooks among your facility's departments. Looking at locums as “change agents” can encourage a facility-wide culture of improvement. Their new/different perspectives could enliven your facility’s environment, possibly improve patient care/operations and create a highly adaptable healthcare culture. #LocumTenensRecruiters #LocumTenensStaffing #OrganizationalChange

The gig economy’s rise has made many industries “rethink” their workforce: a) salaried/hourly with benefits or b) “freelance.” Locum tenens staffing could allow hospitals and healthcare facilities to take this trend on, building a more flexible workforce. Some pros and cons: Pros: • The flexibility to match staffing levels with patient demand. • Access to a larger talent pool, many of them experienced specialists. • Possible savings on employee benefits and other long-term payroll/benefits costs. Cons: • Continuity in patient care could take a hit. • It could be more challenging to maintain a consistent culture company-wide. • There’s a potential negative effect on team communication and cohesion. • There’s also the potential of locum staff coming to feel “less than.” Bottom line: the key is considered implementation so that your facility keeps quality patient care a priority While a hybrid model offers significant advantages, it's crucial to balance these with the need for while also taking advantage of workforce flexibility. What do you think? #GigEconomy #LocumTenens #LocumTenensStaffing

Healthcare access remains a critical challenge for many people who live in rural areas. One solution could well be using locum tenens staff in a telemedicine program to help with this persistent – and troubling – challenge. Locums can provide on-site support in rural healthcare facilities, ensuring that your patient population has the medical expertise they need when they need it. In addition, using locums tenens pros lets them extend their ability to care for this population, providing remote consultations and even follow-up. Rural healthcare hospitals and medical facilities thus can: • Extend their range of service. • Lower patients’ cost as well as the travel time. • Enhance your full-time staff’s expertise. (Locums often wider breadth and depth in health matters because they’ve worked at – and learned at – many different healthcare facilities.) • Improve your patients’ continuity of care. Rural hospitals and other healthcare providers can create a stronger, more flexible healthcare services systems using locums. This address immediate staffing needs, but also increases long-term capacity, improving access and outcomes for your rural patients. #RuralHealthcare #LocumTenens #Telemedicine