One of the most nerve-wracking questions for both providers and facilities when it comes to locum tenens is: how do we know if it will be a good fit?
Creating good matches between physicians and facilities can be a challenge because of how many factors are at play. At Hayes Locums, we don’t trust matches to an algorithm: we have an entire Quality Assurance team dedicated to considering all of these factors to find the right matches between providers and facilities.
Here are some of the ways our team works to set both physicians and facilities up for success:
Protecting Providers
Our role is to make sure that when our physicians walk in the door of a new hospital or facility, they know exactly what is expected of them. At Hayes Locums, we work hard to make sure that we prepare our providers so that they arrive at a job fully aware of and comfortable with the clinical responsibilities that are expected of them.
We do this by asking facilities to provide us with a list of clinical procedures providers will be expected to perform, and communicating those expectations to providers. For example, if a surgeon who is only comfortable working with adult patients applies for a position, and the hospital expects them to handle all their pediatric cases in addition to adult cases, we can find that out upfront, and either find a better match for that surgeon or work with the facility to make other arrangements for pediatric cases.
The bottom line when it comes to creating quality matches for our physicians: We want to eliminate the element of surprise, and make sure our physicians are fully prepared for the expectations of their locum tenens assignment.
Protecting Hospitals
These days, many hospitals are understaffed, and in their desperation to get a position filled, they might not be able to fully credential their providers prior to their start date but can issue emergent privileges.
That’s where Hayes Locums comes in: During this time of urgency to credential and place providers, we come alongside each facility to assist with the credentialing process. We compare the clinical information provided by the facility with the information we receive from the provider to ensure we are matching them with the most qualified candidate possible.
Sometimes during this process, we may find a misalignment between the hospital’s requirements and a provider’s skillset or comfort level. In the event that a provider is not able to perform certain required procedures, we can work with facilities to get someone else to cover those procedures. If that is not possible, our process leaves plenty of time to find them a better-quality match.
Protecting Patients
The most important consideration when it comes to finding good matches is protecting the patient. At Hayes Locums, we take that responsibility seriously: we carefully review the information provided by our physicians to ensure they are fully qualified to provide quality care for your patients.
Our credentialing process is detailed and rigorous: we scrutinize not only candidates’ training and experience, but factors like how often they have performed certain procedures (especially high risk procedures), and how long it’s been since they last performed them. Our Quality Assurance team works to cover every single base to ensure we’re not putting patients at risk by sending physicians in unprepared.
