Company overview

Learn more about how our vast array of solutions and best-in-class technologies are powerfully serving the healthcare workforce. 

Our brands

They say you can’t choose your family – but we did. We think you will, too. Our family of companies can tackle problems of any size, big or small. 

Our role in healthcare

Learn more about how we use our unrivaled staffing experience, best-in-class technology, and strategic consultation to help your organization succeed.

Executive leadership

Meet our team of executive leaders who are guiding our efforts to make life better for providers, patients, and healthcare organizations. 

Core values

See how our core values guide all our business decisions and drive us to find new ways to make life better for those we serve in the healthcare industry.

Community impact

Learn more about how we give back to communities both near and far through fundraisers, team activities, medical missions, and more. 

Solutions overview

See how we’re delivering customized workforce solutions that are doing right by our healthcare partners and improving how healthcare is done. 

Technology

Check out our suite of high-tech solutions that perfectly complement our high-touch approach to a future-ready workforce. 

Advisory services

We’re creating customized solutions that support cost containment, drive meaningful results, and pave the way for a more successful future. 

Physicians

See how our experts draw from the industry’s largest locums database to deliver customized solutions such as locum tenens, permanent placement, and telehealth.

Advanced practice

Get insights into how our team of APP-specific experts use in-house credentialing and licensing to deliver the right candidate to your facility.

Allied health

Learn more about the process we use to connect your organization with qualified therapists, technicians, technologists, assistants, and more.

Nurses

Find out what makes our nurse staffing truly stand out in the industry, and how we’re constantly looking for new ways to make the process smoother.

Telehealth

Tap into the nation’s largest network and deepest specialty bench of multi-state license providers to keep your virtual care strategies on track.

Blog

Visit our blog to get workforce insights, catch the latest company updates, and hear important stories from within the healthcare industry.

Resources

Get industry insights, workforce strategies, and more from our resource section. Each video, article, and tool has been created with your success in mind. 

Careers overview

Get the details on how a career at CHG fast-tracks your success and lets you play a role in helping 25 million patients receive care each year.

View jobs

Locations

Get all the details about our various locations nationwide. We have expanded our operations to better serve the needs of the healthcare community.

Benefits

Browse our benefit and wellness programs and learn how our team handpicks the best options to support you as a whole person.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Learn about the DEI goals we’re embracing to make our company¬–and healthcare industry at large–a better home for everyone.

Learning and development

See how our award-winning team of trainers can help you develop new skills and pursue the career path that makes you feel the most alive.

Employee stories

Check out stories from our people’s lives that highlight how CHG supports personal growth and helps you make a positive impact in the world.

Flexibility

Learn more about how our commitment to workplace flexibility puts you in the best position to be happy, comfortable, and effective.

Talent network

Visit our Talent network page to apply for a job, communicate with our talent acquisition team, or refer someone else for a job at CHG.

Recruiting process

Learn more about our hiring process and how we seek out the best opportunities for you to make an immediate impact.

2023 State of Locum Tenens Report

A comprehensive look at the locum tenens industry

office meeting

Introduction to locum tenens

Locum tenens plays an integral role in providing healthcare to patients around the country. Locum tenens, or locums as it is often referred, is the practice of physicians, PAs, and NPs, taking temporary jobs in healthcare facilities with staffing needs. Locums allows permanent staff to take vacations or leaves, fills gaps in coverage, or provides care in areas unable to recruit permanent staff.

Healthcare staffing needs

The healthcare industry has faced a clinician shortage for many years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has created even greater need for healthcare workers while at the same time driving many away from the industry. That, combined with the factors below, helps explain why the healthcare industry is turning to locum tenens at historic high levels.

  • Overall clinician shortages

    "It’s no surprise that healthcare systems are in a financial crisis due to workforce challenges. Many are trying different ways to address the issue. Some are trying to create their own float pools, using telehealth, or bringing in additional advanced practice clinicians. However, these solutions can often be hard to administer on top of keeping their existing systems running."

    Melinda Giese

    Melinda Giese

    Senior Vice President, CHG Healthcare

  • Prioritizing employee wellness

    "Physicians today are less interested in locking themselves down with long-term employment contracts. Especially in a facility or setting they haven’t experienced working in. Locums allows them to try out different places and gives them the freedom to decide if they want to take on more work if they like it and move on if they don’t."

    Luke Woodyard

    Luke Woodyard

    President, Weatherby Healthcare

  • Providers demanding more work-life balance

    Organizations need to invest in supporting staff recovery. In fact, that needs to be their most important workforce goal in the next year. There is not a specific end date that organizations can plan for, rather it’s the end state where staff have emotionally and physically recovered from their experiences during the pandemic.

    Advisory Board

    Advisory Board

    The Mandate for Workforce Recovery

  • Aging patient and provider populations

    As the population grows and ages and the workforce of physicians ages and nears retirement, the country will experience a severe shortage of doctors. This adds to the strain of healthcare systems addressing the vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19, warns a new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

  • Hybrid work becoming more commonplace

    Hybrid healthcare combines telehealth and in person treatment due to patient demand and flexibility needed in the healthcare workplace. Locums providers can help cover gaps in telehealth in the same way they do in person. Locums is more flexible in terms of cost and availability and allows for a more advanced staffing model to meet multiple needs.

  • Higher rates of burnout

    Workforce burnout is a long-standing challenge for hospitals and health systems. But when Covid-19 emerged, the challenge magnified as the healthcare workforce simultaneously managed their own health concerns, added work, and emotional stress presented by the pandemic. Healthcare leaders are now seeing a workforce that is increasingly burned out and leaving their roles at an unprecedented rate.

    Advisory Board

    Advisory Board

    The Mandate for Workforce Recovery

  • Fewer providers in private practice

    According to an analysis by the American Medical Association (AMA), fewer than 50% physicians worked at physician-owned practices in 2020, the first time that figure has dropped below half since 2012. More doctors are seeking jobs in hospitals or larger medical groups, and this supports the trend in healthcare consolidation with insurance companies and hospitals growing in size.

  • Increased use of telehealth

    "In today’s world, a technology option is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation. Whether it’s streamlining credentialing, helping a health system better manage their administrative costs, or allowing a physician to check the details on their next locum tenens assignment. However, staffing people is still a very personal business. Technology isn’t the only answer. The key to improving your staffing is finding the right balance between automation and personal connections by using technology that enhances the personal relationships necessary to place the right clinicians in the right jobs."

    Scott Boecker

    Scott Boecker

    Chief Digital Officer, CHG Healthcare

  • Evolving retail-based healthcare movement

    Retail health clinics are growing in popularity as convenient, affordable care for minor medical needs. They can often be found in grocery stores and pharmacies. These clinics staff from an already limited physician pool and should consider locums as a solution.

The future of physician staffing

Scott Beck

From our CEO, Scott Beck

Healthcare has always been an evolving industry. From clinical breakthroughs to the buying up of private practices, things are always changing. Healthcare staffing is no different. The pandemic brought its changes, and the future is sure to bring even more.

As I look to the future, I see three primary issues. The first is the ongoing healthcare workforce shortage. We’re seeing a growing imbalance between the supply and demand, and I think it’s only going to get worse, especially in rural and other underserved areas. I also think physicians are expecting more work/life balance and flexibility from their jobs. At the same time, the pandemic made a lot of people postpone needed care. They are now coming back in droves.

So, what role does locum tenens play in all of this? Locums physicians help solve two critical problems healthcare currently faces. They come into those underserved areas and provide patients the care they desperately need. They also alleviate some of the burden being put on staff physicians, allowing them to take a vacation, a leave of absence, or just have some additional help. And it’s not just traditional locums; we’re also seeing growing demand for tele-locums, with physicians working online, never having to leave the comfort of their homes.

Working locums is also a great way for physicians to find better work/life balance for themselves by working where and when they want. Often physicians, especially later in their careers, contemplate early retirement as a way to escape the burnout and stress of the job. Locums allows them to extend their medical practice and allow them to continue to serve patients. Locums lets physicians bend their work around their life, in contrast to the years they spent bending their lives to fit around their education, training, and careers.

While locum tenens can be a great solution for both facilities and physicians, it’s far from being the solution to everything healthcare is facing today. Unfortunately, very little is being done to systematically address physician burnout. Health systems have been so used to using physicians in a certain way that breaking the cycle of excessively long hours and high-stress situations is proving to be very difficult. There also needs to be more focus on better patient-to-provider ratios and more focus on the wellness of all staff.

For our part, both for our staff and the physicians and other healthcare professionals we work with, we are dedicated to providing a working environment that supports health and wellness, strong work/life balance, and building a community that meets the needs of the health systems we serve.

Read
Carey Goryl

AAPPR CEO, Carey Goryl

In my role, I interact with physician and APP recruiters every day. As I look at the future of healthcare staffing, a few things jump to mind. The first is the agility we are seeing with recruitment professionals. After being faced with a pandemic and workforce shortages and burnout in every level of the organization, they still found ways to find qualified clinicians and other staff to fill needed roles. This often meant facilities shifting their focus to hire more PAs and NPs when needed to support diminishing ranks of physicians, improving their compensation packages, streamlining their hiring process, or finding ways for telehealth or other technology solutions to allow existing providers to still see patients.

Secondly, as something to watch for, professionals working in staffing may be tempted to become more transactional in their candidate interactions. Savvy recruitment professionals know the value of building relationships with quality talent throughout a candidate’s career. The pressures from the pandemic have forced many professionals to do more with less, and less and less, and now do much of their work from behind a computer in any number of locations. The need to be more efficient and quick in our hiring timelines adds pressure to automate and process quickly. Recruiters will need to be mindful of these pressures so as not to lose sight of what makes their approach so organizational-centric and candidate-positive.

Physicians are also becoming a lot more proactive about their careers. The newest physicians entering the workforce are smarter than ever in looking for particular cultures or compensation models and are acting with greater savvy in their negotiation skills. Physicians at all levels want to be involved in decisions that impact them; they want to be supported to reduce administrative time and increase patient time; and they want career paths and opportunities for growth and mentoring. And unlike physicians of the past, if they don’t get these things, they will leave. Staying out of loyalty is not as high of a value as it once was. Unfortunately, organizational retention plans are still few and far between. To get ahead of this growing turnover trend, employers must address provider turnover with fresh, consistent, and measurable strategies with a sincere desire and willingness to make changes when the feedback directs it. Without this focus, staffing professionals will remain as busy as ever but with clear losses to organizations in productivity, profitability, and access to quality care.

Read

Physician perspective on locum tenens

  • Highly Familiar With Locums
  • Positive Impressions of Locums
  • Highly Interested In Locums
  • Highly Familiar With Locums

    Familiarity of locum tenens is at an all-time high.

    Highly Familiar With Locums
  • Positive Impressions of Locums

    Physicians generally regard locum tenens positively, and favorable impressions have remained steady of the past few years.

    Positive Impressions of Locums
  • Highly Interested In Locums

    For physicians who express at least some interest, there’s an upward trend in those who are highly interested.

    Highly Interested In Locums

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Healthcare organization perspectives

Sixty-four percent of facilities report using locum tenens, with only 16% saying their utilization is rare, and 35% saying they use locum tenens often or very often.

Half the facilities anticipate they will continue to use about the same amount of locum tenens, and a third expect utilization to increase.

Our system is big enough that we are able to offer our patients a wide variety of services. However, we’re small enough that if one or two people leave, we can feel a significant strain on staffing. Locum tenens lets us cover those gaps and keep offering our patients the care they expect.

Amy Powell, CPRP

Amy Powell, CPRP

Director of Medical Staff Recruitment, Reid Health

Frequency of Locum Tenens Utilization

Frequency of Locum Tenens Utilization

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Planned Locums Use in The Upcoming Year

Locum tenens are used for a variety of reasons, with most used to fill in during the hiring process or to cover for a departing physician.

Planned Locums Use in The Upcoming Year

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

We would love to be 100% employed with permanent staff, but it’s just not possible in the current state. We are growing faster than we can bring on new people, so locums support allows us to keep up with that growth while still offering great patient care.

Allison Spindle

Allison Spindle

MPS Director of Provider Recruitment, Inova

Reasons For Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Facilities using locums for rising patient demand and during peak periods have increased dramatically from 2020, likely in response to COVID-19.

Reasons For Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Overall Impression of Locum Tenens Physicians Hired in Last 12 Months

While 44% of recruiters and hospital leaders have a neutral impression of the locum tenens physicians that have worked in their facilities, an equal amount reports a somewhat positive or very positive impression of the physicians. Only 12% have a negative impression, and no one reported having a very negative impression.

Overall Impression of Locum Tenens Physicians Hired

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Perception of Locum Tenens Physicians

Most staffing personnel report that locum tenens physicians are accepted, versus being embraced, at their facilities.

Perception of Locum Tenens Physicians

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Benefits of Utilizing Locums

Benefits of utilizing locums vary, led by continual treatment of patients. In 2022, we saw that 26% more respondents also reported reduction of staff burnout, a key indicator of increased burnout from the pandemic. However, using locum tenens also has some drawbacks.

The top three ways health systems can help themselves is by adopting a strategic approach to their locum tenens staffing. Simply cutting locums budgets may create a short-term savings but is potentially leaving three times the amount of revenue on the table by not offering the services those locums could be providing. Secondly, they need to better leverage telehealth and technology to streamline systems and make patient care more accessible. And finally, they need to find actual ways to address physician burnout. This means doing more than providing free lunches or meditation spaces. They need to look at work environment, hours, and other issues that directly impact physician well-being.

Melinda Giese

Melinda Giese

Senior Vice President, CHG Healthcare

Locum tenens are a need, not a want. The pandemic combined with the general workforce shortage has made finding permanent staff even more difficult. Locums are a good gap filler but not what our people or patients want long term.

Amy Powell, CPRP, CPRP

Amy Powell, CPRP, CPRP

Director of Medical Staff Recruitment, Reid Health

Benefits to Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Benefits to Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Drawbacks to Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Drawbacks to Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Client Awareness & Perceptions Survey

Locum tenens should be seen as a profit center rather than a cost center. When locums physicians are used and, even more importantly, billed for correctly, they can bring in as much as three times the revenue compared to what they cost. Cutting locums to save money is in reality just costing you a lot more money.

Melinda Giese

Melinda Giese

Senior Vice President, CHG Healthcare

Premium labor costs, a constant challenge, are even more of a concern in a post-pandemic world. While hospitals can bill both private and public payers for locum tenens physicians, many of these revenue streams go unclaimed.

The Data

Who’s Working Locums?

The exact number of physicians working locums is unknown, but it’s estimated to be almost 50,000, about 7% of the available physician population.

  • Foreign medical grads, about 24.7% of the total physician population, are not eligible to work locums

  • Removing this population from the AMA Masterfile of Active Physicians (940,254) and comparing it to the number that reported they currently worked locums in 2021, it would be 49,561 physicians

  • This represents an 88% increase in physicians working locums since 2015

Locum Tenens Physician Estimates - Currently Working

Locum Tenens Physician Estimates - Currently Working

Source: Utilizes data from the CHG Healthcare Locum Tenens Awareness research study and applying to "currently working locums" percentage to the AMA Masterfile of Active Physicians

Locum Tenens Experience

33% of physicians are either currently working locums or have worked it in the past.

Locum Tenens Experience

Source: CHG Healthcare 2021 Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey

Current Locums Physician Age Groups

The AAMC Active Physicians by Sex and Specialty report states physicians across the country are 63.7% male and 36.3% female. For locums, the numbers trend higher for men (79%) than women (19%).

Current locums comes from all age groups but the largest segment are mid- to late-career physicians over 45.

Current Locums Physician Age Groups

Source: See AAMC report here.

Locums in the past were typically older, more tenured physicians looking for a way to ease into retirement. Today, we’re seeing more and more young physicians who want better work-life balance and flexibility in their lives. Being a physician used to be all about the work; now it’s about the work and the life outside of work.

Luke Woodyard

Luke Woodyard

President, Weatherby Healthcare

While mid- and late-career segments make up a large part of the current locums workforce, most physicians with locums experience report taking their first locum tenens assignment earlier in their careers, with 59% reporting it was within 10 years of completing their training.

Stage of Career When Physicians Start Locum Tenens Work

Stage of Career When Physicians Start Locum Tenens Work

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Number of Years Spent Working as a Locum Tenens Physician

Most physicians report spending on average 4.6 years working locums.

Mean

4.61 years

Median

3 years

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Locum Tenens Schedule Worked

In 2019 (pre-COVID), more locums physicians worked part time, but in 2021 (post-COVID), that flipped to more working full time.

Locum Tenens Schedule Worked

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Capacity in Which Locum Tenens Physicians Practice Medicine

Capacity in Which Locum Tenens Physicians Practice Medicine

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Location of Locum Tenens Assignments

Fifty-one percent of physicians who’ve done locums report working locums assignments close to home, while 49% worked them in nearby cities or states.

Location of Locum Tenens Assignments

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

In addition to the United States, the need for physicians working internationally has also continued to grow.

Like the U.S., many countries around the world are returning to pre-Covid norms and realizing they have huge needs for physicians. Demand remains strong in the traditional places that physicians have found international jobs like New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. However, we’re also seeing growing demand in places like China, the U.K., and the Caribbean.

Tyler Black

Tyler Black

President, Global Medical Staffing

Most Utilized Specialties In Locums

The most utilized specialties for locums have remained fairly consistent with family practice being the most in demand. Emergency medicine has seen a regular decline since before the pandemic as more patients utilize urgent care.

Most Utilized Specialties In Locums

This past year we have seen tremendous growth in the need for both psychiatrists and oncologists. Both needs stem from the pandemic but for very different reasons. We’re seeing more patients wanting to address mental and behavior health issues, many that were overlooked or brought on during the pandemic. And oncology is unfortunately seeing an increase due to many people not seeking the cancer care they needed during the pandemic and are now faced with more serious diagnoses and medical needs.

Brooke Bowers

Brooke Bowers

President, CompHealth

Why work locums?

Overall Impression of Locum Tenens

71% of physicians have reported to have had a very positive or somewhat positive impression of locum tenens.

Overall Impression of Locum Tenens

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Reasons Why Physicians Start Working Locum Tenens

Physicians overwhelmingly work locums as a way to supplement their income.

Reasons Why Physicians Start Working Locum Tenens

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Reasons Why Physicians Continue Working Locum Tenens

Reasons Why Physicians Continue Working Locum Tenens

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

It may seem contrary to the desire for more work/life balance, but some physicians, especially those who were negatively impacted by the pandemic, are seeking out less balance in their lives because they are trying to make up for money they lost while furloughed or laid off. Whether it’s taking on more locums shifts in addition to a permanent job or just working as many locums assignments as they can, some doctors are taking advantage of the huge need that is out there for physicians right now.

Luke Woodyard

Luke Woodyard

President, Weatherby Healthcare

Physicians today are expecting more from their employers, they want more flexibility and work-life balance. We’ve tried to address their concerns by reducing the call schedule and bringing on more advanced practice providers to alleviate some of their work stress. We have also improved compensation for physicians and APPs. In addition, we have changed our physician leadership structure, giving them more options for career paths into leadership.

Allison Spindle

Allison Spindle

MPS Director of Provider Recruitment, Inova

Locum Tenens Experience Evaluation

The majority of physicians who have worked locum tenens report having a positive experience.

Locum Tenens Experience Evaluation

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Reasons For Positive Experience

Reasons For Positive Experience

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Reasons For Less Than Positive Locum Tenens Experience

Reasons For Less Than Positive Locum Tenens Experience

Source: CHG Healthcare's Locum Tenens Awareness & Perception Survey 2022

Locums Facts

Definitive Healthcare recently did an analysis of the facilities using the most locums. The top 20 list included a mix of rural and urban facilities. Interestingly, a 25-bed facility in Iowa used more locums than much larger hospitals in Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh.

As far as where the most locums jobs are being filled, these are the top 20 states for locums.

Open Jobs By State

For jobs in relation to population, the list changes dramatically.

Open Jobs Per Capita

Methodology

CHG Healthcare compiled these statistics from surveys issued to general physician audiences as well as internal data and resources.

Ready to put the power of CHG to work for your facilities?

Don’t be a stranger. If you’re interested in exploring our staffing services, give us a call or use the form to contact our strategic advisors.

CHG Enterprise Client Solutions

866.608.4020
First name*
Last name*
Hospital/Organization*
Email address*
Phone number
Message
By submitting your information via this form, you agree that you may be contacted by a member of our team via SMS, MMS, email or phone as outlined in our privacy policy.

Thanks.

We received your message and
one of our strategic advisors
will contact you shortly.

Thanks. We received your message and one of our strategic advisors will contact you shortly.