Locum onboarding is the work between a confirmed shift and the first patient. At an urgent care it has four tracks: the credential file, system access, the building and your team. Each track has a different owner, and none of them has to wait for the others.
This checklist puts those tracks in order by stage. It's written for the clinic manager or operations lead who gets a locum clinician ready, whatever the role: physician, NP, PA, RN or MA.
Before You Need a Locum: Prepare the Onboarding Template
Locum onboarding is slow when each step is worked out during the first booking. You can prepare four things before any shift is posted.
- One owner. Name one person who holds the checklist. Other people do the tasks, and the owner checks that each one is done by its date.
- A written credentialing policy. It says which checks apply to each role and who approves a file. The urgent care locum credentialing guide covers what goes in it.
- An orientation packet. It holds a clinic profile, an EMR walkthrough and the name of a day-one contact. Seven locum orientation mistakes explains how to build it.
- An access request form. One page lists every system and door a locum clinician needs, by role. With it, the request to your EMR administrator or IT vendor is complete the first time.
When the Shift Is Confirmed: Start Every Onboarding Track the Same Day
The four tracks don't depend on each other. Your EMR administrator can prepare an account while the file is under review, and activate it when the file is approved. Start each track on the day the shift is confirmed.
| Track | First task | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Credential file | Send the clinician one complete list of the documents you need for their role | Office manager or credentialing lead |
| System access | Submit the access request: EMR role, e-prescribing if they prescribe, any lab or imaging portals | EMR administrator or IT vendor |
| Building | Arrange a key, badge or door code, alarm instructions if they open or close, and parking | Clinic manager |
| Team | Put the clinician's name and role on the schedule and tell the staff working that shift | Clinic manager or scheduler |
Tell the person who approves credential files that one is coming, and give them the shift date. A complete file waits if the approver doesn't know about it.
If you booked through an agency or a marketplace, ask what it has already collected and checked, and get that file the same day. You still review it against your own policy.
Two more questions belong to this stage. Ask your billing team or billing company how this clinician's visits will be billed. Ask your malpractice carrier or broker whether your policy needs notice of a locum clinician, and get in writing who carries coverage for the shift.
Before the First Shift: Review, Approve and Send
When the documents are in, the approver compares the file with your written policy. They approve it or send back a question. Give that review a deadline tied to the shift date, and name a second approver for days the first one is away.
When the file is approved:
- Activate the EMR account and send the login to the clinician. Ask them to sign in and confirm it works. The EMR access checklist for locum clinicians lists the permissions to test.
- Send the orientation packet with the day-one contact's name and phone number.
- Send the practical details: the address, where to park, which door to use, when to arrive, what to wear and who will meet them.
- For an NP or PA, name the collaborating or supervising physician if your arrangement has one, and say how to reach them during the shift. Your medical director or attorney can tell you what your state requires.
The Day Before: Run the Onboarding Checklist Once More
The owner checks every item the day before the shift and contacts the clinician.
- The file is approved, and the dated record is saved
- The clinician has tested the EMR login
- E-prescribing works, if the clinician prescribes
- The key, badge or code is ready
- The packet is sent, and the day-one contact is working that shift
- The staff on the shift know who is coming
- The clinician has confirmed the start time and the address
Give each open item a name and a time that same day. A login problem found the day before takes one phone call to your EMR administrator. The same problem found at opening means patients wait while someone looks for the administrator.
Decide in advance what you'll do if the file isn't approved by the day before. Don't ask a clinician to start with an open file. Use the backup you'd use for a call-out, which the same-day replacement playbook covers.
The First Shift: Hand Over to the Day-One Contact
On the first morning, the owner introduces the clinician to the day-one contact. That person walks them through the building, stays available for the first hours and answers the questions only your clinic can answer.
Ask the clinician to arrive before the first patient is roomed, so the walkthrough and a login check don't take visit time. If you ask for an early arrival, say whether that time is paid.
After the Shift: Close Out and Update the Onboarding Checklist
Locum onboarding has a last stage after the shift ends.
- Approve the clinician's hours promptly, because their pay waits on your approval.
- Decide whether to keep or turn off system access. If the clinician is coming back soon, note the date. If not, turn the account off and collect the key or badge.
- Record every expiration date in the file. A rebooking months later then starts with a check of dates and not a new file.
- Ask the clinician and the day-one contact what was missing or wrong, and fix the template.
A second booking of the same clinician needs the date checks, working access and a schedule entry. That's a reason to rebook clinicians who've already worked at your clinic when you can.
Rediworks is a self-service marketplace for urgent care locum shifts. Clinicians upload their documents once to a credential wallet, and you post the clinician type, dates and shift details you need. Sign up to post shifts.