A staffing source tells each side things about the other. It tells a clinician what a shift pays and what the clinic is like. It tells a clinic that a clinician is licensed, screened and available. You can trust a locum staffing source to the extent that you can check those statements yourself.
This post lists what to confirm before a first shift. The first list is for clinicians, and the second is for urgent care operators.
What clinicians should confirm with a staffing source
The rate, before you spend time
Ask for the rate in writing before you fill out an application or send documents. A source that won't state the rate until after an intake call is asking you to spend time without the one fact you need to decide.
Then ask what the rate covers. Is it paid for scheduled hours or worked hours? Is charting after close paid? Is anything deducted from the rate before you're paid, and when is pay sent after your hours are approved?
That the shift is a real shift
A real shift has a date, a start and end time, a location and a named facility. Ask for all four. A listing with no date and no facility describes a type of work, and you can't plan around it.
Who carries malpractice coverage
Ask who provides the coverage for the shift, what kind of policy it is, and what happens to coverage after the arrangement ends. Get the answers in writing. Malpractice coverage gaps for locum clinicians explains the terms, and an attorney or insurance broker can tell you what a policy means for you.
What happens if the shift is canceled
Find the cancellation terms before you accept. How much notice does the clinic have to give? Are you paid anything for a late cancellation? What's expected of you if you have to cancel? Locum tenens contract terms to ask about before signing covers these clauses.
What urgent care operators should confirm with a staffing source
What you'll be charged, before you agree
Ask for the full cost of a shift before you accept a clinician. If the source quotes one bill rate, ask what it includes and what's charged separately, such as fees for overtime, late requests or hiring the clinician later. Urgent care staffing agency contracts covers the terms that change your cost.
Which credential checks were run
"Credentialed" can mean different things from one staffing source to the next. Ask three questions about each check:
- What was checked? A license, an exclusion list, a certification, a reference.
- Against what? A copy of a document shows what was true on the day it was issued. A lookup with the issuing board shows the current status.
- On what date? A check from last spring doesn't tell you about today.
Ask to see the file before the shift, not on the morning of it.
Some checks you can run yourself. The HHS Office of Inspector General keeps a list of people and organizations excluded from federal health care programs, and you can search that list online. Anyone who hires a person on the list may be subject to civil monetary penalties. Run the search for every role and keep a dated record, even when a staffing source has already screened the clinician. The operator's guide to urgent care locum credentialing goes through each check in the file.
Who makes the final decision
A staffing source can collect documents and run checks. Your clinic still decides who works there. Write down your own criteria and name the person who approves a file, so the decision doesn't wait on the day you need coverage.
Put the shift details in writing for both sides
A clinician and a clinic are both relying on the same facts: the date, the hours, the rate, the role and what the clinician will be asked to do. If the two sides were told different things, they find out on the day of the shift.
Operators can prevent that by writing an accurate listing. State the hours you expect, the EMR, the staffing on the shift and any service lines such as occupational health. What locum clinicians look for in an urgent care shift lists the details clinicians plan around. Clinicians can prevent it by reading the listing and the terms before they accept, and by asking about anything that's missing.
Where a recruiter helps and where a marketplace helps
A traditional agency with a recruiter is the better fit when you want someone else to do the work. A recruiter sources candidates for a clinic, and arranges travel and housing for a clinician who works away from home.
A self-service marketplace fits when you'd rather see the information yourself. On Rediworks, each listing shows the rate, location, shift length and facility before a clinician applies. Clinicians upload their documents once to a credential wallet, and the status of each check shows in the dashboard. Operators post their own shifts and see who applied before they accept anyone.
Signup is self-service for clinicians and operators. Sign up to see shifts.