FAQ - What are hospitals looking for in a locum tenens physician?

Deidre Novotny, Regional Practice Director, talks about a hospital’s need to understand the physician’s past experience and ensure a cultural fit.

Transcript:

I always like to do an initial phone screen with an interview before I place them on the schedule. Usually, that consists of going through their CV, just understanding their past history, what type of hospitals they have been at, what type of experience.

I always like to go into why they’re working as a locum and try to figure out: are they forced to be a locum or is it by choice? A lot of locums actually work full-time already elsewhere and are picking up extra work on the side. I like to gauge availability.

I always ask the hard question, “Have you ever been asked not to come back to a hospital or an assignment whether it be for a clinical or a behavioral issue?” just to do some additional scanning on really what their past history looks like. When I’m scanning for a specific facility, I then engage in conversation about the needs of that facility, what I have learned from the administrators there of what they’re looking for in the providers, the expectations they have, the culture.

In today’s world of medicine, when you sit down and speak to an administrator of a hospital, they’re looking more than just quality of care. They expect that whatever physician you’re going to place there is a good clinician.

Soft skills are a huge essential as well. In today’s world again, we have a lot of patient satisfaction surveys that will even eventually affect reimbursement. Physicians need to be able to collaborate with nurses and engage them and make them feel empowered and part of the team.