Report Highlights Trends in Locum Tenens Clinician Utilization

The primary reason for using locum tenens clinicians remains filling open staff positions temporarily, but healthcare organizations are increasingly using locum tenens clinicians more strategically, according to CHG Healthcare.

A new report finds that healthcare organizations are using locum tenens clinicians more often, and for different reasons.

The market for locum tenens clinicians is valued at $9.4 billion, and these clinicians serve as many as one in three of U.S. patients annually, according to the report from CHG Healthcare. For decades, locum tenens clinicians have been used by health systems, hospitals, and medical groups primarily to fill open staff clinician positions.

The 2025 State of Locum Tenens Report has several key findings.

• Last year, healthcare organizations reported that locum tenens clinician utilization was 25 percentage points higher than anticipated.
   
• About 80% of healthcare facilities expected flat or increased utilization of locum tenens clinicians in 2025.
   
• Last year, locum tenens clinicians were used in 16.4% of physician employment searches and 8.1% of advanced practice provider (APP) searches, which are the highest rates of locum tenens employment searches ever recorded.
   
• Using locum tenens clinicians to fill open staff clinician positions remains the most common reason to employ locum tenens clinicians, with 67% of healthcare organizations using them in 2024 until a permanent staff clinician could be found.
   
• While using locum tenens clinicians to fill open staff clinician positions is the most common reason to use locum tenens clinicians, the percentage of healthcare organizations using locum tenens clinicians for this reason fell from 82% in 2023 to 67% in 2024.
   
• Other reasons for using locum tenens clinicians include supplementing permanent staff during peak patient demand periods and strategic reasons such as reducing staff workload to decrease staff turnover.
   
• In May 2024, 8% of physicians reported that they were working as locum tenens clinicians, with another 27% reporting that they had worked as locum tenens clinicians in the past.
   
• Nearly a third of locum tenens physicians reported that they chose to work in the role to gain more control of their schedule, and 10% reported choosing to work in locum tenens roles to avoid overwork and burnout. Nearly half of locum tenens physicians reported decreased symptoms of burnout after working in locum tenens roles.
   
• The quality of care provided by locum tenens physicians is comparable with staff physicians, with no statistical difference in key metrics including length of stay and 30-day mortality.

There is a paradigm shift in locum tenens utilization, according to the report.

"The industry has evolved from its early days, with healthcare organizations becoming more deliberate and strategic with their locums programs in order to meet organizational goals, not just fill gaps," the report says. "Locums provides healthcare organizations with the flexibility to meet the ebbs and flows of demand, the ability to maintain revenue streams, and the leeway to explore new offerings."

Corey Cronrath, DO, MPH, MBA, is CMO of Mental Health Cooperative. Photo courtesy of Mental Health Cooperative.

A CMO's Perspectives on Locum Tenens

Utilization of locum tenens physicians and APPs has increased in recent years, according to Corey Cronrath, DO, MPH, MBA, CMO of Mental Health Cooperative.

"Our use of locum tenens physicians and advanced practice providers has increased over the past year or two," Cronrath says. "When I was service line medical director at Marshfield Clinic Health System, there was a rapid increase in locum tenens clinician utilization. At Mental Health Cooperative, the increased utilization of locum tenens clinicians has been slower but significant."

Using locum tenens clinicians to fill open staff clinician positions and maintain services are the primary reasons to employ locum tenens clinicians, Cronrath explains.

"Marshfield Clinic Health System is a large rural health system, and it needed to utilize locum tenens clinicians to keep services available such as anesthesia services and emergency department services," Cronrath says. "At Mental Health Cooperative, we have used locum tenens clinicians to maintain primary care services."

The quality of care provided by locum tenens clinicians is generally comparable to staff clinicians, but CMOs and other healthcare leaders should promote a robust onboarding process for locum tenens clinicians to boost their quality performance, according to Cronrath.

"A study published in 2017 found there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality for hospitalized patients who were cared for by locum tenens physicians versus staff physicians," Cronrath says. "However, locum tenens physicians are not as familiar with the systems, workflows, and care teams, which can impact quality outcomes."

While most locum tenens clinicians provide high-quality care, there is variability in the quality performance of these clinicians, Cronrath explains.

"Most locum tenens physicians have been practicing for many years and shift to working in locum tenens roles, so clinically they are excellent," Cronrath says. "A few locum tenens physicians have struggled in clinical settings, and we create a list of those physicians, so we don't bring them back to work in our organization."

Regarding the shift toward using locum tenens clinicians more strategically, they can be helpful when a healthcare organization is experiencing rapid growth or during efforts aimed at market expansion, according to Cronrath.

"Those situations lend themselves to the use of locum tenens clinicians initially," Cronrath says. "This allows you to provide access to care and gives you time to bring on more permanent physicians who can help you achieve continuity of care."

However, CMOs and other healthcare leaders should be careful when utilizing locum tenens clinicians beyond the nontraditional role of filling open staff clinician positions.

"You need to be concerned about the continuity of care when you are using locum tenens clinicians on a temporary basis," Cronrath says. "If you are using locum tenens clinicians to start a new service line or to pilot a project, they are not a great fit. You are better off using employed physicians or contracting with a local physician group because there is more dedication to the local market and much better continuity of care."