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The 3 Essential Questions for Every Locum Tenens Screening

Qualifications, availability, and references: crucial locum tenens screening questions.

Locum tenens staffing is more popular than ever, and its rise in prominence doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.  In 2014, 91% of healthcare facilities surveyed by AMN Healthcare reported using locum tenens providers in some capacity during the last year.

Whether the opening is for a single day, or for several months, more and more employers are realizing just how easy locum tenens staffing can be.

HOW TO ENSURE THE QUALITY OF LOCUM TENENS PROVIDERS:

In the aforementioned survey, 81.1% of employers believed that the locum tenens providers that they hired were worth the cost. In order to achieve these levels of satisfaction, staffing agencies are responsible for properly screening their providers to verify that they’re the right fit for each assignment.

In order to be certain that their candidates are ideal providers for the position, there are three questions that vendors need to consider during every screening.

1. ARE THEY AVAILABLE TO WORK?

Be certain that the dates of the assignment are correct, and that the provider understands the required hours, the length of their contracted assignment, and the availability requirements associated with their prospective position.

The provider may need to be flexible, depending on the type of assignment, so verify that they’re aware of every shift they may be required to work. It reflects poorly on an agency when a facility is left without help because a provider was not aware of the availability requirements for their position.

2. DO THEY HAVE THE NECESSARY SKILLS?

If the provider can’t perform the basic functions of a job, or doesn’t have the required experience, going any further with the prescreening is a waste of both parties’ time. Make sure that the facility has made the position’s requirements very clear, so that it can be easily decided whether or not the provider meets them.

Given that the employment can be for a very short amount of time, facilities need to be sure that the providers that they’re hiring on don’t require additional, basic training, and are competent in their field.

3. ARE THEIR CREDENTIALS IN ORDER?

Facilities need to know that a candidate has completed any required trainings, and has all of the licenses that are legally required to perform their duties. Most agencies will keep the basic documents on file for each of their candidates, so that they can quickly send their candidate’s file out once they’ve screened them.

It is the vendor’s responsibility to look over the provider’s credentials and to ensure that every candidate that they submit is licensed, properly trained, and experienced in their prospective job classification.

EASY ENOUGH, RIGHT?

Locum tenens staffing is a thriving industry and–while some positions will require additional screening–with these three, simple questions it will be easy to ensure that screenings are done efficiently and thoroughly.

Do you have any tips and tricks for locum tenens screening? Comment below or continue the conversation on our LinkedIn page.

If you have providers to screen, but no orders to fill, contact Management Solution to join our team of vendors and view our open orders. Click here to learn more.

If you’re a provider looking to be screened for a position, Management Solution would be happy to put you in touch with an agency that will work for you. Click here to learn more.