Help is on the way for physicians
In response to the ongoing and worsening physician shortage, several states are stepping up to empower other medical professionals to administer vaccines and more.
Also in this edition of Locums CME: How telemedicine enhances flexibility for locums, understanding the financial benefits of locum tenens, finding success in locum tenens neurology, a surprising AMA survey finds a surprising decrease in physician burnout, NP education, major healthcare staffing trends, and so much more.
Continue your locums education with Locums CME 37 below!
States Expand Scope of Practice to Combat Healthcare Workforce Shortages
July 22, 2024 | National Conference of State Legislatures
Many states have broadened the scope of practice for certain health professionals, allowing them to offer a wider range of services to address workforce shortages in underserved areas.
In 2023, at least 27 states enacted more than 50 bills to modify the practice and prescriptive authority for nonphysician healthcare providers such as nurse-midwives, registered nurses, dental hygienists, and physician assistants.
Practice Authority Changes
At least seven states expanded practice authority for various health professionals to improve healthcare delivery in underserved areas.
- New Hampshire broadened the services for substance use professionals and optometrists.
- North Carolina established certification standards for addiction counselors and behavioral health practitioners.
- Washington allowed out-of-state credentialed behavioral health providers to practice locally.
- California approved certified nurse-midwives to manage childbirth and gynecologic conditions under physician agreements.
- Illinois allowed physician assistants to continue care post-collaborative agreements.
- In Maine and Oklahoma, dental hygienists and therapists can now administer local anesthesia and prescribe fluoride after special training.
Prescriptive Authority Changes
Fifteen states passed laws enabling practitioners to administer vaccines and prescribe medications after completing required training.
- Pharmacists in Oklahoma and Puerto Rico can now administer medications and vaccines.
- Michigan also allows them to order and administer vaccines to individuals three and older without physician supervision.
- Certified pharmacy technicians in Vermont and Georgia can also administer vaccines.
- Arkansas has authorized pharmacists to provide HIV prevention medications, while Indiana and Vermont now permit pharmacists and technicians to prescribe hormonal contraceptives.
- Wisconsin has granted more prescriptive authority to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and New Hampshire has expanded telehealth prescribing authority for various controlled substances.
Your Locums Prescription
MPLT: Telemedicine Enhances Flexibility and Reach for Locum Tenens Providers
July 19, 2024 | MPLT Healthcare
Telemedicine is transforming healthcare by offering locum tenens providers the flexible work environments they seek without the constraints of full-time, in-person roles. Several benefits for locum providers include:
Enhanced Flexibility: Telemedicine boosts the flexibility of locum tenens work, enabling providers to operate from virtually anywhere. This freedom allows them to manage their time more effectively, balancing professional duties with personal commitments.
Professional Development: Working in telemedicine, providers gain new competencies in digital health technologies and adapt to innovative care delivery models. This continuous learning ensures locum tenens providers remain competitive and well-rounded.
Extended Reach: Telemedicine breaks down geographical barriers, allowing locum tenens providers to deliver patient care to underserved or rural communities.
All Star: Achieve Personal and Professional Balance with Locum Tenens
July 16, 2024 | All Star Healthcare Solutions
Physicians and advanced practice providers choose locum tenens for fewer administrative duties, flexible scheduling, and to find roles that resonate with them. All Star Healthcare Solutions highlights some common reasons professionals choose locum tenens:
- To Make an Impact: Locum tenens providers fill temporary vacancies, enabling hospitals and clinics to provide essential services, often for facilities lacking year-round specialists.
- To Balance Work and Hobbies: Locum tenens work allows providers to integrate personal interests with professional responsibilities, helping combat burnout.
- Working Close to Friends and Family: Locum providers can choose assignments near friends and family, offering more quality time with loved ones.
- Focusing on Personal Well-Being: Locum tenens work enables providers to focus on patient care without administrative burdens, leading to greater job satisfaction.
Vista: Financial Benefits of Locum Tenens: Understanding the Financial Benefits of Locum Tenens
July 17, 2024 | Vista Staffing Solutions
Locum tenens positions are increasingly attractive to physicians due to several financial perks. Higher earnings are a major draw, as facilities pay premium rates for temporary staff, allowing locum physicians to earn more than their full-time counterparts. These roles also offer greater scheduling flexibility, enabling physicians to choose their work periods and maintain a steady flow of income.
Tax advantages further enhance the appeal, with deductions for travel, housing, continuing education, medical licensing, and professional association fees significantly reducing providers’ taxable income. Some of the incentives, like relocation and completion bonuses, along with lower overhead costs compared to running a private practice, add to the financial benefits, making locum tenens an appealing option for many physicians.
Hayes Locums: Finding Success in Locum Tenens Neurology
July 18, 2024 | Hayes Locums
Exploring locum tenens opportunities in neurology offers a mix of rewards and challenges. Success hinges on finding roles that match your clinical expertise and personal preferences. Location is crucial, and Hayes Locums recommends choosing places with personal significance or easy travel, as this can greatly impact the satisfaction and success of your assignment.
Job security is another concern, but working with staffing consultants helps providers secure reliable assignments. These roles, often resulting from strong relationships consultants have with healthcare facilities, ensure there’s a perfect match for both provider and facility.
According to Hayes, locum neurology assignments can also be long-term, which helps providers build strong patient relationships and potentially lead to extended contracts.
Physician Wellness Retreat
Peer Coaching Reduces Physician Burnout and Boosts Fulfillment, JAMA Study Finds
July 17, 2024 | Healio
A study in JAMA Network Open reveals that peer coaching among physicians at the Mass General Physicians Organization significantly cut burnout and boosted their professional fulfillment. Over three months, 67 of 138 physicians received peer coaching, showing marked improvements compared to the control group of 71 physicians.
Burnout was measured using the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, a tool designed to assess healthcare professionals’ well-being and job satisfaction. It also evaluated secondary outcomes, such as professional fulfillment, impact on personal relationships, quality of life, work engagement, and self-valuation.
- The coached group saw a 30% reduction in interpersonal disengagement and a 22% decline in overall burnout, while the control group experienced increases in both.
- Professional fulfillment increased by 11% in the coached group, with no change in the control group.
- Work engagement rose by 6% for the coached group but decreased by 2% in the control group.
Researchers emphasized the importance of this coaching program, now implemented across Mass General in Boston. Peer coaching has proven effective in combating physician burnout and improving job satisfaction. This approach could serve as a model for other institutions aiming to support their healthcare providers through coaching.
AMA Report Shows Decrease in Physician Burnout and Increased Job Satisfaction in Early and Late Careers
July 17, 2024 | Becker’s Hospital Review
Burnout among physicians has decreased across the board, with new physicians seeing the most significant improvement, according to the 2023 AMA Organizational Biopsy report. The survey, which included over 12,400 physicians from 31 states, highlights the following burnout levels for 2023 compared to 2022:
- 1–5 years of experience: burnout rate of 47%, down from 54%.
- 6–10 years of experience: burnout rate of 55%, down from 61%.
- 11–15 years of experience: burnout rate of 55%, down from 59%.
- 16–20 years of experience: burnout rate of 51%, down from 56%.
- Over 20 years of experience: burnout rate of 41%, down from 46%.
Job satisfaction is notably high among both early-career and late-career physicians. Specifically, 75% of physicians with five years or fewer out of training report higher job satisfaction, and 73% of those with more than 20 years of experience feel the same. These figures suggest that efforts to combat physician burnout are making a positive impact.
Doctor’s Notes
Experts Focus on Quality of Nurse Practitioner Education
July 29, 2024 | Becker’s Clinical Leadership
As nurse practitioners have gained greater visibility during the healthcare staffing shortage, their education has become the source of divergent opinions on its strengths and weaknesses.
Nurse practitioner is the nation’s fastest-growing profession, so the number of training programs and students has been on the rise. In 2022, 39,000 NPs graduated from the 600 schools offering advanced nursing degrees. That was a 50% increase in graduates from 2017, and the programs giving out the largest number of advanced nursing degrees were primarily online.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners notes that facilities rely on NPs to provide high-quality care in all settings. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and The Brookings Institute have both recommended increasing the use of NPs.
However, some industry experts, including professors, have expressed concerns about possible shortcuts to maintain this pace. Understanding the education that locums NPs have received and monitoring that educational institutions remain in good standing are beneficial actions for locums agencies to consider.
Technology Addresses Physicians’ Most Pressing Time Challenges
July 29, 2024 | KevinMD.com
Thoughtful use of technology can ease the time challenges that physicians and other providers face and improve their job satisfaction, well-being, and interest in remaining in their roles. Tech-savvy agencies and facilities may also have more success attracting younger physicians who value schedule flexibility and autonomy.
Automation can help with two time-intensive tasks that, while necessary, are distracting from patient care and often frustrating for physicians. One, technology can optimize scheduling and identify gaps in coverage for both facilities and agencies. Two, automation can provide real-time updates and improve communication and coordination among team members in numerous ways that traditionally require staff intervention.
Smarter incorporation of technology will not solve the healthcare industry’s steep challenges, including the physician shortage. But it can help improve physicians’ workplace experience, which may encourage retention and, ultimately, patient satisfaction.
Bloomberg’s $1B Donation Targets Doctor Shortage, Experts Call for Broader Solutions
July 19, 2024 | Vox
Michael Bloomberg’s $1 billion donation to Johns Hopkins University aims to address the US doctor shortage by offering free tuition to most medical students. The initiative covers tuition for students whose families earn less than $300,000 annually and includes free room and board for those earning less than $175,000. However, experts argue that while it eases financial barriers, it doesn’t address the shortage in underserved areas.
The real issue is the uneven distribution of doctors, with rural and low-income regions lacking primary care providers and specialists. Free tuition programs have not successfully placed graduates in these areas. Experts suggest direct investments in these communities and equipping local hospitals with resources to train new doctors as a more effective solution.
State and local policymakers are trying to recruit students from underserved communities, hoping they will return post-graduation. For example, a UC San Francisco program in the San Joaquin Valley guarantees medical school admission to low-income students. Early results are promising, but the long-term impact remains uncertain. Research shows most doctors practice near their residency locations, which are predominantly urban academic centers. Medicare, which primarily funds medical residencies in the US, has not significantly updated its funding structure since the 1990s. This outdated approach contributes to ongoing workforce distribution challenges.
Healthcare Staffing Trends Highlight Increased Nurse Graduates, NP/PA Roles, and Platform Popularity
July 16, 2024 | Staffing Industry Analyst
Segments of the healthcare staffing industry saw rapid growth during the pandemic, followed by a quick decline, revealing critical long-term trends. SIA’s US Healthcare Staffing Market Assessment: 2024 Update highlights a few key developments.
There has been a notable increase in registered nurses entering the field. Despite a projected annual shortage of 193,100 registered nurses, the number of nurse graduates rose by 36% in 2023 compared to 2019, totaling more than 250,000. Although the National Council Licensure Examination pass rate dropped to 70% in 2023, this influx of new nurses can help alleviate the shortage, reduce burnout among existing nurses, and improve patient care. Healthcare staffing firms must create strategies to engage this new talent.
The employment of NPs and PAs is expected to grow significantly between 2022 and 2032, with NPs seeing a 45% increase and PAs a 27% increase. This growth is driven by an aging population, better geographical access to care, and a team-based care model that pairs NPs and PAs with physicians. These advanced practice providers, known for their broad training and high patient satisfaction, are essential in addressing the physician shortage.
The market for travel nurses surged by 340% from 2020 to 2022, and platforms now account for over 20% of US temporary staffing revenue for travel nurses, per diem, and allied health roles. The locum tenens segment, although still small, saw the highest growth in 2023.
As the healthcare industry evolves to meet the growing patient demand, staffing firms are expanding their value proposition by offering various workforce solutions, including managed service providers, recruitment process outsourcing, executive search, and crisis staffing.
Anesthesia Shortage Threatens Rural Healthcare and Facility Revenue
July 22, 2024 | Becker’s ASC
The shortage of anesthesiologists is projected to reach 6,300 by 2036, which may heavily affect rural areas. Here are five things to know about the shortage:
- Widespread Consequence: Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospitals are feeling the strain as the spread of ASCs has thinned anesthesiologists, increasing demand in catheterization labs and interventional radiology.
- High Demand and Attrition: Increased demand and high attrition rates drive the shortage. Nearly 30% of anesthesiologists are expected to leave the field by 2033, exacerbated by burnout and an aging workforce.
- Insufficient New Entrants: Fewer new anesthesia providers are entering the field. Despite 172 anesthesia residency programs in the US, nearly half of medical students seeking anesthesiology residencies in 2023 did not match.
- Rural Impact and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) Shortage: The shortage of CRNAs compounds the problem, particularly in rural areas that represent over 80% of anesthesia providers. By 2025, the entire nursing industry could see a shortage of about 450,000.
- Economic Consequences: The dwindling number of anesthesia providers poses a significant threat to healthcare facilities’ revenue, with surgical services contributing about 60% of income. This shortage affects not only patient care but also the financial stability of healthcare institutions.
Addressing this shortage requires strategic efforts to increase the number of trained anesthesia providers and manage existing resources more effectively.
Healthcare Predictions for 2024: Ecosystem Shifts, AI, and Personalized Care
July 22, 2024 | Advisory Board
Healthcare research firm Advisory Board recently released its predictions for the healthcare industry in 2024 and beyond. They claimed the industry was set for transformative changes in care delivery, technology integration, and personalized treatment approaches. Predictions include:
- A Shift in Care Delivery: Hospitals, traditionally the core of healthcare services, will become components within larger care ecosystems managed by large national players. These entities will own various healthcare assets, optimizing hospital use and improving patient journey management across different settings.
- Role of Technology: Technology, particularly AI, will become a healthcare team member, helping to address workforce shortages and enhance clinician efficiency by taking over routine administrative tasks.
- Bespoke Care Innovations: Personalized treatments and diagnostics have emerged, challenging traditional cost and care management models. These innovations promise patient-centric care but will require significant strategic adjustments in financing and operations to handle the complexity and higher costs of custom care.
Sponsored Content
2024 Compensation Trends and Career Tips for Anesthesiologists and CRNAs
July 23, 2024 | OnCall Solutions
Compensation for anesthesiologists and CRNAs increased this year due to increased demand and medical advancements. Anesthesiologists average $393,000 annually, with top earners in Northern California, especially for those in leadership or specialized roles. CRNAs’ median salary climbed to $215,000, influenced by location and experience.
Meanwhile, new state legislations are expanding practice authority for non-physician providers to address healthcare workforce shortages. This allows them to offer more services and improve access to care in underserved areas. Locum tenens providers stand to boost their earnings and job satisfaction by diversifying skills, keeping certifications current, and embracing travel opportunities.
The Magic of Medicine: Dr. Nwankwo’s Journey to Locum Tenens Success
July 30, 2024 | Interim Physicians
Dr. Daniel Nwankwo’s journey to locum tenens was driven by a passion for medicine and a desire for flexibility. Originally from Nigeria, he moved to the US in 2012, attracted by the efficiency of the American healthcare system. After experiencing the burnout of full-time hospital work, Dr. Nwankwo discovered the locum tenens lifestyle, giving him the freedom to practice medicine without overwhelming administrative burdens. With the support of Interim Physicians, he now practices in nine states, relishing the ability to quickly adapt to new environments. This lifestyle allows him to prioritize patient care while maintaining a balanced family life.
