Frequently Asked Questions Quick Answers to Common Hospital Medicine Questions

Locum tenens is Latin for “to hold a place,” and it is essentially a temporary doctor. Locum tenens work in hospitals and cover all areas of specialty for short-term positions from a few days a week to several months. Visit here to learn more about the history of locum tenens.

There are many reasons why your hospital may be contracting Sonoran Hospital Medicine to provide locum tenens hospitalist services.

Just as a company uses a staffing agency to outsource many of its roles, a hospital enjoys similar benefits in outsourcing physicians.

They know they will attract experienced, patient-focused doctors, and the hospitals don’t have to worry about medical malpractice insurance, recruiting, or employee benefits because the agency manages all of that.

Locum tenens hospitalists provide a critical service to hospitals and patients by ensuring that there is always adequate coverage at a hospital.

By using locum tenens hospitalists, hospitals can staff up quickly to handle unexpected increases in patient demand or cover for a full-time hospitalist that needs to be away.

There are many reasons that physicians will choose locum tenens positions. Some are just out of their residencies and want to try a variety of roles before settling in. Others want to create more flexible schedules by choosing when they work.

Still others use this as a way to travel, see the country, and interact with a variety of different patients. In addition, locum tenens hospitalists can focus entirely on patients in these positions, as they have no other role within the hospital except to provide care.

The biggest personal benefit is the flexibility such positions allow.

Sonoran Hospital Medicine contracts locum tenens hospitalists that want to better balance their careers and their families, helping patients at work and spending time with loved ones at home.

Really, it provides them with the best of both worlds - the ability to serve people as a hospitalist while allowing the freedom to choose contracts that best fit their life.

Just like traditional full-time hospitalists, locum tenens hospitalists are focused on providing excellent patient care.

However, since locum tenens hospitalists are placed in hospitals for short-term positions, they are only there to serve patients.

Having them in place also ensures that full-time hospitalists don’t have to be overworked during periods of high volume and that patients won’t have to wait as long for care.

Locum tenens hospitalists are part of your medical team and may communicate with your other physicians handling your care, but they aren’t involved in your care after you are discharged from the hospital.

They may make recommendations and suggestions, but it is your primary care physician or specialist who will oversee your care after discharge.

Any relationship with a hospital doctor is short term; it’s the nature of the system.

If you have questions or concerns about your hospital stay, you will communicate with the hospital staff.

They understand the nature of the locum tenens hospitalist and their processes are built to ensure even though you’re not working with the locum tenens hospitalist anymore, you’re going to receive the follow-up care you need.