Patho Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I'm interviewing for a full time hospitalist locum job (benefits similar to my current job) with the company's recruiter very soon. Been working full time for 1 hospital since graduating so I don't know anything about locums beyond what they posted on indeed. Any specific advice when applying to locums or questions I should ask besides the hours, pay, benefits? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 (edited) Oh my yes.... you will get a lot of advice I suspect but here is the biggie.... locums recruiters will say and do anything to put you in a position. They will lie to you. Be doubtful of anything they tell you. They will poor mouth and tell you the low rate they offered is absolutely the best they can do and, to get more, they will have to go ask the employer for more money. That is hogwash. They have a contract for an hourly rate and the less they pay you the more they get to keep. I had one try to get me to take a 90 day job with a neurosurgeon (including OR time) and I spent my whole career in primary care. The recruiter will paint a rosy picture of the job so ask lots of questions about hours, overtime, support staff, physician backup etc etc. If it is a 1099 position do the math considering you have to do 100% of your own withholding and you have to pay all taxes yourself with no matching contribution from an employer. Generally when I was doing locums work I expected about %35 more per hour than I would expect if I was employed with benefits. There is a lot more and I suspect others will have a lot to share. Just be wary, ask a lot of questions, and don't be shy about insisting on more money if the offer seems to low. Good luck! Edited October 21, 2021 by sas5814 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cideous Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Make damn sure you are in compliance with your state laws regarding supervision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 22, 2021 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2021 recruiter/head hunters most only care about how much money they make - how do they make money?? they charge factility > $100 (more likely around $125/hr) and then hire you for $60-80 per hour - then they avoid the taxes expense by making you a 1099. Then they make $50/hour off your labor. Honestly - if you are intersted in locums - get your own med mal and workers comp - then send out your CV to hospitals in your state and undercut the head hunters - - you can bill $90-100 per hour.... recruites lie all the time - you have to get it in writing and be firm. I had on locums that was an occ health clinic about an hour away - first shift was supposed to end at 5pm, 4:59 they are still checking in patients and I am > 8 patients behind..... I spoke with the recruter the next day, told that that in no uncertain terms I was leaving on time next shift unless they want to pay be double overtime. They cried, complained, and generally tried to guilt me into doing extra work (beyond the contract) at the same rate. I swas professional and held firm. Next shift I left on time, all the emoployees were thankful, said they never had someone stand up before and demand to leave. The only one that is going to advocate for you is you - so be firm and getting everything in writing or just say no - and if they want more they pay more. Currently in my area I would think $75-80 as employee or $90 as 1099 is the base pay for highly experenced in the field you are covering (this for PCP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 1 hour ago, ventana said: Honestly - if you are intersted in locums - get your own med mal and workers comp - then send out your CV to hospitals in your state and undercut the head hunters - - you can bill $90-100 per hour.... This. I did this for a few years and had more work than I could do. I had a head start because I had been working in the area for years and just reached out to every practice and provider I knew and told them what I was doing. It wasn't long before I was scheduled full. I had one UC that was owned by a loon and they couldn't keep staff so I practically had a full time job there and I didn't suffer any of the craziness because I wasn't an employee. If it got too crazy I just wasn't available to them for a while. It can be a little iffy sometimes. I had one episode when I check my booking for the following month and I had none... I took a job through a locums company for a couple of weeks to fill the gap. It is nice to set your own schedule, charge your own rates, and be the captain of your own ship. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patho Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 Update: After speaking with their recruiter they said they are a physician owned hospitalist group with multiple contracts in MD, the job is FT Locums, 14 shifts per block covering 3-4 of their sites @ 1-3 months per assignments. Salary: 163K, however no increases. No RVU bonuses. Benefits: 401K 3% match, Health/vision/dental covered. 6 major holidays are paid. Malpractice with tail. Travel reimbursed for sites over 1 hr driving distance. At least 1 year contract, noncompete clause says I can't work for hospitals/sites I'm contracted with them. They basically said they were burning through too much money hiring outside locums so they decided to make their own locum team (strike team). I thought salary was low for locum, especially if there are no raises. Assuming annual inflation rate of 2%, I'm taking that much of a pay cut every year after being hire. Are these numbers fair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 25, 2021 Moderator Share Posted October 25, 2021 need to know how many hours worked in a week/month/year to figure out hourly also what hours are they night and weekends? every day? 4 day work week? 7 day work week? If this is local to you they excluding all sites might be a tough pill to swallow The fact you are basically a "scab" is not a nice thing to step into and pay should be adjusted I would say an hourly at $100 (they were paying $120ish with the locums company) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 that doesn't sound like locums. It sounds like they are building a PRN pool. It sounds like they are coming at it sideways and calling it locums. That gives them a lot of advantages. They can use you full time until they don't want to and then you are functionally laid off with no unemployment bennies. Are you W-2 or 1099? That makes a big difference. Need more details about exactly what the hours are. Do they expect you to be on call because they have to pay you for that as well. It doesn't sound bad. I'd just want more specifics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 (edited) If you are being hired as part of a strike team, I am guessing it is for one of the big groups like Envision, Team Health, etc. That isn't the same as doing locums. The package you described sounds pretty good, though I am not super familiar with salary ranges in that area. @sas5814 I'm assuming he/she will be W2 considering the benefits package. It sounds like 7 on 7 off 12hr shifts. Edited October 26, 2021 by cinntsp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patho Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 (edited) The company is Adfinatas, Baltimore area. The job is day shift, 12hrs day, 7 on 7 off, every other weekend. No on call, but they will pay me at $75/hr for extra shifts, $90/hr for extra nights. Otherwise I'm a salary employee. W-2 not 1099. Comes out to be $75/hr (163K annually). Most of the sites are local to me but theres a lot of healthcare facilities in this area they don't cover (JHH, UMD, Lifebridge, and USACs are the big ones) so I can pick up other PRNs if I want. I was hoping for $80-85 an hr, or they can keep their benefits and pay me $120. My current hospital is paying locums doc $250/hr. Theres a huge storage of providers right now, and I'm high producing with experience. Hoping I can persuade the hiring manager to push the salary up because I do think they gave me the lower end of the range and said thats all they can do. Its either this or stay at my stable job for $54/hr with modest annual raises, exact same schedule. Or leave and work multiple PRNs, make my own schedule, but going PRN rate for the area is only $70 with no benefits. Edited October 26, 2021 by Patho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAdamsPAC Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 On 10/20/2021 at 12:55 PM, Patho said: I'm interviewing for a full time hospitalist locum job (benefits similar to my current job) with the company's recruiter very soon. Been working full time for 1 hospital since graduating so I don't know anything about locums beyond what they posted on indeed. Any specific advice when applying to locums or questions I should ask besides the hours, pay, benefits? Thanks. Don't believe anything that isn't in writing!! These people make a living off of lowballing you to the client. I once discovered that my 12 hour ED shifts 7 days a week for a month covered for the TWO PAs they were contracted to provide! You need to speak with other PAs working for this company and at the hospital to hear the straight and skinny of the place and company. Be very suspect if this can't happen! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 26, 2021 Moderator Share Posted October 26, 2021 8 hours ago, Patho said: The company is Adfinatas, Baltimore area. The job is day shift, 12hrs day, 7 on 7 off, every other weekend. No on call, but they will pay me at $75/hr for extra shifts, $90/hr for extra nights. Otherwise I'm a salary employee. W-2 not 1099. Comes out to be $75/hr (163K annually). Most of the sites are local to me but theres a lot of healthcare facilities in this area they don't cover (JHH, UMD, Lifebridge, and USACs are the big ones) so I can pick up other PRNs if I want. I was hoping for $80-85 an hr, or they can keep their benefits and pay me $120. My current hospital is paying locums doc $250/hr. Theres a huge storage of providers right now, and I'm high producing with experience. Hoping I can persuade the hiring manager to push the salary up because I do think they gave me the lower end of the range and said thats all they can do. Its either this or stay at my stable job for $54/hr with modest annual raises, exact same schedule. Or leave and work multiple PRNs, make my own schedule, but going PRN rate for the area is only $70 with no benefits. no way would I take that job you are PRN so you can get nothing they can (and will) ask you to work way over your 12 hours (you are salary) I would say a min of $100/hour and you are paid travel time between places. no salary but hourly so that they can not abuse you - 84 hours in a pay period is 4 hours overtime (2 week pay period) They start working you more then they have to pay you more. Remember they are already in a pissing match with the providers (proven track record) and they will treat you like sh** 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 14 hours ago, ventana said: no way would I take that job you are PRN so you can get nothing they can (and will) ask you to work way over your 12 hours (you are salary) I would say a min of $100/hour and you are paid travel time between places. no salary but hourly so that they can not abuse you - 84 hours in a pay period is 4 hours overtime (2 week pay period) They start working you more then they have to pay you more. Remember they are already in a pissing match with the providers (proven track record) and they will treat you like sh** OP is being offered 75/hr as a w2 Hospitalist with full benefits. That is nothing to scoff at. 182.5 12hr shifts per year comes out to $164250. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 23 hours ago, Patho said: The company is Adfinatas, Baltimore area. The job is day shift, 12hrs day, 7 on 7 off, every other weekend. No on call, but they will pay me at $75/hr for extra shifts, $90/hr for extra nights. Otherwise I'm a salary employee. W-2 not 1099. Comes out to be $75/hr (163K annually). Most of the sites are local to me but theres a lot of healthcare facilities in this area they don't cover (JHH, UMD, Lifebridge, and USACs are the big ones) so I can pick up other PRNs if I want. I was hoping for $80-85 an hr, or they can keep their benefits and pay me $120. My current hospital is paying locums doc $250/hr. Theres a huge storage of providers right now, and I'm high producing with experience. Hoping I can persuade the hiring manager to push the salary up because I do think they gave me the lower end of the range and said thats all they can do. Its either this or stay at my stable job for $54/hr with modest annual raises, exact same schedule. Or leave and work multiple PRNs, make my own schedule, but going PRN rate for the area is only $70 with no benefits. Adfinitas is not a locums company. You will probably not be able to get them to budge much on the hourly rate, but it never hurts to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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