Set yourself up for success when enrolling locum tenens
Enrolling locum tenens providers properly will help your organization maintain its revenue stream while ensuring patients have access to the medical care they need. Join us at the 2023 National Provider Enrollment Forum in August to learn more!
Mathieu Gaulin, CPMSM, CPCS, senior director of professional medical staff services at Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and Matthew Littlejohn, senior provider enrollment specialist at LocumTenens.com, will be featured speakers at the 2023 National Provider Enrollment Forum, held August 7–8 in Oak Brook, Illinois, and will present a session on the enrollment process for new locum tenens. As a preview to their session, they discussed the role locum tenens serve, what provider enrollment professionals need to do to bring those providers on board, and what attendees will learn from their session. Q: What are locum tenens providers, and when and why would they be needed? Littlejohn:Locum tenens is Latin for “to hold the place of” or “to substitute for.” Locum tenens providers work at healthcare facilities on a temporary basis to fill gaps in coverage or occupy vacant positions until a full-time provider can be found. Locum tenens providers step in and assist any healthcare organization in any medical specialty for short- or long-term assignments, on-site or virtually, to ensure patients get timely, quality care. Locums providers fill vacancies very quickly, which can minimize revenue loss and be vital to any healthcare organization. Gaulin:We primarily use locums when we’re having trouble recruiting full-time people. We recently had an influx of locums because we opened a new building and increased our bed capacity, so we used locum physicians and advanced practice providers to bridge full-time recruitment. I would quibble with the idea that they are “quick” replacements, however. This is something we’ll discuss in our presentation. Q: What role do provider enrollment professionals serve in bringing locum tenens on board? Littlejohn:Provider enrollment professionals have a very important role in onboarding locum tenens providers to ensure they can start working quickly and efficiently. With how the locums industry is shifting, full enrollment is being required more often. Locums are now viewed as an extension of existing staff, and this is requiring the enrollment professionals to be more involved in the onboarding process. An enrollment professional can make the difference in how smoothly a locums situation goes for an organization and can also be the deciding factor in making sure the organization can sustain revenue while a staff member provider is out on temporary leave. Gaulin: We treat locums as we would any other recruit, so ensuring they can bill as quick as possible not only to enable timely access to care but also timely reimbursement. It is important that the [provider enrollment professional] is looped in to these recruitments early on and understands the challenges to enrolling this cohort, which could be the same or different as a full-time recruit. Q: What are some common errors when enrolling locum tenens? Littlejohn: The biggest error is not realizing that you can enroll your locums providers. Personally, I think that the main problem is viewing the locums provider differently than other providers on staff. In certain situations, yes, they will be enrolled and billed for in a different way. But viewing them as the same as a staff provider, in some situations, clarifies the road map to success. Gaulin:I agree with my colleague; however, another error is not partnering effectively with the locum company and the recruitment group in your organization. As with anything else with provider enrollment, your job is more than just filling out an application, so ensuring you understand all facets of this cohort will make you more effective for your process and organization. Q: What kinds of insights will attendees of the National Provider Enrollment Forum take away from this session? Littlejohn:Attendees will learn that locums are a great resource for your organization and play a critical role in times of need. I believe that a lot of confusion and stress come along with onboarding a locums provider. A good portion of that is related to the enrollment and billing process not going as smooth as it could. However, taking the right steps to understand the process can make your locums experience simplified and streamlined. Bringing on a locums provider does not mean you have to take a financial loss in order to ensure your patients can get quality healthcare; locums are a valuable extension of your provider base. Gaulin: I’m looking forward to the reaction to our presentation and hearing right from the source, in Matt’s experience, and contrasting that with the receiving experience. It will be a great way for people to think differently about their work and how to continue to demonstrate the value the specialized [provider enrollment professional] brings to an organization, especially as it relates to this more complicated cohort of important providers.
Want to learn more about locum tenens? Join us at the 2023 National Provider Enrollment Forum, which delivers two days of engaging education and training to provider enrollment professionals, enrollment managers, and credentialing specialists. New and returning industry experts, including our speaker spotlighted above, will be on hand to offer best practices and tips for developing and sustaining successful enrollment processes.
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