The American Medical News recently published an article with a headline reading “Demand for locum tenens physicians has slowed”. The article cited a survey conducted by AMN Healthcare, of their own client facilities and AMN’s internal figures. According to the article, Staff Care, AMN’s temporary physician placement division, actually booked more locum tenens physician days in 2011 than they did in 2010. This could have been due to a shift in specialty mix, with a customer demand moving from higher priced sub-specialties to primary care.

In contrast to the American Medical News article, Forbes magazine recently picked up the same survey information and interpreted the data quite differently. The Forbes piece referenced the fact that Staffing Industry Analysts organization is projecting 7% growth in the locum tenens industry for 2012.

Read the article (Interim Physicians)

AMA, demand, locum tenens