According to the survey, 72 percent of the facilities who responded had used temporary physicians in the last 12 months; 40 percent were still looking for temporary physicians to fill vacancies at their facilities.
Primary care physicians have been the most sought after temporary physicians for the past three years, with 42.7 percent of facilities seeking primary care physicians in 2008, according to the survey. Anesthesiologists/CRNAs were the second most-sought after, with 20.2 percent of facilities, followed by behavioral health specialists with 15.6 percent of facilities.
Of the facilities surveyed, most use temporary physicians to fill-in for vacationing physicians or until a permanent replacement is found. Of the temporary physicians surveyed, 31 percent said they enjoyed the flexibility and freedom temporary positions provided.
The rise in facilities looking for temporary primary care physicians could be due to the national shortage of these physicians coupled with an increase in the aging population of the United States, according to the survey. A consistent demand for temporary general surgeons is also due to similar trends.
Read Staff Care’s 2009 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends (pdf).
