MedStaff Locum Tenens
Locum tenens agency for hospitals, health centers, and medical groups
Credentialed physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and CRNAs for vacancy, leave, and surge coverage. One all-inclusive rate on a written Work Order, the credentialing file in your medical staff office within five business days, $1M/$3M malpractice included, and one coordinator who answers the phone for the whole assignment.
No retainer and no fee until a Work Order is accepted by both sides. You are never billed for time a provider did not work.
Why organizations use us for locums
A locum tenens agency run by the firm that already fills your permanent searches
MedStaff Locum Tenens is the interim coverage arm of MedStaff Nationwide. The recruiters who run permanent physician and nurse practitioner searches every day know which clinicians are open to assignments, so coverage starts from a bench we already talk to, not a cold job post.
Every assignment runs on a written Work Order: bill rate, guaranteed hours, premium and call rates, travel and lodging, and dates, accepted electronically by both sides before anyone travels. Timesheets, approvals, and invoices live in the same client portal our permanent clients already use.
When interim coverage should become a permanent hire, conversion terms are already in the agreement, and the permanent team can run the search in parallel while the locum keeps the schedule full.
Who we place
- Physicians
psychiatry, family medicine, internal medicine, hospital medicine, and the specialties we recruit for permanently
- Psychiatric nurse practitioners
outpatient, inpatient, and telepsychiatry coverage
- Family nurse practitioners
primary care, urgent care, and community health
- Physician assistants
primary care, emergency, hospital medicine, and surgical services
- CRNAs
hospital anesthesia departments, surgery centers, OB, and rural CRNA-only coverage
Coverage we provide
Vacancy coverage
Keep the schedule full while a permanent search runs. Pair with our permanent placement practice to convert the locum or fill behind them.
Leave coverage
Parental, medical, military, and sabbatical leave with a provider credentialed before the leave begins.
Surge and seasonal demand
Flu season, program launches, and census spikes without adding permanent headcount.
Program continuity
Behavioral health, primary care, and hospital medicine coverage that keeps access to care and revenue intact.
What the agreement guarantees
The terms most locum tenens companies make you ask for, in writing before you sign
These are the standard terms of the MedStaff Locum Tenens client agreement. Each assignment confirms its own rate, hours, and dates on the Work Order; the protections below apply to all of them.
One all-inclusive bill rate
Provider pay, our fee, and malpractice coverage are inside the rate on the Work Order. Premium and call rates apply only when the Work Order says so. Travel and lodging are arranged and paid by us unless the Work Order makes them reimbursable.
Credentialing file in five business days
A complete, primary-source verified file to your medical staff office within five business days of the provider accepting the assignment. You have thirty days to privilege.
$1M / $3M malpractice before the first shift
Occurrence coverage at $1 million per claim and $3 million aggregate, certificate of insurance delivered before the start date, and a three-year tail where a policy is claims-made.
Replacement at no charge for time not worked
A provider who withdraws, no-shows, or is removed is replaced from the original need. You are billed for worked and guaranteed hours only, never for a gap.
Cancellation by notice period, in writing
More than thirty days out, no charge. Fifteen to thirty days, one week of guaranteed hours. Under fifteen days, two weeks plus non-recoverable travel. No surprises, because the schedule is in the agreement you signed.
Rates that hold for the assignment
Rate changes need thirty days' notice and never apply to an active Work Order unless you agree. Invoices are bi-weekly or monthly on net 30, with fifteen days to dispute any line.
How it works
From need to first shift
Define the need
Specialty, dates, schedule, setting, EMR, volume, call expectations, and any facility-specific requirements, captured in one call with your coordinator. Send a shift sheet or job description and we draft it from that.
Review two or three providers
You receive profile cards for credentialed providers whose availability and licensure match. Interview if you want to, then choose.
Sign the Work Order
A written rate confirmation with the bill rate, guaranteed hours, premium and call rates, travel and lodging terms, and dates. Both sides accept electronically with an audit trail.
Credentialing file in five business days
Primary-source verified license, board certification, DEA, NPDB, OIG and SAM, background, work history, and references, with the certificate of insurance, delivered to your medical staff office.
Approve hours, receive one invoice
The provider submits hours weekly in their portal, you approve in two clicks, and approved weeks roll into a single bi-weekly or monthly invoice on net 30 terms.
What a locum tenens assignment costs
One rate, stated once, with nothing added on the invoice
Locum tenens pricing is an hourly or daily bill rate for the provider's time. Ours is all-inclusive: the provider's pay, our fee, and the malpractice coverage are inside the number on the Work Order. Travel and lodging are arranged and paid by us unless the Work Order makes a specific expense reimbursable, so the invoice reads the way the agreement reads.
The rate depends on the specialty, the setting, the schedule, the state, and how much notice we have. A psychiatrist for a community mental health center and a hospitalist for a rural critical access hospital are different numbers, and a request with three weeks of notice is a different number from one with three days. Tell us the need and you have a written rate the same week, with no obligation until a Work Order is signed.
Premium rates, if any, apply only beyond the threshold the Work Order sets. Call and callback are billed at their own rates, with a minimum per callback where agreed, and never count toward guaranteed hours.
How billing works
- Guaranteed hours
- The weekly minimum on the Work Order, billed whether or not you fill the schedule. Prorated for partial weeks and reduced for holidays the provider is not scheduled and for provider absence.
- Timesheets
- Weekly, Sunday to Saturday, in facility time. The provider submits in their portal; you approve in two clicks. A timesheet untouched for five business days is deemed approved so pay and invoices never stall.
- Invoices
- Bi-weekly or monthly, your choice, from approved timesheets. Net 30. Fifteen days to dispute a line. Corrections arrive as credit memos, never edited invoices.
- Short-notice shift cancellations
- A scheduled shift cancelled by the facility inside 48 hours is billed, except for weather and other force majeure.
- Cancelling a confirmed assignment
- More than 30 days before the start: no charge. 15 to 30 days: one week of guaranteed hours. Under 15 days: two weeks plus non-recoverable travel. Ending an active assignment early: hours worked plus the lesser of two weeks of guaranteed hours or the remaining term.
Credentialing and privileging
The five-business-day file
The slowest part of any locum assignment is the medical staff office waiting on documents. Our providers keep a credential vault that tracks every license, DEA registration, board certificate, and certificate of insurance with its expiration date, so the file for your facility is assembled from verified items, not requested from scratch.
The agreement commits to a complete file in your medical staff office within five business days of the provider accepting the Work Order, with each item primary-source verified and the evidence attached. You then have thirty days to privilege. Facilities with a temporary privileges process routinely start providers inside two weeks.
Licensing in a new state is started as soon as the need is defined, and the provider's readiness is confirmed before any profile reaches you: a provider missing a required credential cannot be booked.
What the file contains
- State license in the state of the assignment, with status and any actions
- Board certification or eligibility
- DEA registration and state controlled-substance registration where required
- National Practitioner Data Bank query
- OIG and SAM exclusion checks
- Criminal background check
- Work history with gaps explained
- Peer references from supervising physicians or medical directors
- Certificate of insurance for the assignment
Which one you need
Locum tenens agency, physician staffing company, or recruiting firm
The terms overlap in search results and mean different things on an invoice. MedStaff Nationwide does the first and the third, so you are told at intake which one your situation needs rather than sold the one on offer.
Locum tenens agency
Interim coverage by a credentialed provider who remains the agency's independent contractor, on a bill rate for a defined period, with malpractice, credentialing, travel, and payroll handled by the agency.
Best for: a leave, a resignation with notice, a seasonal surge, a new program before the permanent hire starts, or coverage while a permanent search runs. This page.
Physician staffing company
Usually the same service under a broader label, sometimes extended to outsourced departments: an emergency department, hospitalist program, or anesthesia service run by the company's own clinicians under a management contract.
Best for: a whole service line you want to outsource rather than staff. If you need individual providers on your schedule, that is locum tenens.
Recruiting firm
A permanent search. The clinician becomes your employee for a one-time placement fee, owed only if you hire, with a replacement guarantee.
Best for: a role you want filled for years. See physician recruiters and nurse practitioner recruiters. Running both at once is common: the locum covers the schedule, the search fills the role.
Locum to permanent
When the coverage turns out to be the hire
A locum assignment is the longest interview either side will ever get. When a provider fits, the conversion is already in the agreement: a conversion fee during the eighteen months after the assignment, reduced pro rata by every hour the provider has already worked for you, reaching zero at 2,080 hours. A provider who has covered you for a full year converts for nothing.
If you know from the start that you want a permanent hire, say so. The permanent placement team opens the search in parallel on contingency, with a 27-day average time-to-fill and a replacement guarantee, and the locum keeps the schedule full until the hire starts.
How to compare locum tenens companies
Every agency says it is fast and credentials carefully. Ask these six questions and compare the written answers; ours are on this page.
- Is the bill rate all-inclusive, or are malpractice, travel, and fees added on the invoice?
- How many business days until the credentialing file is in our medical staff office, in writing?
- What are the malpractice limits, is it occurrence or claims-made, and who carries the tail?
- What exactly happens, and what are we charged, if the provider no-shows or leaves early?
- What is the cancellation schedule by notice period, before we sign anything?
- Who is our contact for the whole assignment, and is it the same person who sold it?
A longer version, with the national firms named, is in Best locum tenens companies in 2026: how to compare them.
What Clients Say
“Alyssa is amazing. Does not waste my staff's time. Very articulate and focused.”
“Great company to work with. The staff at MedStaff is reliable, professional, and knowledgeable of client needs. The process was easy and the candidates were outstanding.”
Why Employers Choose MedStaff
- Exclusive access to top-tier clinicians across every specialty
- Dedicated account manager and transparent communication
- National reach with boutique-level attention
- Proven results backed by data, not promises
FAQ
Locum tenens, answered
- What is a locum tenens agency?
- A locum tenens agency places a credentialed physician or advanced practice provider at your facility for a defined period to cover a vacancy, a leave, or a surge in demand. The provider is the agency's independent contractor, not your employee. MedStaff Locum Tenens sources the provider, verifies every credential, carries the malpractice coverage, arranges travel and lodging, and runs scheduling, timesheets, and invoicing for the assignment.
- How does locum tenens pricing work?
- One all-inclusive hourly or daily bill rate, stated on a written Work Order before the provider starts, along with guaranteed hours, any premium and call rates, and travel and lodging terms. The rate covers the provider's pay, our fee, and malpractice coverage; nothing is itemized on top. You are invoiced for approved hours bi-weekly or monthly on net 30 terms. There is no retainer and no fee until an assignment is confirmed.
- What are guaranteed hours?
- The minimum weekly hours the Work Order commits to, billed whether or not the facility fills the schedule, so the provider can commit to the assignment. Partial first and last weeks are prorated, a holiday the provider is not scheduled reduces the guarantee, and hours the provider is absent come off one for one. Call hours are billed at the call rate and never count toward the guarantee.
- Is malpractice coverage included?
- Yes. Every provider placed by MedStaff Locum Tenens is covered by professional liability insurance at $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate for the assignment. A certificate of insurance is delivered before the first shift, and where a policy is claims-made the tail is carried for three years.
- How fast can you deliver a credentialing file?
- The client agreement commits to a complete file to your medical staff office within five business days of the provider accepting the Work Order. License, board certification, DEA, NPDB, OIG and SAM, criminal background, work history, and peer references are each primary-source verified with the evidence attached, so your office is reviewing a file, not chasing documents.
- How quickly can a locum provider start?
- That depends on your privileging timeline more than ours. The file is in your medical staff office within five business days; the agreement allows thirty days for privileging, and facilities with a temporary privileges process routinely start a provider inside two weeks of the Work Order. For a planned leave, tell us the dates early and the provider is credentialed before the leave begins.
- Which specialties and provider types do you cover?
- Physicians in psychiatry, family medicine, internal medicine, hospital medicine, and other specialties we recruit for permanently; psychiatric mental health and family nurse practitioners; physician assistants; and CRNAs. If you are not sure whether we cover a specialty, ask; the answer comes back the same day.
- Can a locum provider convert to a permanent hire?
- Yes. Conversion is written into the client agreement. A conversion fee applies during the eighteen months after an assignment, reduced pro rata by the hours the provider has already worked for you and reaching zero at 2,080 hours, which is a full year. Our permanent placement practice can also run a search in parallel so you have interim coverage and a long-term hire moving at the same time.
- What if we need to cancel or shorten an assignment?
- Cancellation is by notice period and is set out in the agreement before you sign a Work Order. A confirmed assignment cancelled more than thirty days out carries no charge; fifteen to thirty days out, one week of guaranteed hours; under fifteen days, two weeks plus any non-recoverable travel. Shortening an active assignment bills the hours worked plus the lesser of two weeks of guaranteed hours or the remaining term. A provider who is not working out can be removed on seven days' notice, or immediately for a clinical or safety concern.
- What happens if the provider does not show up or leaves early?
- You are never charged for time not worked. We start a replacement from the original need immediately, the provider's standing on our bench is reviewed, and the Work Order records the outcome so the fee rules apply in your favor.
- Is there a cost to request coverage or to see providers?
- No. Defining the need, reviewing provider profiles, and interviewing cost nothing. Fees begin only when a Work Order is accepted by both sides.
For Providers
Want to work locum tenens with MedStaff?
Assignments nationwide with malpractice covered and credentialing handled by us. See open locum assignments or join the bench.
Need coverage on the schedule?
Tell us the specialty, the dates, and the setting. A coordinator responds within one business day with providers and a written rate.