Every day, locum tenens doctors, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and dentists travel to healthcare facilities across the country on short- and long-term assignments to ensure patients in every corner of America receive the treatment they deserve. Over the years, hospitals, private practices, urgent care centers, correctional facilities, and other organizations have leveraged these traveling temporary providers to fill in for permanent staff vacancies. But recent data shows that the locum tenens industry is booming, making now one of the best times to consider leaving your permanent job to become a locum tenens provider. Read on to learn more about the state of the healthcare staffing industry in 2024 and why you should consider becoming a locum tenens provider today.
Is the healthcare staffing industry growing?
The totality of the healthcare staffing industry (travel nursing, per-diem nursing, locum tenens, and allied health staffing) decreased in overall market size by 24% in 2023, according to a March 2024 analysis by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). But this decline follows unprecedented growth in the industry spurred by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time the overall market size across all healthcare staffing segments ballooned by 22% and 105% in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Looking forward to 2024 and 2025, however, the SIA projects that the market size loss for all healthcare staffing sectors is expected to slow dramatically. In fact, the projections show that the healthcare staffing industry will decrease in market share by 11% in 2024, but only by 3% in 2025. These projections suggest that the healthcare staffing industry in total has already endured the worst of its market size loss.
Is the locum tenens industry growing?
While the total healthcare staffing industry’s market size decreased in 2023, the locum tenens industry itself actually grew by a tremendous 17% in 2023—meaning more facilities across the country are using locum tenens providers to solve staffing shortages.
According to the SIA, the locum tenens industry’s market size grew from $6.4 billion in 2022 to $7.5 billion in 2023. What’s more, projections indicate that the locum tenens market will continue to grow in the future, reaching $8.8 billion in market size in 2025.
In 2024, locum tenens had the largest growth among all healthcare staffing sectors analyzed by the SIA, followed by allied health staffing which grew 8% in 2023. The locum tenens industry continues to show positive signs of growth, with the SIA reporting in May 2024 that the industry saw revenue grow by a median of 21% year-over-year in April 2024.
Why are more healthcare facilities using locum tenens providers?
In recent years, the Baby Boomer generation has been aging at a tremendous rate—between 2010 and 2020, the number of Americans aged 65 or older grew by more than one third, the quickest rate of any decade within the past 130 years of United States history. This presents distinct stressors on healthcare staffing in the realm of patients and providers that have led more facilities to use locum tenens providers to fill in the gaps.
First off, many healthcare providers are of the Baby Boomer generation, meaning they are retiring and exiting the workforce which leaves less providers available to care for people who need it most. But patients are also aging, which means they require more complex care. In short, demand for comprehensive healthcare is increasing while supply of providers is on the decline. Let’s take a closer look at what this shortage of providers looks like across the country.
Is there a shortage of healthcare providers in the United States?
America is facing a healthcare professional shortage that threatens continuity of patient care—according to projections by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will be short up to 86,000 doctors by 2036.
This shortage is slated to impact patients across the country, but the problem is already showing its teeth in places outside of major cities: as of March 2024, 66.7% of Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) were in rural locations, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This trend for rural areas stays the same for dental and mental health HPSAs, as well.
Why become a locum tenens provider?
As mentioned previously, the locum tenens industry is undergoing a massive surge right now that’s projected to continue into the future, which means there’s no lack of job opportunities for healthcare professionals who choose to go locum.
Providers who choose to take locum tenens assignments with Barton Associates gain access to unique benefits not available to their permanent counterparts, such as:
- Higher pay
- Greater schedule flexibility
- The ability to travel the country
- Licensing and credentialing assistance
- Travel and lodging assistance
Find Your Next Locum Tenens Job with Barton
If you’re a healthcare provider looking to take advantage of the hot locum tenens industry, reach out to one of our experienced recruiters or apply to one of our open jobs today!
