"I am so glad I was able to find one agency to help with this entire need. I didn't want to have to sign contracts with five agencies. And VISTA provided so many good, good candidates to choose from we actually got to be picky."

Christine B., Director of Physician Recruiting at a 617-bed tertiary care medical center in Connecticut, used VISTA locum tenens physicians to help open the organization's new 70-bed emergency center in April 2011.

"In anticipation of the opening we got 9 - 10 locum tenens emergency medicine physicians credentialed, on-boarded, and ready to go," she says. Christine worked closely with the emergency department chair and says, "I think this was so successful because we were forward-thinking and well organized."

In addition, she says, "VISTA was so good at sending me candidates who matched what I was looking for. The doctors have all had a great work ethic. They are hard workers who hit the ground running."

The locum tenens staffing was also critical because the new facility opened in an off-cycle recruiting period. "We knew we would have to wait until residents finished their programs and were ready to start permanent jobs," she says. "For example, we have recruited a great candidate who doesn't want to start until September. Without the locum tenens doctors I couldn't have made this work.

"I am really amazed at how easy this was. It was a very positive experience," Christine says. "Michelle, our scheduling director, was so good. She handled things so smoothly. She really made my life easier.

"This was my first time working so closely with the ED, and working with so many locum tenens physicians," she concludes. "Based on this experience, we will be comfortable using VISTA for other needs down the road."

Christine B.,
Director of Physician Recruiting

Working with VISTA is not standard. It's the Gold Standard!

Practice Administrator Gayle M. first worked with VISTA in Philadelphia, where she was recruiting radiologists for a large health system. "Other agencies were not even listening to me. It was so frustrating. Then VISTA sent over profiles on three radiologists—and they were exactly what I needed," she recalls. "We ended up hiring one full-time because it was just the perfect fit."

It was no surprise then, that Gayle, "took VISTA with me," when she moved to a new position in Maine and met VISTA's Territory Manager for the state, Mary Bowers. "When I work with Mary it is like the candidates are designed for my jobs," she says. "Holy mackerel! Across the board they come in with licenses in order, malpractice insurance covered, background checks complete, references included...and they are excited about working in Maine. They are ready for the weather, comfortable with our urban/rural approach.

"When I moved again to mid-Maine I ended up giving out Mary's number and encouraging the other practice administrators to work with her," Gayle says. "VISTA takes all the work out of finding a doctor. We have hired six of the locums we used through VISTA—that's how good the fit has been. There is a fee involved, of course, but we are happy to pay it. We know the doctors; they know us; we know that it will be a 'good marriage'!"

Gayle M.
Practice Administrator

"Working with VISTA is always a positive experience. There is a consistency of culture—from my account executive to the recruiters to the people who help with credentialing— that I believe has to come from the top."

Josh M., a physician recruiter for a community hospital in western Massachusetts, says locum tenens coverage is his organization's version of just-in-time staffing. "Historically we have used locum tenens when we are in a pinch—to cover for a solo primary care physician, or cover shifts in our busy hospitalist program," he says. "It gives us flexibility, and helps us not put pressure on our current staff. We avoid burnout and patients are seen more quickly."

He is also impressed with the quality of physicians VISTA provides. "The doctors we have had could hold their own. They definitely added value," he says.

As his organization prepares for healthcare reform, Josh says every service and function is more closely scrutinized. "But increased patient demand will trump everything," he says. "Being short-staffed impacts the entire organization, so we have to assess the need and make the right recommendation—be it bringing in a locum tenens physician, launching a contingency search, or paying for a retained search."

Josh M.,
Physician Recruiter

"We've had several instances where locum tenens physicians wanted to stay on permanently. They did 'try before you buy' assignments and liked the area and the hospital."

Denise H., a veteran human resources professional, has used locum tenens physicians from VISTA Staffing Solutions since 2006. They have covered for vacations, picked up shifts in the ED, and filled the void while she recruits permanent physicians to her 139-bed rural facility. She's contracted for internists, hospitalists, emergency medicine physicians, OBGYNs, and orthopedic surgeons.

"This is a beautiful area," she says. "It's safe, the cost of living is terrific, we're rural but not isolated, and we're busy but not crazy. Physicians here have a very good quality of life. Central New York may not have been on their radar originally, but once they come here they will often come back, or ask to stay."

Locum tenens physicians are important to the hospital's ability to provide continuity of care, says Denise, and they protect the existing staff from burnout. "People appreciate the locum tenens physicians we bring in," she says. "They are invited back and more than once have asked to become permanent employees."

Denise H.,
Human Resources