Personal connections matter. It was because of a personal connection that Corey Daniels, Sales Manager for Weatherby Healthcare, found his way into locum tenens emergency medicine staffing. “I heard about locums through a friend who did nurse staffing, and that’s how I eventually ended up representing emergency medicine physicians as a Weatherby consultant,” Corey says. Although he’s helping to lead an entire team of emergency medicine consultants now, the personal touch is still a priority for him.
Locum tenens is a great option for emergency medicine physicians for several reasons.
- You get more control over your work location
- You get more control over your schedule
- You’re free to focus more on medicine than administration
- You can often earn more by solving peak staffing problems for client facilities
- When you work with Weatherby, your consultant takes housing, travel, and credentialing details off your hands
Personal connections result in more and better job matches
“We’ve been working with many of the same clients for years,” Corey says. “The majority of the jobs we fill come from facilities where we have long-term relationships. Often, these client relationships are exclusive, meaning physicians won’t find those EM jobs anywhere else.” Corey and his team invest a lot of time getting to know the types of emergency medicine assignments that come up due to seasonal variations or spikes in patient visits. Because of the personal connections they have with hospitals across the country, Corey’s team is able to help the physicians they represent find a better match for locum tenens assignments, with more competitive rates, and more appealing schedules.
Emergency medicine is a fast-paced working environment for both the physicians and the consultants who recruit them. Staffing needs and priorities constantly shift at client facilities as well. Weatherby’s EM team makes it a priority to keep up with industry changes so they can find the very best fit for the locum tenens physicians they work with. They’re focused on making each individual assignment a great experience as they build long-term working relationships with each doctor. Weatherby consultants also make it their business to understand client needs so physicians don’t have to. All they have to do is pick the locations and contract terms that work best for them and show up.
Personal connections mean better results for everyone
Corey set a positive example early in his career and encourages his team to focus on the human element in all their physician relationships. He says, “typically the consultants who do the best job are the best listeners.” Consultants have to gather a lot of information to ensure a great staffing experience for the provider and the client. Corey teaches them to balance the business essentials with getting to know their physicians as whole people. “We train our consultants to spend time getting to know and understand our providers and their needs. They really try to build a personal bond with each provider while they gather the basic details they need from a business perspective.”
Corey’s relationship with Dr. James Mock illustrates why this personal approach has been so successful. He says, “Dr. Mock came to Weatherby around six years ago while I was still on the consulting desk. Had a full time job back then, but over the course of a year’s conversations, he decided to try a few locums shifts to supplement his income. He liked what we were about as a company, loved the schedule flexibility, and decided to leave his permanent job and do locums with us on a full-time basis.”
Corey picked up on Dr. Mock’s love of mountain biking and was able to find locum tenens emergency assignments in prime mountain biking locations across the country. Although Dr. Mock is now with another consultant on Corey’s team, they stay connected and recently attended the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) conference together. Corey says, “Dr. Mock’s wife loves us and supports his locums work. His family benefits from the schedule flexibility, and he continues to refer other physicians he knows to Weatherby.”
Personal connections mean more schedule flexibility
Although Weatherby works equally well with larger contract management groups, Corey finds that he can often negotiate better terms for providers dealing directly with individual hospitals. “Schedule flexibility is the main benefit for the physician when we can work directly with the hospital,” he says. “We make sure that we’re extra clear about when the physician is available and protect their preferences around working nights, weekends, or whatever. We really go to bat for them.”
This advocacy goes way beyond schedule details. Weatherby consultants follow up relentlessly on details like travel, housing, and credentialing. Corey says, “physicians tell us a lot of things they prefer about working with Weatherby, but schedule flexibility is always number one.” He says that extraordinary malpractice protection is another factor that sets Weatherby apart. “A lot of physicians don’t realize the value of this until they need it.”
Recognizing consultants who put physicians first
“We’re always getting feedback from our physicians on the Red Ribbon service they get from our consultants,” Corey says. “When we get an email recognizing someone on our team, we celebrate that.” These success stories make up a big part of the training that new consultants get when they join Weatherby Healthcare. It’s personal connections like this that create a positive ripple effect for everyone, from the locum tenens emergency medicine physician, to the client facility, to the patients who get such expert care. Find out if a locum tenens assignment with Weatherby Healthcare is the right move for your emergency medicine practice.
