How to Achieve Short-Term Workforce Stability While Executing a Long-Term Strategy

By 2037, the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a shortfall of more than 187,000 physicians across 31 of 35 specialties, including notable gaps in anesthesia, obstetrics and gynecology, and radiology.

As physician shortages intensify in the years ahead, healthcare leaders are being asked to address two challenges simultaneously: maintaining accessible care today and building a clinical workforce that can withstand tomorrow’s shortages. To achieve this, many healthcare leaders are exploring innovative approaches to clinical staffing that extend beyond traditional models.

Securing Workforce Stability with a Future-Focused Strategy

Healthcare organizations increasingly recognize the need for flexible workforce strategies to maintain stability and support growth. Industry projections reflect this shift, with Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) forecasting continued expansion in locum tenens physician staffing—5% in 2025 and another 4% in 2026, making it the fastest-growing area in healthcare staffing.

While short-term locum tenens coverage helps address immediate gaps, it often doesn’t resolve broader challenges such as covering specialties with multiple FTE gaps, moving from an outsourced to employed model, or achieving long-term workforce goals. Recognizing this need, Medicus created a project-based interim staffing solution known as the Medicus Transition Program.

The Transition Program aligns staffing with organizational strategy, delivering tailored solutions that strengthen care continuity, control costs, and support scheduling demands. As part of this initiative, healthcare leaders gain access to MedicusIQ, a powerful VMS alternative that centralizes workflow automation, boosts transparency, and provides actionable analytics resulting in faster time-to-fill and higher quality placements.

Stabilizing Service Lines Through the Medicus Transition Program

The effectiveness of the Medicus Transition Program is evident in its application in real-world settings. Through Medicus’ project-based interim staffing, health systems have been able to preserve access to care, stabilize service lines, and continue advancing workforce initiatives during periods of staffing change, including:

• Maintaining Continuity of Care During Staffing Model Shifts: A leading health system made the shift from an outsourced to a fully employed OB hospitalist model, ensuring uninterrupted coverage and support.  Click here to learn more.
• Supporting Outsourced Groups when Care Demands Spike: Faced with a 40,000-case radiology backlog, a major health system turned to Medicus to provide supplemental coverage. To see how, click here.
• Managing Surges in Patient Volumes or Provider Turnover: Medicus helped secure anesthesia coverage within 30 days at a level 1 pediatric trauma facility to ensure access to care while permanent pediatric anesthesiologists were secured. Read the complete case study here.

By blending immediate interim support with long-term clinical staffing strategies, the Medicus Transition Program ensures healthcare leaders have the tools, expertise, and resources necessary to ensure access to care today while preparing for the staffing demands of tomorrow.

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