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Locum tenens hospitalists get most assignments of all specialties, study says

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, March 9, 2010

According to a new study by The Delta Companies, “The physician recruiting standard,”
60% of all U.S. hospitals and managed care organizations directly employ or contract hospitalists through a locum tenens agency. This quarter, hospital medicine topped the list of all specialties with the most assignments; the number of assignments rose 63% year-over-year.

The study states that more primary care physicians are turning over inpatient care to hospitalists. Currently, 28,000 internists have left primary care to pursue hospital medicine.

Despite the growing number of hospitalists in the field, hospitalist compensation stayed relatively steady. The average starting compensation for a hospitalist is $190,054 with a sign-on bonus of $17,714, with an 2.6% increase year-over-year.

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