Very few organizations decide to change locum agencies in a single meeting. The decision builds slowly. A CV arrives for a physician who isn’t licensed in your state. Credentialing stalls for the third time this year. A provider cancels and you hear about it the day before. Your account rep changes again, and the new one asks you to walk through your call schedule from scratch.
If you’ve been wondering whether switching locum tenens agencies would make your life easier, you’re not alone. Plenty of facilities stay with a vendor long after the relationship stops working, mostly because changing feels like more trouble than it’s worth. It usually isn’t, if you go about it the right way.
Why so many organizations aren’t feeling taken care of
Demand for locum coverage keeps climbing. While most healthcare staffing segments shrunk in 2025, locum tenens kept growing, and the market reached roughly $9.6 billion, with about $9.8 billion projected for 2026, according to Staffing Industry Analysts data.
More demand means busier agencies. At large firms, that often means your requests compete with bigger accounts for the same providers. Rural and mid-sized facilities tend to notice first. If your needs seem to move more slowly than they used to, you’re probably not imagining it.
Signs your current agency isn’t keeping up
You get volume instead of fit.
Five CVs that don’t match your licensing requirements or case mix just give you more homework. A good partner screens before sending and can tell you why each candidate makes sense for your facility.
Credentialing takes forever.
Some delay on your side is normal. If the holdup is consistently on the agency side, with missing documents, slow follow-up, or files sitting untouched for a week, that’s a process problem they should have fixed by now.
You learn about problems late.
Cancellations happen. What matters is how early you hear about it and whether a backup plan comes with the news.
Your contact keeps changing.
Three account managers in a year means nobody remembers your EHR, your call structure, or which department chair is particular about handoffs. You end up doing their onboarding for them.
Rates move without explanation.
Specialty demand shifts and rates follow. You should still get a straight answer when your bill rate changes.
Good providers don’t come back.
This one gets overlooked. When the same physician returns to cover your ED for the third time, your nurses already trust them and your patients get some continuity. An agency that sends a new face every rotation is costing you.
Your locum has become permanent.
If someone has covered the same vacancy for 18 months and your agency hasn’t suggested recruiting for the permanent role, they’re not helping you solve workforce challenges. Locum coverage works best as a bridge while you hire. The right partner helps you plan both ends of it.
What to ask before you switch
Get specific answers from any agency you’re considering:
- How many providers in our specialty and region have you placed in the last year?
- Who owns credentialing on your side, and how fast do files typically move?
- Who will be our day-to-day contact, and how long have they been with you?
- What happens when a provider cancels at the last minute?
How to switch without losing coverage
You don’t have to move everything at once, and you shouldn’t. Start by giving a new agency one open need, ideally a specialty where your current vendor has struggled. You’ll see how they perform on a real assignment, and your existing coverage keeps running in the meantime.
Let current assignments finish. Pulling a working provider mid-rotation creates disruption your staff and patients will feel.
If there are providers you’d like to keep, check your current contract first. Many agreements include non-solicitation or conversion terms, and it’s better to know before making a change.
Get credentialing started early. Even with a fast agency, hospital privileging takes time, so get files moving well before you need someone on site.
And tell your medical staff office and department leaders before the change. They’ll be the first to notice if anything slips, and the first to tell you when things get better.
A locum partner should make your week easier. If you’re spending more time managing your agency than they spend managing your coverage, it’s worth seeing what one open assignment looks like somewhere else.
Optigy Group provides locum tenens coverage for hospitals and health systems across the country, with a focus on fast credentialing and consistent provider placement. If you have a hard-to-fill need, we’re happy to take a look.
