As a growing niche in the U.S. market, corporate healthcare offers new business opportunities for physicians, hospitals and other providers.  Many organizations – particularly Fortune 500 companies and other large employers – are opening their own healthcare clinics and expanding their on-site wellness programs in order to reduce costs, improve productivity and attract new talent.

In the past two years, corporate giants like Intel, HP and Michelin have invested millions of dollars into setting up employee clinics on their main campuses.  Other regional and local employers are also expanding their on-site healthcare programs in order to stake out a competitive advantage.  In many cases, these employers find it easier to partner with well-established hospitals or healthcare systems that can provide “brand-name” care to their employees.

However, some large companies are taking a different approach, expanding their human resource divisions and hiring physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and other professionals directly. In many cases, these employers turn to staffing firms like All Medical Personnel for assistance in planning their programs and for providing temporary staffing to get them underway.

When developing corporate healthcare programs, it’s important to survey employees and their families to determine what services are most likely to be utilized.  For instance, a recent study by the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., found that users of corporate clinic services most commonly sought vaccinations and other minor, routine services instead of care for chronic conditions.  When asked the primary purpose of their clinic visits, 63.7 percent of survey respondents in 2010 cited vaccinations.

Employers should also take a careful look at their insurance premiums and other financial outlays to build programs that offer the “biggest bang for the buck.”  For instance, corporate clinics and wellness programs could provide employees with incentives to address obesity, one of the nation’s most serious and costly health problems.  In any case, corporate healthcare is likely to grow in importance in the next decade, opening the doors to new partnerships, alliances and career opportunities.

When most people think of healthcare staffing, the first locations that come to mind are physician offices and community hospitals.  Certainly, these types of healthcare organizations are regularly in need of qualified doctors, nurses, therapists, lab techs and other professionals.  But that’s just the start of the career opportunities now available in the healthcare field.

Today, qualified professionals are needed at every point on the continuum of care, including pediatric clinics, adolescent counseling centers, senior living facilities and specialized treatment providers.  For example, nursing homes and assisted living facilities like to hire healthcare professionals who enjoy working with their residents on an ongoing basis.  Unlike a hospital or physician office where the patient population changes every day, an assisted living facility may house the same residents for months or years at a time.  That’s an important consideration for nurses, therapists and other professionals who would like to build long-term relationships with facility residents.

Another option is going to work in the home care sector, which continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of the healthcare industry.  Since home care is typically much less expensive than acute hospital care or 24/7 residential care, staffing demand is expected to increase substantially over the next decade.  Greater independence and flexibility in scheduling are among the advantages of a position in home care.  So if you’re looking at the next step in your healthcare career, be sure to consider the many types of professional opportunities before making a decision.

Locums physicians are as unique as the positions they are placed in; however there are four main categories that comprise the majority of locums physicians.

The New Grad

After completing their residency or fellowship programs, physicians often want to work locum assignments to determine what type of practice setting they would like to eventually be in.  Working locum tenens is also a good opportunity to travel and determine where they would like to settle down permanently.

The Full Time Practice

The majority of locums physicians are in a full time practice, but utilize some of their vacation weeks or days off to supplement income, travel and assist other facilities and groups in need of coverage.

The Full Time Locum

Many providers have chosen the locum lifestyle because they enjoy traveling to different locations and practicing without the stressors of a medical practice.  A full time locum can make their own schedule, choose what assignments they will accept and at what rate.

The Semi Retired

Physicians that have retired from private practice often are not ready to completely leave the medical field.  Locums is a great way to keep skills sharp, supplement retirement funds and travel all while helping facilities in need.

All Medical has a flexible and customized approach to locum tenens staffing to accommodate all types of physicians and opportunities.