Per diem medical staffing comprises a portion of the total healthcare staffing in the US. Per diem medical staffing consists of those assignments that are not contracted for long segments of time. Unlike per diem medical staffing, travel contracted staffing typically commits a caregiver to a pre-determined schedule that can last several weeks or even several months. Sometimes per diem medical staffing is confused with travel contracts when a caregiver repeats a schedule several days, or even weeks in succession.
What is the Difference between Travel and Per Diem Medical Staffing?
The primary difference in the two is most travel contracts will stipulate a schedule that will be fulfilled with a beginning date and an ending date. These contracts typically specify what days of the week are to be worked and what hours within each day that is to be worked. Most per diem medical staffing contracts are an agreement to pay a specific amount for any hours that are worked by the caregiver. It is possible in the per diem medical staffing business for a caregiver to fulfill his/her obligation with only one day of work, or many days repeated over several weeks or months. to be worked established in advance with a contract. over a long period of time. Per diem medical staffing is typically established as an hourly bill rate that is calculated based on the type of specialty the caregiver may provide, and the actual bill rates for each shift of a 24-hour day. Contractually, per diem medical staffing is the repetition of an hourly pay rate that is requested for possibly several days, or even weeks. The contract framework for per diem medical staffing is the agreement to pay a specific amount for each hour worked during some part of a day. The travel contracts are set up for a beginning date, and an ending date that is comprised of several weeks or months.
Is Per Diem Healthcare Staffing Growing?
According recent surveys conducted by The Staffing Industry Analysts, per diem revenue across the US has remained relatively flat over the last few years while the travel segment of the industry had seen growth in double digits year over year. The most recent available Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the top five states in healthcare staffing totaling just under $7 billion in revenue. When grouping per diem medical staffing with the travel aspect of the industry, the state-by-state revenue figures are staggering. A city-by-city reporting below shows 4 of the top 5 cities in terms of healthcare staffing revenue are in the state of California.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA $690M
- San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA $254M
- New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ $253M
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA $248M
- Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA $245M
In a follow-up post we will provide some interesting data concerning per diem medical staffing as it relates to typical client practices.
