Medicus: 171,700 physicians in locum roles

Medicus Healthcare Solutions said in a report published August 5 that more than 171,700 physicians — about 17% of the U.S. physician workforce — are working or have worked in locum tenens roles. Medical Economics reported the same day that 92% of healthcare leaders now rate advanced practice providers, or APPs, as very or extremely important to workforce strategy, citing a CHG Healthcare survey of 327 facility leaders released July 30. (medicushcs.com) (medicaleconomics.com) The two data points come from separate sources, but they describe the same staffing response: hospitals and medical groups are leaning harder on flexible physician coverage and team-based models. (medicushcs.com) Medicus framed locum tenens growth as part of broader workforce change, while Medical Economics said APPs have moved from a staffing patch to “permanent infrastructure.” ### How large is the locum physician pool now? Medicus said 171,700-plus physicians are now working or have worked locum tenens, either alongside permanent jobs or as a standalone career. The company put that at about 17% of the total U.S. physician workforce in its Q3 2026 healthcare market report. (medicushcs.com) The August 5 report grouped locum growth with other workforce pressures, including physician employment growth and rural hospital strain. Medicus did not present the figure as a one-year headcount change in the excerpt available publicly, but it described the number as a current measure as of July 2026. (medicushcs.com) ### What did the APP survey actually find? CHG Healthcare said in a survey released July 30 that 92% of healthcare facility leaders rated APPs as “very” or “extremely” important to their organization’s workforce strategy. Medical Economics reported that figure on August 5 and said it was up from 89% a year earlier. (medicushcs.com) The same survey found 97% of facilities planned either to maintain APP use, at 45%, or increase it, at 51%, in 2026. Only 1% said they expected to use APPs less in 2026 than in 2025, according to the CHG data cited by Medical Economics and other trade coverage. (medicushcs.com) ### Why are these two trends being read together? Medical Economics said physicians are “absorbing the change” in patient acuity, productivity benchmarks and rural coverage as APP use expands. That framing points to a staffing model in which physician labor is being spread across larger, more mixed teams rather than only through traditional full-time hiring. (medicaleconomics.com) Medicus, for its part, placed locum tenens growth inside a broader market report on healthcare workforce trends. Taken together, the reports show employers using two different tools at once: temporary physician staffing to fill gaps and permanent APP deployment to redesign care teams. (medicaleconomics.com) That is an inference from the two reports, not a direct quote from either publisher. ### What does that mean for day-to-day hospital staffing? Medical Economics said the CHG survey did not ask physicians what expanded APP deployment does to their patient panels, measured productivity or supervision time. The publication said those are the terms on which most physician compensation is still calculated. (medicaleconomics.com) In practice, that means the staffing shift is not only about vacancy coverage. It also affects who is on a care team, how work is delegated and how physician oversight is organized. That description follows from the survey’s findings on APP importance and planned utilization, and from Medicus’s count of physicians participating in locum work. (medicushcs.com) ### Where do the numbers come from, and what should readers watch next? Medicus published its Q3 2026 Healthcare Market Report on August 5 on its website, describing the report as a review of workforce growth, rural hospital challenges and physician employment trends. Medical Economics published its APP story on August 5, citing CHG Healthcare’s survey of 327 healthcare facility leaders conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025. (medicaleconomics.com) The next concrete markers will be whether later 2026 staffing surveys show the same direction in locum participation and APP utilization, and whether hospital operators disclose how those models affect recruiting and coverage. (medicushcs.com) For now, the named participants are Medicus Healthcare Solutions, CHG Healthcare and Medical Economics, which published the latest figures this week.