Don’t fill that vacancy just yet!

As a DHB manager you may want to seriously look at using Locums to cover 10% to 20% of your FTE (Full Time Equivalent) requirements as this will secure your productivity while automatically reducing your budget, and productivity cost – cost per patient’s procedure/ consultation.

Locum Consultants (Doctors) are cheaper than employed DHB Consultants.

Surprisingly, a Locum Consultant is generally paid less than a DHB Consultant and offers more productive time.

One Locum Consultant hired to work a full year actually covers the work produced of up to 2 FTE DHB Consultants.

To further reduce costs and waiting-lists you can also outsource patients to Private, or an even cheaper option is to Insource using SEQURE Health. 

Use our Calculator

What is your DHB Consultant Productivity Cost?   Use the handy calculator to find out.

Enter the figures and select the ASMS MECA Salary from the boxes with the yellow border. 

Keep it simple – isolate productivity down to one day of work.  For example, how many clinical patients can be seen per day by your DHB Consultant?  Enter this value into box with the yellow border in the calculator under Number of Patients per day A.

What is the cost of your DHB Consultant per day when seeing patients?  Select ASMS MECA Salary from the drop down with the yellow border.  We suggest you take the average salary step in your department.

This will give you Productivity Cost per day for your DHB Consultant B.

Now the Calculator will give you a Productivity Cost per Patient which is B / A. 

Reducing your productivity cost secures patient throughput and reduces your budget

Higher productivity costs means higher cost per patient.

Obviously when your DHB Consultant is away on leave they cannot see patients, but you’re still paying them.  Productivity cost therefore goes up.

By using Locums as part of your FTE makeup reduces your Productivity Cost and ensures you get through your patient numbers.  

Why only productive time?

Because when a Locum Consultant is hired and is working, their daily cost is only for the time they are seeing patients (productive time).

To find the total productive time of an DHB Consultant on the ASMS MECA you need to deduct from the total working hours (52 wk/annum * 40hr/wk) all leave and non-patient facing activities.  As a result you will find your DHB Consultant will have approx 133 days (1064 hours) available to see patients annually.

Why is Daily ASMS MECA Rate so high?

While the daily rate for a DHB Consultant is perceived as lower than a Locum, it does not take into account the hours and cost that a DHB Consultant is paid for while not seeing patients (meetings, training, reporting). The daily rate for the DHB Consultant must also reflect  and include the costs (superannuation, relocation and on-boarding expenses, statutory holidays, insurance, recruitment etc.). These costs are in addition to their base annual salary.

The calculator on this page helps you see the true cost for an DHB Consultant and gives you a rate which you could use towards a Locum at the same ASMS MECA salary step. More importantly you can see the real cost of a DHB Consultants productivity.

Insourcing is an increasing method being used to reduce productivity costs. Want to know more about this contact SEQURE Health. 

Note:

1. Our calculation includes cost of relocation & on-boarding costs, superannuation, CME, and recruitment.

2. Our calculation and position that Locums can be cheaper is based on using Locums for FTE vacancies not on Locum use for leave cover. 

3. Our total productivity cost does not include additional nursing or equipment that would normally factored in.

4. This is calculator should be used a guide only and we do not warrant it’s accuracy.

5. The number of patients per day is different for the different types of Medical Services offered by DHB’s.

Want to know more about how to reduce your productivity costs? Contact SEQURE Health.   

Ask your Consultants if hiring Locums is right for your department.