At ProLocums, we believe there is no one-size-fits-all way to organize partnerships with hospitals, and the same applies to our relationship with the physicians we hire to care for patients.
Whether you are employed and receiving a W-2 or are an independent contractor physician receiving a 1099 depends on various factors including specialty and role. Most physicians have been W-2 employees at some point, so they inherently understand this model. The independent contractor (IC) model is a little more foreign to many, so it is important to understand the pros and cons of this tax status.
Transitioning from an employed model to being an independent contractor physician (ICP), or starting your career as an independent contractor, presents a variety of often bewildering questions. One of the first is likely about the difference between forming an LLC and an S Corp.
Choosing the right business structure is a complicated question that depends on your state, personal financial goals, and family needs. To help physicians navigate these choices, we've teamed up with DocWealth.io, which specializes in providing CPA services for 1099 physicians to maximize their earnings. Consulting with a professional like DocWealth.io can help you come up with a plan that fits your particular situation and needs.
In this article, we will discuss why being a 1099 physician is the best option and explore whether you should form an S Corp or an LLC to maximize your financial benefits.
When deciding between forming an LLC or an S Corp as a 1099 physician, it's crucial to understand the distinctions and benefits of each structure.
S Corporation (S Corp): An S Corp, or S corporation, is a type of business entity that offers the advantage of pass-through taxation. This means that the company's profits and losses are passed directly to the individual owners, who report them on their personal income tax returns. This structure helps avoid the double taxation commonly associated with traditional C corporations. Owners of an S Corp can also save on self-employment taxes, as they can take a reasonable salary and distribute remaining profits as dividends, which are typically taxed at a lower rate. [not subject to additional self employment taxes.]
Limited Liability Company (LLC): An LLC, or limited liability company, blends the benefits of a corporation with the flexibility of a partnership or sole proprietorship. LLCs are relatively easy to establish and operate, offering significant flexibility in how they are taxed and how profits and losses are allocated among the owners. The members of an LLC are not personally liable for the company's debts and obligations, providing a layer of personal asset protection. Profits can be distributed among one or more members, making it a versatile choice for many business owners.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary purpose of forming an LLC for physicians is not necessarily to shield from liability, but to create an opportunity to save money through electing S Corp taxation.
How Does an LLC Help Lower Your Tax Bill? An LLC can choose to be taxed as an S Corp, allowing the business owner to take advantage of pass-through taxation while also potentially reducing self-employment taxes. By electing S Corp status, the physician can receive a portion of their income as a salary (subject to payroll taxes) and the remaining as a distribution (not subject to self-employment tax), leading to overall tax savings.
Many independent contractor physicians opt to form an LLC for its ease of setup and then elect S Corp taxation for federal tax benefits. This setup allows physicians to benefit from the simplicity of an LLC while enjoying the tax advantages of an S Corp.
Here’s how it works:
1. Formation and Election:
2. Revenue Flow:
3. Salary and Distributions:
As both the employer and employee, the independent contractor physician can significantly reduce self-employment taxes. For 2024, the self-employment tax rate is 15.3% on earnings up to $160,200, with an additional 2.9% on income above this threshold. By balancing W-2 wages and distributions, physicians can save thousands of dollars annually, primarily on payroll taxes, while still meeting their income tax obligations. This strategy offers substantial savings for independent contractor physicians.
Dr. Smith owns Smith Medical, LLC. ProLocums pays Smith Medical, LLC $325k through 1099 payments. Smith Medical, LLC then pays Dr. Smith a $125k salary via W-2. As a result, Dr. Smith’s payroll tax is calculated only on the $125k salary instead of the entire $325k.
Payroll Tax Implications Without an LLC:
Payroll Tax Implications With an LLC:
By structuring his income this way, Dr. Smith saves over $10,000 in payroll taxes.
The next common question is, “What about the $200k that I’m not taking as wages?” That $200k remains your money and can be accessed through owner distributions or dividends. You can transfer these funds from your business bank account to your personal account with ease. The advantage here is that this $200k is not subject to payroll tax, though it is still subject to income tax.
Forming an LLC and electing S Corp taxation has numerous benefits, but there are also potential downsides. These include compliance with additional tax rules and regulations specific to S Corps. Physicians considering this option should weigh the benefits and drawbacks and consult a tax professional before making a decision. For more information, visit DocWealth.io.
In recent years, the tax landscape for independent contractors has become increasingly complex, making much of the existing online information outdated. Consulting with a tax professional is crucial for understanding your specific situation.
Qualified Business Income (QBI), outlined in Section 199A of the tax code, refers to net income from a qualified trade or business eligible for deductions under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For independent contractor physicians, this income is eligible, but only if it falls under certain thresholds:
QBI Example:
Understanding QBI and its implications can significantly impact tax planning and savings for independent contractor physicians. For more detailed advice tailored to your circumstances, visit DocWealth.io.
The 2017 tax law that introduced QBI also capped state and local tax (SALT) deductions at $10,000, targeting high-income earners like physicians. To counteract this, many states have introduced or proposed a Pass-Through Entity (PTE) Level Tax. If your state offers PTE, you can pay a portion of your state income tax through your LLC and receive a federal deduction.
For Example:
This strategy allows high earners to navigate the SALT deduction cap effectively.
Organizing an LLC and paying yourself as an employee adds complexity but can lead to substantial savings. In the examples above, Dr. Smith could save:
These figures don’t include potential savings from retirement contributions or business deductions. While these examples are simplified and may not apply to your specific situation, the potential benefits are significant.
For personalized advice, consult your CPA or schedule a free 30-minute session with DocWealth.io.
Before a locum physician treats a single patient, the hospital has to confirm they are who they say they are - and that their training, licenses, and professional record hold up under scrutiny. That process is called medical credentialing. It applies to every clinician who walks through the door, permanent or temporary, and it's not something hospitals can skip or cut corners on. This article aims to explore how hospitals credential locum physicians in detail.
The provider submits an application first - education background, training history, and work experience. From there, the hospital collects the supporting paperwork: state medical licenses, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) certificates, board certifications, malpractice insurance records, immunization history, and references.
Then comes the part that takes the most time: primary source verification. The hospital's medical staff office contacts the original issuing bodies directly - licensing boards, medical schools, residency programs, certification organizations. They don't just take documents at face value. If a license was issued in Ohio, someone calls Ohio. That's the standard.
Once verification wraps up, a credentialing committee goes through the file and decides what clinical privileges to approve. The medical executive committee (MEC) weighs in next, and the hospital's governing body signs off at the end.
The structure is the same, but a few things shift for temporary providers.
Privileges are time-limited. They run for the length of the assignment, not indefinitely. When a staffing gap is urgent, some hospitals use an expedited review process to move things faster. However, it still has to meet state and federal compliance requirements. Speed doesn't override the rules.
If a provider has worked at the same facility before, re-credentialing is usually lighter. The hospital verifies what's changed since the last assignment rather than starting from scratch.
Locum credentialing is genuinely more complicated than credentialing a permanent hire. These providers move between states and facilities, sometimes frequently, which creates real friction.
Lack of documents or expired documents tends to be the most frequent cause of bottlenecks. The lack of a valid license or any document will stop everything in its tracks. Another issue involves multi-state licensing; each state has its own set of rules for obtaining a license, which can complicate the whole process when providers practice in several states.
Background checks and malpractice history reviews involve coordinating across several agencies. That takes time. When a hospital needs someone on the floor in two weeks, the timeline gets tight fast.
Many hospitals now work with locum agencies and online medical credentialing services specifically to reduce that friction. These services handle document collection, verification coordination, and compliance tracking. It pulls a lot of the administrative weight off the hospital's internal staff.
Credentialing is not a one-time clearance. Providers have to keep their DEA registration, malpractice coverage, and immunization records current for the entire length of an assignment. Hospitals run periodic audits to catch anything that may have lapsed.
Telehealth adds its own wrinkle. A provider doing remote visits has to be credentialed in the state where the patient is located at the time of that visit, not just where the provider is physically based. The telemedicine privileges need to match.
The medical staff office manages the day-to-day work - collecting applications, chasing documents, and running verifications. The credentialing committee reviews what comes in and makes recommendations. The MEC approves or pushes back. The governing body finalizes.
It's a multi-department process by design. Having more than one set of eyes on credentials keeps the process honest and gives the hospital a clear paper trail when regulators come knocking.
Doing this manually across multiple temporary providers at the same time is a lot to manage. Medical credentialing online has made it more workable - centralized document storage, expiration tracking, and fewer things falling through the cracks when staff changes happen at the hospital.
For facilities that regularly bring in locum providers coverage, having an agency that handles credentialing as part of their service cuts onboarding time considerably.
ProLocums works with both hospitals and providers on credentialing - connecting facilities with qualified locum physicians and managing the placement process, including the administrative side that often creates delays.
05/12/2026
Summary - Staffing shortages in healthcare are a common challenge hospitals face, often requiring locum providers to fill in gaps when permanent staffs are unavailable. Hence, it is crucial for hospitals to partner with a locum agency that understands their specific needs and can offer long-term staffing solutions. The right locum agency can provide reliable and experienced providers to ensure seamless care delivery.
Staffing shortages in healthcare aren't new, but they've gotten harder to ignore. Gaps appear without warning — a physician takes leave, a specialty unit suddenly runs short, a rural facility can't recruit permanent staff fast enough. Locum providers fill those gaps, but only if your hospital is working with an agency that actually understands what you need by offering long-term staffing solutions for hospitals.
Before you start calling agencies, get your own house in order first. What specialties are you short on? Are the gaps seasonal or chronic? Do you need someone for three weeks or three months? Hospitals that skip this step end up with mismatched placements and wasted time. Knowing whether you need emergency medicine coverage versus, say, anesthesia subspecialty support changes everything about who you should be talking to.
Budget clarity matters just as much. Locum costs go beyond the provider's daily rate — you're also covering agency fees, travel, lodging, and malpractice insurance. Hospitals that treat this as an afterthought tend to get sticker shock mid-contract. Map it out early so you can compare agencies on an apples-to-apples basis.
Not every agency operates the same way, and the differences matter more than most hospitals realize until something goes wrong.
Reputation is a decent starting point, but dig into specifics. How long has the agency been placing providers in your specialty? Can they give you references from facilities similar to yours in size and patient population? Vague claims about "top-tier networks" mean nothing without evidence. Agencies that belong to NALTO — the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations — are bound by a written code of ethics, which at least sets a floor for how they're supposed to treat facilities and providers. ProLocums, for example, operates under those standards.
Credentialing is where a lot of partnerships quietly fall apart. A provider who shows up without complete licensure verification isn't a solution — they're a liability. Before committing to any agency, ask specifically how they handle credentialing, what their average turnaround time is, and what happens when there's a delay. In case they are unable to give you a direct answer, there is something not right.
Provider vetting is the other major variable. Background checks and reference calls are the baseline. What matters is whether the agency, which claims to offer long-term staffing solutions for hospitals, has actually placed these providers in comparable settings before — and whether those facilities would take them back.
A few things hospitals often forget to clarify upfront:
Who carries malpractice coverage — the agency or the provider directly? What's the coverage limit, and what happens if a claim is filed after the assignment ends? Last-minute coverage gaps are common in healthcare; how does the agency handle them? And what does the fee structure actually look like when you add everything up?
These aren't gotcha questions. Good agencies answer them without hesitation. Evasiveness here is a red flag.
Once you've talked to a few long-term healthcare staffing agencies, compare them on more than price. Look at how quickly they filled similar positions in the past, whether their provider pool actually covers your specialty needs, and how flexible their contract terms are. Some agencies push for long minimums or have punishing termination clauses. If your needs change — and in healthcare they always do — you don't want to be locked into terms that don't work.
Talk to other hospitals they've worked with. Not just the references they hand you, but the facilities you find on your own if you can. Ask about responsiveness when something went sideways, not just when everything ran smoothly.
Picking the right long-term healthcare staffing agency is the beginning, not the end. Set clear expectations around communication — who your point of contact is, how quickly they respond to urgent requests, and how feedback gets handled when a placement isn't working. Hospitals that build a real feedback loop with their agency get better placements over time. Those who treat it as a transactional relationship tend to keep re-solving the same problems.
The strongest partnerships happen when the agency functions as an extension of your staffing team, not just a vendor you call when things break. That means proactive planning — working ahead of shortages, not just reacting to them.
For hospitals dealing with ongoing gaps, partnering with an experienced long-term healthcare staffing agency changes the dynamic considerably. You move from crisis management to actual workforce planning. ProLocums specializes in providing long-term staffing solutions for hospitals that need consistent, qualified coverage without constantly starting from scratch. That kind of stability is worth building toward.
04/11/2026
Locum work isn’t just some passing fad—it’s a real shift for doctors who want control over their schedules, a taste of something new, and, let’s be honest, a better paycheck. Maybe you like the idea of short-term gigs, or you’re itching to escape to the countryside for a while. Or maybe you’re just curious about how other hospitals run things. Whatever your reason, locum roles let you take charge of your own career. But finding the right locum job online? That’s where things can get tricky. Knowing where to search and how to spot the good gigs makes all the difference.
With more doctors choosing contract work, the number of online platforms and agencies has exploded. Some are great, some not so much. There’s a lot of noise out there. The goal is to cut through it and spot the gigs that actually fit your life and your goals.
So, what actually matters when you are looking for locum jobs online?
Skip those giant job boards full of unrelated listings. Go straight to job sites built for medical professionals. They cut out all the noise and connect you with real jobs that actually match your training. Most even let you upload your credentials ahead of time, so you’re ready to jump when the right gig pops up.
A good agency is a game changer. They know the hospitals, the clinics, and sometimes they even hear about openings before they go public. The best agencies don’t just throw jobs your way—they help with contracts, credentialing, and all the onboarding headaches, so you can actually focus on the medicine, not the paperwork.
Seriously, just keep your licenses, certifications, references, and insurance up to date. When everything’s in order, you can grab that perfect job before someone else beats you to it. Most healthcare job platforms let you store all your documents securely, making it easy to apply fast.
The best agencies and job sites don’t disappear once you’ve landed a job. They help with everything—applications, onboarding, travel, even finding a place to stay. Some fill you in on what to expect at a new facility or help you settle into a new town. That kind of backup matters, especially if you’re heading somewhere you’ve never been.
Finding locum jobs online isn’t just about scrolling through endless listings—it’s about finding the places that actually have your best interests at heart. You want more than a basic job board. You want support that makes the whole process smoother, maybe even enjoyable.
Sure, most doctors flock to the big urban hospitals, but honestly, some of the best locum gigs are out in regional or rural spots. Those places are always looking for extra hands, so they tend to pay more and throw in perks like travel allowances and bonuses. Plus, if you’re after real hands-on experience—where you see a bit of everything and actually get to know your patients and team—these smaller communities deliver.
Don’t just scroll past those country towns or out-of-the-way clinics when searching for locum jobs online. You might find yourself somewhere you’d never have thought to go, and end up loving it.
The real beauty of locum work? You can shape your job to fit your life, not the other way around. Maybe you just want a few weeks here and there between steady gigs. Or maybe you’re all in, making locum your main thing.
A lot of doctors use these short-term jobs to test-drive different hospitals or specialties before settling down somewhere permanent. You can try out new places, new teams, maybe even a whole new lifestyle—without losing control of your schedule.
So when you’re looking at locum roles online, zero in on what matters to you. Probably you prefer to spend quality time with your family. Maybe you’re looking to boost your income. Or you just want to break out of your usual routine. Whatever it is, there’s a locum position out there that fits.
With locum work, you call the shots—more freedom, new experiences, and a career that fits your life, not the other way around. Keep your paperwork in order, lean on good recruiters, and use the right sites, and you’ll land gigs that truly work for you.
Ready to see what’s out there? Start your search, and see how ProLocums can make finding your next locum job easy, supportive, and totally tailored to you.
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