Frequently asked questions
How the directory is built, how pay is reported, and what we will and will not publish.
- Does an agency pay to be listed on DiscoverLocums?
- No. Listing is free, cannot be bought, accelerated, or declined by the agency. Every US locum tenens agency we can document is listed under the same published criteria.
- What do locum tenens physicians actually get paid?
- Published hourly ranges run roughly $90 to $420 depending on specialty, acuity and call burden. Each rate range on this site is marked sourced, estimate, or unsourced — we never fill an unsourced range with a placeholder number.
- How are physician reviews verified?
- Reviews are held until we verify the reviewer by work email, NPI, or a redacted assignment document. Anything negative naming an agency is sent to that agency with 10 business days to reply before it goes live.
- Why are reviews shown as fractions instead of star ratings?
- A tag appears on an agency profile only once three or more physicians have flagged the same thing, shown as a fraction such as '9 of 14 reviewers flagged'. Under five total reviews we show the count and no aggregate at all.
- Are reviews anonymous?
- They are published pseudonymously. Only specialty, state and assignment year appear. Names of physicians, recruiters, patients and colleagues are never published.
- What happens to an agency that is delisted?
- Its page stays up and shows the reason and the date. Silent removal would let the record be edited by whoever complains loudest.
- Who writes the guides and rate pages?
- A practising locum physician, named on every page, with a second practising physician credited on the clinical review line.