Hire permanently when the role is permanent and you can wait for the right person. Use staffing when the work can't wait: a shift, a leave, a busy season or the months a search takes. In 2025 the median physician search took 119 days and the median nurse practitioner or physician assistant search took 65 days, according to AAPPR, so it often makes sense to do both: cover the seat now and run the permanent search behind it.
Six ways to fill a seat
Each option answers two questions: how long you need someone, and whether you want them on your team for good.
| Option | Use it when | How long it lasts | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct hire | The role is permanent and you want the right long-term fit | Permanent | An employee on your own team |
| Per diem and short-term staffing | A call-out, vacation, leave or busy season leaves a gap | A shift to a few weeks | Coverage that ends when the need does |
| Contract staffing | You need steady cover while you hire, or for a project with an end date | Months at a time | Coverage without a permanent commitment |
| Locum tenens | A physician, NP or PA schedule has to keep running | As long as the schedule needs cover | Patients who keep their appointments |
| Interim leadership | A leader leaves before a successor is found | Until the permanent leader starts | A department that keeps running |
| Temp-to-hire | You want to see someone work before you commit | An assignment, then a permanent offer | A permanent hire you have already seen at work |
When direct hire is the right call
Choose direct hire for the roles your practice is built around: the physician patients ask for by name, the practice administrator, the lead medical assistant who trains everyone else. A permanent employee learns your systems, your payers and your patients, and that knowledge stays with you.
The trade-off is time. AAPPR's benchmarking of more than 10,000 physician and provider searches active in 2025 put the median at 119 days for physicians and 65 days for APPs, and the slowest specialty, endocrinology, took 321 days. Some searches move faster: on our Results page, a primary care physician search in Surprise closed in 4 weeks and a dermatology NP or PA search in Chandler in 3. Either way, start before the seat is empty. HealthOp's Direct-Hire Recruiting comes with our standard 12-month replacement guarantee.
When staffing covers the gap
Staffing fits work that is real but not permanent, and work that cannot wait for a search. Per diem and short-term staff cover call-outs, vacations, leave and busy seasons, a shift or a few weeks at a time. Contract staff stay for months: through a search, a new service line or a project with an end date.
It is often the quickest fix for support roles. In MGMA's May 2026 poll, 56% of medical groups said hiring medical assistants had become harder over the past year, and only 7% said it had become easier. A per diem MA keeps rooms turning while the permanent search runs.
Whoever you use, ask them to check licenses and certifications, your schedule and the commute before anyone starts, and to let you approve each person. That is how our Healthcare Staffing works.
Locum tenens in Arizona: the licensing rules
Locum tenens keeps a provider schedule running when a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant is on leave, has left, or has not started yet. In Arizona, the deciding question is how quickly the locum provider can be authorized to practice here.
- Physicians (MD): an out-of-state doctor of medicine can hold a locum tenens registration from the Arizona Medical Board to substitute for or temporarily assist an Arizona-licensed MD or DO. It lasts 180 consecutive days and can be granted once every three years (A.R.S. 32-1429). Arizona is also part of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, a faster route to an Arizona license for physicians licensed in other member states. Osteopathic physicians have a separate registration.
- Physician assistants: Arizona joined the PA Licensure Compact in February 2026 (AAPA). Until compact privileges are available, plan on an Arizona PA license.
- Nurses: Arizona is a Nurse Licensure Compact state, so RNs and LPNs with a multistate license from another compact state can work here. The compact does not cover nurse practitioners.
Then add the time your own credentialing takes before a first shift.
Interim leaders and temp-to-hire
Two more options suit particular moments. When a controller, CFO or practice manager leaves, an interim leader keeps the department running, with payroll, billing and the month-end close on schedule, while you look for a permanent successor.
Temp-to-hire works the other way round. Someone starts on assignment, you see how they work with your team and your patients, and if they fit, they join you permanently. It suits front office, MA and other support roles, where fit with the team matters as much as experience.
Using coverage and a search together
The options are not either-or. A locum NP or PA can cover a clinic's schedule while the permanent search runs, then hand patients over to the new hire. A contract MA can cover a maternity leave, and if your team likes them, temp-to-hire can turn the assignment into a job. Planning both from the start avoids the worst case: an empty exam room while you wait for the right candidate.
What to have ready before you call
Whichever route you take, these answers speed things up:
- The role, and the license or certification it needs
- The schedule: days, hours, call, and for how many weeks or months
- Where: the clinic address and any travel between sites
- The start date, and what happens if it slips
- Your EHR and any systems the person must already know
- Who approves candidates, and how fast you can decide
Need coverage now, or a permanent hire? HealthOp recruits and staffs only for Arizona healthcare employers. Tell us what you need on our Healthcare Staffing page, or start a search with Direct-Hire Recruiting.
