There have always been healthcare travelers as there have always been those who wanted to help others be healthy and take care of their wellbeing. The modern healthcare travel industry began in earnest in the 1970's or 1980's.

In the 1970's the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant to determine how to get doctors to go to under-served locations, such as rural areas, to practice medicine. Locum Tenens began when the results of this study showed that doctors would be willing to practice in these areas if they could be guaranteed time off. Therefore, a group of doctors could work short term assignments in these areas by rotating their time and time off.

Travel nursing really took off in the 1980's after a New Orleans hospital used temporary RN's in order to meet the increased influx of patients after Mardi Gras. According to Healthcare Traveler magazine the nation was facing a serious nursing shortage and travel nursing was a great way to supplement local availability of healthcare professionals.

There is, and has been, a critical nationwide shortage of health care professionals. Even during the peak of the recent recession there was a 4% Registered Nurse vacancy rate nationwide. The USBL (United States Bureau of Labor) statistics show that nursing is the top growth profession now and in the next few years with an estimated 1 million new and replacement nurses needed by 2025.The same dilemma exists for doctors as we are currently graduating about half the number of doctors needed to keep pace with current demand. And, as always, there is still a problem providing healthcare professionals in the rural and under-served areas. This problem has always existed but the current shortage makes it even harder to supply these areas with quality healthcare.

Supplemental staff can help providers maintain an optimal staffing level. Factors such as seasonal population spikes, employees taking vacations are just two of the many circumstances which can disrupt the optimal level. Travel professionals can fill these needs and it is more feasible for the facility to use supplemental staff than to hire additional professionals.

With the current trends in the healthcare industry and our country's changing population demographics the demand for healthcare travelers is continuing grow and there are no signs of this growth slowing any time soon.

Mary Crawford, HealthCare Employment Network