August 31, 2026 · 6 min read
The locum is on Monday. The license is still in the inbox.
The schedule says they start at eight. The certificate is an attachment from last Thursday. Privileging is not finished because nobody put the file on a row.
Medical directors
Privileging starts with a confirmed file.
A locum is on the Monday template. HR forwarded a PDF on Thursday. Nobody opened review. At 7:40 the medical director asks whether this person may prescribe. The answer is still in an attachment named scan2.
This is not the pile on the reception counter. That pile is ordinary mail. A locum is a person who was not on last week's coverage list and will be in a room in hours. Last tour's scan is not this tour's file. Treating it as current is how a ghost gets a schedule.
Before they are on the floor
- Professional license as printed, for the state where they will practice
- DEA if they will prescribe controlled substances at this site
- Malpractice in force for this visit, named correctly
- A confirmed row, not an unopened email
If the schedule is ahead of the calendar, you are privileging from hope.
Intake on the way in. Retire on the way out.
Photograph the certificate when it arrives, not after the first clinic. Confirm entity and expiry. When the tour ends, close the live row so next month's snapshot does not count them as staff. If they return, confirm the current file again. Locums are a door that swings both ways. Both sides belong on the calendar.
Questions
Is this just intake speed at the desk?
Intake between patients is how a mailed license leaves the counter. A locum is a privileging event with a start time. The file has to be confirmed before they see anyone, not sometime on Friday.
What if they were here last quarter?
Do not leave last tour's current on the board. Confirm the certificate that is in force for this visit. When they leave again, retire the live row so coverage matches who is actually practicing.