How to Jumpstart a Successful Medical Billing Business

Did anyone see Vanessa Best’s article in the July issue of BC Advantage? In the article, How to Jumpstart a Successful Medical Billing Business (page 31-32), Vanessa lists 10 steps to start a medical billing and consulting business:

  1. Choose a business type.
  2. Choose the name.
  3. Develop a business plan.
  4. Learn about your market.
  5. Keep abreast of the medical field.
  6. Get reasonably priced software from vendors listed with the BBB.
  7. Develop your marketing strategy.
  8. Launch your marketing campaign.
  9. Establish how much your time is worth and set fees for service.
  10. Put it in writing!

Although the medical billing account receivable specialists agree with everything on Vanessa’s list, we thought medical billers and medical billing consultants should add one more thing to the list.

Team up with a medical billing accounts receivable factor. Most medical billing companies and medical billing consultants have to wait weeks to be paid for their billing services. Imagine a world where you sent an invoice to a physician, and you got paid on the same day. PRN Funding’s medical billing account receivable program is designed to do just that!

Check out our medical billing factoring web page for more details.

2010 AAPC Conference Wrap-Up

Even though Jacksonville, FL was not one of the more desirable cities for a medical coding conference, the 2010 AAPC Conference ended up being a good one for PRN Funding.

Phil Cohen (PRN Funding’s owner), Vera Pereskokova (Account Manager) and Nikki Flores (Marketing Manager) had the pleasure of speaking with a number of medical coding business owners and medical coding consultants during the show. All of them showed a great interest in PRN Funding’s medical billing factoring services as well as our medical coding invoice funding program.

Congratulations to Lori H. of Compass Coding Services, who was the lucky winner of our iPod Shuffle and $50 iTunes gift card drawing!

Looking for an Article on Factoring?

Have a question about invoice funding that hasn’t already been addressed on The Factoring Blog? Mosey on over to PRN Funding’s Web site, where healthcare business owners and cash flow factoring professionals can find a wealth of information.

PRN Funding’s president, Phil Cohen, has been busy writing various articles about factoring over the last few months. Have you been keeping up? Check out the Factoring Industry News section of our web site for his most recent contributions.

Choose from article topics like…

  1. Comparing Bank Loans to AR Factoring
  2. Top Five Reasons to Factor
  3. Factoring Fees Defined
  4. Ways to Secure Funding in a Bad Economy
  5. Benefits of Home Care Factoring

Happy browsing!

BusinessWeek – Disposable Worker

Did anyone happen to catch the article: The Disposable Worker in BusinessWeek last month? If not, don’t fret, the invoice factoring specialists from PRN Funding took the time to summarize some of the interesting article’s main points below:

These brutal economic times has prompted more companies to use temporary workforces. Utilizing temporary employees gives these companies the ability to add and let go employees quickly and easily, relieving them of any kind of fixed costs. Their approach has created an era of disposable workers that will cause lasting damage.

“Older people who lose their jobs are often forced into premature retirement, while the careers of younger people are stunted by their early detachment from the working world.” Through their actions, many employers are laying the groundwork for employees to become alienated and dispirited.

Moreover, there’s a new trend in upper management, in which bosses are no longer rewarded fpr the number of people they supervise. Rather, they are rewarded for short-term profit performance obtained with less staff.

In addition, the article explained how offshoring has increased during the recession. Economists believe that most jobs shipped overseas will remain offshore even when things start improving in order to help companies continue to keep costs down.

The article referred to the European temporary market model as a way to improve conditions in the U.S. At least in Europe, part-timers and temporary workers receive government health insurance and are required to receive wages and benefits comparable to permanent employees.

How Medical Billing Factoring Increases Cash Flow

Phil Cohen, president of PRN Funding, LLC, was recently featured as a guest writer for a popular medical billing and coding web site.

He previously wrote a two-part series explaining how medical coding companies can improve their cash flow by factoring their receivables. Mr. Cohen discussed the things to look for when choosing a medical coding factoring company.

This time, Mr. Cohen wrote specifically how medical billing companies can benefit from selling their invoices to a factoring firm. In a nutshell, instead of waiting up to 90 days for reimbursement, medical billing factoring provides business owners immediate cash.

Check out the article here: Medical Billing Companies Can Increase Their Cash Flow Through Factoring.

2009 HIM Salary Survey Results

Advance for Health Information Professionals published their annual HIM professionals’ salary survey results in the December Issue (pages 12-15). For the convenience of The Factoring Blog’s HIM readership, we’ve included some of the more pertinent findings below:

  • 90% of respondents are full-time HIM professionals (up from 88% in 2008)
  • 64% of those who responded to the survey are employed as a HIM director, coder, MT or cancer registrar
  • Only 19% of respondents indicated that they were working more than 45 hours/week
  • 46% said their salary had NOT increased from 2008
  • 8% said their salary actually DECREASED from 2008

PRN Funding’s December Funding’s Bulletin

As many of The Factoring Blog’s readers already know, PRN Funding provides accounts receivable factoring to healthcare vendors such as temporary nurse staffing agencies, medical transcription services and medical billing and coding companies and most recently, private duty home care agencies.  By purchasing these companies’ invoices, PRN Funding provides the cash needed to sustain and grow a health care business.  We are pleased to announce some of our most recent fundings:

A Home Care Agency No Longer Has to Wait for the State to Pay
This Chicago-based home care agency owner had been staffing sitters and home care aides into peoples’ homes since the beginning of the year, getting paid routinely in every two weeks by the state of Illinois. However, as the fourth quarter approached, she watched her receivables age out.

Worried that the lag in her payments would eventually start affecting her ability to meet payroll, the agency owner Googled “home care factoring,” and clicked on the first search result-PRN Funding’s home care factoring page. After ten minutes of perusing the site, the agency owner called 866.776.5407, and was immediately connected to a home care factoring specialist. Two weeks later at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the agency owner presented PRN Funding with the first batch of invoices and had funds deposited directly into her account within hours.

An Ohio Medical Billing Company Gains News Business
Until recently, this Columbus-based medical billing entrepreneur had only been providing billing services for a handful of independent doctors in central Ohio. All it took was for one of those doctors to mention the medical billing vendor’s capabilities to an associate, and the billing company had the opportunity to sign on a medical clinic as a new client. He was ecstatic about the new business opportunity; however, there was one major problem. In order to win the business, he agreed to sign a contract with 45-day payment terms. The medical billing business owner knew he could float payroll for a month, but having to wait those last two weeks to get a check was going to make it very difficult for him to pay his employees on time.

Later that day, while paging through a current billing and coding journal, he came across an ad for a funding company that works specifically with medical billing and coding companies. The entrepreneur visited www.prnfunding.com and determined that medical billing factoring was truly the solution to his forthcoming cash flow problem. He filled out an online application, and within a week, PRN Funding had purchased his first invoice to the medical clinic.

Nurse Staffing Agency Switches Factoring Firms
Unhappy with her current funder because it didn’t know very much about the nurse staffing industry, this nurse staffing agency owner from Tennessee was researching factoring firms when she came across PRN Funding’s web site. She was pleased when she found out that PRN Funding had been factoring nurse staffing invoices for over 10 years, so she called the same day to learn more.

Within the twenty minute conversation, the agency owner found out that PRN Funding was already very familiar with the hospitals where she was currently staffing. Because of their nurse staffing expertise, PRN Funding was also able to advise the agency owner not to sign on with a particular facility because it had a record of paying 60 days beyond term. Floored by PRN Funding’s expertise, the agency owner decided to fill out an application that day.

Eight business days later, PRN Funding had completed the buyout process, communicated the remittance changes to the agency’s clients and purchased the first batch of invoices.
Click here for more information on PRN Funding’s accounts receivable factoring services.

New CEO for AHIMA

According to AdvanceWeb.com, Alan F. Dowling, PhD was recently appointed as the new CEO of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). He will assume his new role on January 13, 2010.

This statement was release in the official press announcement:

“Dr. Dowling has a deep understanding of the complexity of issues facing our association, our members and our industry, as a whole. His experience in the areas of health information and informatics, as well as healthcare delivery systems, gives him keen insights into what will be vital to the next decade of health information management and technology,” AHIMA board president Vera Rulon said.  “He is the ideal person for the job ahead.”

Click here to read the entire press release: Dr. Alan F. Dowling Names AHIMA’s Next Chief Executive Officer.

Factoring Terminology

Entering into the world of accounts receivable factoring can seem overwhelming if you are not familiar with factoring industry jargon. We’ve identified and defined some of the more common factoring terms for our readers below:

Account Creditor – You, the Client and provider of goods or services.

Account Debtor – The purchaser of goods or services; responsible for the paying invoice.

Advance Rate – Money provided immediately to the company factoring its accounts receivable–expressed as a percentage of the total invoice amount.

Discount Fee – A fee assessed by a factor that purchases accounts receivable. The discount fee is determined by the size of the invoice, the length of time it takes to collect the funds and the creditworthiness of the customer, not the company selling the receivable.

Factor – A company that provides operating capital to businesses by purchasing their accounts receivable.

Factoring – The business of purchasing and collecting accounts receivable.

Non-Recourse – Generally, a period in which accounts purchased by the factor remain the factor’s accounts and do not revert to the account creditor if unpaid due to an insolvency event. The factor accepts full credit risk for any and all accounts that it purchases during this period.

Recourse – Generally, a period in which accounts purchased by the factor are able to revert to the account creditor if unpaid due to an insolvency event. The client accepts full credit risk for any and all accounts that it sells to the factor during this period.

Reserve – Amount of money that is not immediately provided to the company factoring its accounts receivable when the account is purchased by the factor, expressed as a percentage of the total invoice amount.

Reserve Release – A bonus paid back to you as a result of prompt paying of receivables by your customer. (Advance Rate + Reserve = 100% of Total Invoice) The Reserve, minus the discount fee, is transferred to the client once payment is received by the factor.

Click here to learn more factoring terminology.

AAHAM to hold Annual National Institute

In a recent press release, the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management announced that it will hold its Annual National Institute from October 14-16 in Scottsdale, AZ at the Fairmont Princess Resort and Spa.  The conference will focus on the future of health care in the U.S.’s changing economy. 

Over the three days, there will be educational sessions, opportunities to hear from keynote speakers-over 50 of them-as well as networking in an exhibit hall.  The speaker series will focus on five health care topics: management/revenue cycle, access/quality management, compliance, leadership/professional development, and specialty. 

For more information about the event, visit www.aaham.org or contact AAHAM directly at (703) 281-4043.

Older Posts
Newer Posts