Everyone knows that nurses are going to be in high demand for the foreseeable future. Driving that point home even more, Brian Summers recently blogged about the Top Five Nursing Careers in the upcoming years. For the benefit of our nurse staffing readers, the nurse staffing account receivable specialists at PRN Funding wrote a condensed version of the post below:
One: Travel Nursing Careers Travel nurses have the ability to control their career paths while working in a variety of healthcare settings. The pay is good too, ranging from $22-$40/hour.
Two: Military Nursing Careers Basically, military nurses choose a career in the armed forces, which opens the door to some exciting travel and education benefits while adding a lot of support to the nation.
Three: Forensic Nursing Careers The main objective of forensic organization is to ensure that criminals are brought to book for their wrongdoings, and forensic nurses help these organizations by documenting injuries and collecting DNA evidence. In addition, forensic nursing is considered one of the top-paying nursing jobs.
Four: Legal Nurse Consulting Careers In order to become a legal nurse consultant, you need to have specialized training above and beyond your RN license. In addition, legal nurse consultants can easily bring in $100-$150/hour for their services, which include: providing medical and legal inputs to a legal team after analyzing the medical evidence of an event and/or testifying in court as an expert witness in cases that include medical malpractice and product liability.
Five: Surgical Nurse Careers If you recall, we blogged about how some hospitals are seeing shortages in specialized nurse positions yesterday. So it’s no surprise that surgical nurse careers are anticipated to be in high demand in the next decade. Basically, surgical nurses assist doctors in prep work for surgeries as well as carrying out post-op recovering procedures and administrative duties.
It’s no secret that the United States is on the cusp of a nationwide nurse shortage as baby boomers continue to age and need more medical care. In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association projects the RN shortage to hit 400,000 by 2020.
The allied health staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding recently invited one of our previous respiratory therapist staffing clients to “spill the beans” in a tell-all interview about his experiences with using PRN Funding as a medical staffing factor . Although it’s posted on PRN Funding’s web site, we also included a copy of it on The Factoring Blog for all of our medical staffing agency owners to read:
The New “Old-time” Banker: Growing in a recession
When Greg Donnelly bought a small respiratory staffing company in 2006, he immediately set to work growing the business, focusing on providing excellent care and nurturing solid client relationships. First Select Medical Staffing gained a foothold in the market and began to grow, from five therapists to 51. What Donnelly didn’t count on was the deepening recession and resulting credit crunch. His relatively new fast-growing company needed funding for payroll: his first payroll in 2006 was $700, and by April of 2008 it was $40,000 every two weeks.
“Banks weren’t lending to small businesses, especially one that was a staffing company: they didn’t have a lot of experience with companies like mine,” Donnelly recalls.
“I wanted someone who would understand my business and had a track record. Right off the bat his company name told me he understood the medical field. PRN is medical shorthand for patient administered treatments, on an as-needed basis. When we first met and I showed Phil my business plan with my respiratory niche, the increasing demand due to aging population and the seasonal capabilities of respiratory therapy, he totally understood it. He’s a very knowledgeable businessman and I was very impressed. PRN Funding was very responsive from the very beginning and they stayed right with me for any questions I had. I wasn’t just an entity, they made me feel like I was important to them.”
Phil Cohen, founder and President of PRN Funding, felt that even though First Select was non-bankable, they were a fit for PRN Funding. “First Select met all of our criteria very comfortably. They were a start-up company, selling to customers with very good credit. Unfortunately accounts were taking longer to pay than expected and First Select did not have the cash flow to meet its payroll.”
First Select had contracts with more than 100 hospitals and long-term acute care facilities with customers among some of the best in the nation, such as the Cleveland Clinic. Though his clients were stable, the recession affected their cash flow like all other businesses which resulted in their stretching payables to vendors like First Select Medical Staffing.
AR Funding to survive, thrive, monetize
Factoring was a very good option for First Select, allowing Donnelly to grow the business without worrying about having the cash flow to meet payroll and tax obligations. Additionally, it allowed First Select to grow revenue and, in doing so increase the value of the company. PRN Funding gave Donnelly the flexibility to factor invoices when he wanted, without being locked into a contract.
“What was nice about it was that I’d send in my invoices and funds were always available, whether the amount I needed went up or down. I didn’t have to worry that the cash would be there to meet payroll and other obligations. I could focus on growing my company. I don’t think I would have been as successful without it. Like anything else there’s a price to it, but I found the cost very reasonable in order to have that security blanket.”
Value-add: trusted business counselor
Beyond a medical staffing payroll funding solution, Donnelly found a business advisor in Cohen with whom he could discuss business challenges both operational and financial, and rely on for impartial and educated advice.
“Phil was a great sounding board for me and that’s incredibly valuable when you’re in business for yourself. We’d meet for lunch periodically and he’d give me advice if I asked for it. He’s a very experienced businessman and he’s willing to share his knowledge. He would play devil’s advocate and that helped me make decisions. He was interested in my company’s growth, but I didn’t feel it was because he wanted me to factor more invoices. He was an advocate for my company and its growth, and helped where he could, to survive in such a harsh economic environment.”
“I felt the same comfort level with his people; he had obviously instilled a high work ethic in his employees. My primary representative was excellent. When he was away and I worked with another representative, it seemed as if they had been handling me from day one. I really think it’s the organization Phil built around him that makes PRN Funding stand out.” Finding a buyer: an unusual role
By 2009, First Select was more than doubling in size each year and Donnelly was working 24/7. Other interests caused him to think about selling the business and he turned to Phil for advice.
“He was very sincere about giving me information so that I would maximize my return on investment. He gave me his opinion on the value of my business, the earnings multiple that was appropriate for similarly sized companies in the medical staffing industry, and how to negotiate an earn-out provision from the sale. I found his advice very helpful in negotiations with several strategic and financial buyers. And I thought that was very impressive given that whoever bought the company might not use his services. He wasn’t worried about keeping First Select as a client, he was trying to help me with advice like he always has.”
In an unusual twist, it was Phil who found the buyer for First Select. “At PRN Funding we have a philosophy that is different than most, we don’t treat clients like we are the end game. Factoring is by definition a bridge to get from point A to point B. When a client comes to us and says I’m ready to move on, I think I can go to a bank, we’ll make the introductions and help them package their business whether for a bank, for sale, or self funding. It’s like sending your kids off to college – it’s gratifying to see them grow, but you know you’ll miss them.”
“Phil was sincere about helping me, I still feel that to this day,” Donnelly says. He has since gone on to start another business venture and has no hesitation in calling on PRN Funding again if needed.
“I still stay in touch because he just feels like a good friend. With PRN Funding, I not only gained a funder, I gained a business colleague in Phil. Whenever we met, I’d leave feeling that we’d had a good conversation and he’d offered good advice. When I was younger, you could go to your local bank and they knew you and you called your banker by their first name. If you needed a loan you’d sit down and talk about it, you had a relationship. Guess what? With PRN Funding I found someplace I can do that again.”
About two years ago, The Receivables Exchange marketplace opened its doors. It’s a unique factoring service that allows factors to bid on various business owners’ invoices.
The Receivables Exchange recently conducted a survey of 636 executives at companies from the $1-200 million revenue range across 15 different industries. The results of the survey yielded some interesting insights into the cash flow worries at temporary staffing firms:
2/3 of the executives surveyed listed working capital as their #1 concern, and staffing agency owners were the most worried about cash flow.
Staffing agency owners also listed seasonality and disruptive events (i.e. fluctuations in the market that affect demand for services) as top concerns.
Although extended payment terms were not as big of a capital challenge for staffing agency owners as in other industries, staffing executives still listed it as a general business concern.
1/3 of all the respondents believed that they were being blocked by traditional financing sources.
Nearly half of the staffing companies were not satisfied with their borrowing capabilities from traditional financing sources.
The American Staffing Association (ASA) is holding it’s annual Healthcare Staffing Summit September 21 and 22 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, IL.
According to ASA’s web site, “the annual Healthcare Staffing Summit brings CEOs, owners, and senior level executives together to focus on topics of both strategic and tactical interest to the full range of healthcare staffing segments — travel nursing, per diem nursing, locum tenens, and allied medical…Attendees listen to and interact with healthcare staffing industry leaders and analysts, gather best practices and proprietary information, and enjoy extensive peer networking.”
The American Staffing Association is presenting a webinar for its healthcare staffing members entitled: Joint Commission Certification of Health Care Staffing Firms: The Fundamentals.
Executive director for the health care staffing services certification program at the Joint Commission, Michele Sacco, will cover the following topics during the webinar:
Requirements to becoming certified
Tips on how to best prepare your healthcare staffing agency to begin the certification process
Walk through the steps to follow to apply for certification
A Japanese company, Riken Research Institute, has designed the RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) to help nurses lift and move patients. The 4 and a half-foot robot can lift over 130-pounds, and is outfitted with sensors to recognize faces and answer up to 30 unique commands.
Engineers are hoping to place the robots in Japanese healthcare centers by 2012.
Check out some of PRN Funding’s most recent factoring transactions:
A Nurse Staffing Agency Brings on a New Client
This nurse staffing agency owner was ecstatic when she heard that she had won a contract with a local healthcare network. Being an approved nurse staffing vendor in the system meant that she had the ability to fill shifts in five new facilities. The only problem with this growth opportunity is that in order to become a part of the network, the Alabama staffing agency owner had to agree to 60-day payment terms. She didn’t want to walk away from the opportunity, but she also knew that she would not be able to float payroll for that long.
The business owner remembered a postcard she had received earlier that month from PRN Funding, LLC, an accounts receivable factor who specializes in funding nurse staffing agencies likes hers. She dialed the toll-free number and within minutes was connected with a factoring specialist. After a brief interview over the phone, the agency owner realized that PRN Funding was presently accepting payments from the healthcare network, so she was pre-approved for funding. She factored her first invoice two weeks later and hasn’t had to worry about meeting payroll since.
A Private Duty Home Care Agency Gets Paid Quicker
Providing in-home private duty services and being reimbursed by a state’s Medicaid Waiver program has its pros and cons. On the plus side, state dollars are guaranteed to be paid, but one big drawback is it can take a month or longer to receive those funds. As her client list increased, the owner of a home care agency in Massachusetts was having difficulty adjusting to the state’s new invoice approval process. In short, it meant that the home care agency owner would have to wait 30 days to receive a check instead of the historical two-week turnaround time.
A month before this change in the invoice approval process was to take place; the agency owner contacted PRN Funding because she saw one of their posts on a social networking site. She was relieved to know that PRN Funding was already very familiar with various states’ Medicaid Waiver programs. At the conclusion of her initial conversation, the private duty agency owner filled out a factoring application. The following week, she factored her first monthly invoice and received cash the same day.
A California Healthcare Staffing Business Finally Opens its Doors
Without tangible collateral or a profitable operating history, this California healthcare staffing agency owner was unable to qualify for a line of credit at a bank. He found PRN Funding’s Web site late one night when he was researching small business financing solutions. The entrepreneur submitted an online application, and received a call from a healthcare staffing factoring specialist from PRN the next morning.
Within a week, PRN Funding had approved the agency owner’s first two clients, so he was finally able to start placing employees. The following week, the healthcare staffing business owner factored his first invoice, which provided him with instant working capital to pay his payroll taxes and meet his first payroll.
The medical staffing invoice factoring specialists at PRN Funding received a mis-directed letter last week that we thought might be interesting news to our local Ohio healthcare staffing agencies. For the sake of our Ohio staffing agency owners, we’ve posted the letter below:
Greetings:
The City of Cleveland, Department of Public Safety, Division of Correction is reviewing the viability of pursuing service contracts with outside vendors to provide certain inmate services. Your organization has been identified as a potential partner is such an endeavor. Enclosed you will find information in the form of a “Request for Proposal” highlighting required services and products.
Please review the Request, and, consider how your business could, or, could not become a provider. A pre-proposal meeting will be open on July 16, 2010, for all interested vendors; at that meeting, and and all questions regarding services in question will be welcome. The application deadline will be July 30, 2010. A final decision will be made some time afterwards – it may be that no vendor is chosen, and, that the City will continue with its in-house system.
We ask that you carefully consider the enclosed Request as a potential new business opportunity, and wish, your organization the best during this process.
Last week, BusinessWeek published an article entitled: Health-Care Bill Surprise: 1099 Nightmare, and we thought the small business owners who read The Factoring Blog should be aware of its contents.
In essence, the article says: Small business owners should be aware of page 737 of the recently-approved healthcare reform bill, as it contains a three-paragraph provision, inserted by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee to help offset the cost of the bill. In a nutshell, this insertion requires companies to report to the IRS payments of more than $600 a year to any vendor. The intent is noble: to capture $2 billion or more a year in taxes on income that currently goes unreported by contractors and small businesses.
Business advocates fear that the new rule will create a massive paperwork headache for small businesses because come 2012, the new rule will expand 1099-MISC reporting to include payments to companies, and for goods as well as services.
