National Nurses Week begins every year on May 6, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who was the founder of modern nursing.
The American Nursing Association encourages agencies, employers and the general public to show nurses your appreciation this week.
Not sure how to say thanks?
Check out the National Nurses Week Media Kit for great ideas to create positive events that will show nurse appreciation while show-casing your organization!
In this week’s edition of Inside ASA, The American Staffing Association announced that the New York Staffing Association will have a featured luncheon speaker on Super Seminar Day (May 18).
General Counsel, Ed Lenz, intends to speak about how the new health care reform law will affect staffing agencies.
Attendees will also receive a comprehensive written outline of the new health care reform law that will include the following topics:
Major new tax provisions
Requirements for individuals to buy health insurance
Small business tax credits
Employer penalties if employees receive government assistance
Employer notice requirements
Medicare tax withholding obligations
Auto enrollment requirements for certain large employers
For more information, visit the New York Staffing Association web site.
President Obama signed the landmark health care reform bill yesterday, which will require the majority of employers (including medical staffing agencies) to pay a penalty to the government if they do not provide health insurance to their employees.
Temporary staffing firms are invited to attend the second national American Staffing Association (ASA) staffing law conference to learn how today’s laws will affect their businesses.
In fact, from April 20-21 in Washington, DC, ASA will offer attendees a full 90-minute briefing on the final health care reform legislation, and go into detail about what medical staffing firms will have to do to comply.
Other topics on the agenda include the following:
A brochure, which includes full descriptions of all the conference sessions, is available online at http://www.americanstaffing.net/lawconference.
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.
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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.
AMN Healthcare recently reached out to over 1000 Registered Nurses and asked them to complete a survey related to job-satisfaction, and the results are in:
Click here to read the more results from the AMN Healthcare 2010 Survey.
According to a post that appeared on Staffing Industry Analysts North American Daily News, “Symbio Solutions, which operates a healthcare vendor management system, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.”
Proceeds from the sale will go to 100-plus creditors, however, creditors that are entitled to receive funds may not get 100% of what is owed.
Plans call for an auction of the company later this month, and for the sale to close in February, Shifflette said.
Interesting enough, the post reported that Symbio first ran into payment difficulties last summer after an issue rose with its former factoring company, Sun Capital.
Click here to read the entire post: VMS files bankruptcy, plans sale.
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.
Did anyone see the December 6th article in LA Times entitled: Temp firms a magnet for unfit nurses?
Journalists, Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein painted temporary nurse staffing agencies in a very bad light in the investigative article. The article focused primarily on nurse staffing firms who have been skimping on background checks and staffing unfit nurses.
During a time when hospitals and nursing homes are scrambling to fill staffing gaps, they’re relying on temp agencies more so than in the past. Now, more than ever, temp agency owners need to be taking the proper steps to screen their employees prior to hiring.
Another option which wasn’t as popular when it first came out is for nurse staffing agencies to become Joint Certified.
Q: What is your agency doing to remain competitive and trustworthy in the marketplace?
It’s normal this time of year for flu-related absences to pop up in the workplace. Add in the recent H1N1 outbreak , and employers across the nation are sure to suffer even more employee absences. Add in the rush of the holiday season, and the stage is set. Medical facilities especially will need to find ways to fill the staffing gaps.
Supplying allied health professionals and/or temporary nurses to hospitals, nursing homes and medical clinics now is a great way for small medical staffing agencies to get their foot in the door. Savvy business owners will take advantage of this opportunity.
What’s more…Agency owners who utilize nurse staffing factoring can rest easy if their clients take longer to pay during the fourth quarter. Factoring medical staffing invoices gives agency owners cash upfront so they have enough liquid capital to meet payroll and pay taxes.
Click here to learn more about medical staffing invoice factoring.
