Medical Coding Networker of the Year

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) chose Lori Hendrix, CPC, CPC-H, CIRCC, CPC-I as the 2009 Networker of the Year.

According to the February 15th edition of For the Record Magazine, AAPC’s Networker of the Year Award recognizes an AAPC member “who represents the higher standards of coding set by the organization and who shares the benefits of being a member with fellow coders.”

Hendrix responded to AAPC’s recent membership drive, Drive to 100K, and started referring colleagues to become active AAPC members. As a result of her hard work, she was named Networker of the Year for the second time (her first was in 2003).

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.

AMN’s 2010 Survey Reports RNs Switching Jobs Soon

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:

    1. 44% are ready to make a career change within 3 years
    2. More than 1/3 are unhappy with their current job situation
    3. Nearly 60% currently hold full-time permanent positions at a hospital
    4. 15% plan to switch jobs if the economy improves within the next year
    5. 28% said they agreed with this statement: “I will not be working in this job a year from now.”
    6. 46% of nurses agree with the statement “I worry this job is affecting my health.”
    7. 29% plan to leave the nursing profession completely within the next 1-3 years
    8. 55% believe that the quality of care that nurses provide today has declined compared to when they started in nursing
    9. 36% said they either would not recommend nursing as a career to young people or were not sure that they would

      Click here to read the more results from the AMN Healthcare 2010 Survey.

      Spheris to be Acquired by MedQuist and CBay

      In an press release issued this week, Spheris announced that it has agreed for MedQuist and CBay, Inc. to purchase Spheris’ assets under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code. According to the official Spheris press release, “The company expects its operations to continue as usual during the restructuring process. Spheris India, a subsidiary of the Company, will be part of the prospective transaction but will not file for bankruptcy.”

      This news generated some questions from the medical transcription factoring specialists at PRN Funding–Namely, if this agreement goes through from a national perspective, is it beginning of a monopoly in the transcription industry?

      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.

      Symbio Solutions Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

      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.

      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

      Ethics Manual Now Available for Healthcare Documentation Sector

      Last week, AHDI and MTIA announced on AHDI’s blog that the “first set of documents for for its compliance and best practices program is available for purchase.”

      The package will include:

      Sample HIPAA policies and procedures in addition to a sample business associate agreement (pursuant to the Feb 2010 HIPAA regulations).
      Click here for more information and pricing: Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector.

      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.