Speech Recognition to Meet During MTIA Conference

The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) has brought together a group of  experts within the medical transcription workplace and technical experience to form guidelines for the MT community to employ when utilizing speech recognition platforms.

The most recent MTIA Association Update reports:

The Workgroup decided to hold a summit during the annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, April 24, 2009, to seek input related to a broad range of issues that arose during an initial draft of a white paper on SRT adoption. The summit objective is to finalize and publish the white paper and issue a “Speech Recognition Adoption Guide” for members of the industry to use when considering the incorporation of SRT into their operations. The purpose of the Adoption Guide is not to debate the technology, but to provide guidance on the operational impact and requirements that may be encountered during implementation.

Click here to read the initial scope and objectives document for the Speech Recognition Adoption Guide.

PRN Funding to Give Away iTouch

PRN Funding, LLC is headed to the 2009 American Academy of Professional Coders Convention in Las Vegas. The medical coding factoring specialists are eager to meet with medical coding consultants and medical coding business owners in booth #110.

As an added bonus, attendees who stop by the booth sometime between April 5-8 can fill out an entry form to win a 16-GB iTouch.

Click here to read the official press release: PRN Funding to Give Away Apple iTouch at AAPC Conference.

More Men Turning to Nursing Careers

It’s no secret that the poor economy has led to a number job layoffs. However,  the nursing industry is experiencing a reverse effect. More part-time female nurses are going back to work full-time because their husbands are being laid off from their jobs.

Now there’s a new growing trend…More men are entering the nursing profession. Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, MI said that 18% of the 2009 class of nursing students are men, a number that has doubled since 2003.

Check out the video below for more information.

MTIA Board Plans Strategic Retreat

Linda Yaniszewski, president of the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) announced in an article in February’s Health Data Matrix that the board members of MTIA were headed  to Daytona Beach, FL for an upcoming strategic retreat.

In an effort to “master the changes” in the medical transcription associations (MTIA and AHDI) and the medical transcription industry, the retreat is scheduled to cover an aggressive agenda. In her own words, Yaniszewki said highlighted the demaning agenda:

  1. Revisit our vision and purpose to ensure that it is still relevant to the association to support our members
  2. Discuss what we do well and what we need to do better as an association to support our members and help them in these turbulent economic times
  3. Define our core values–what’s most important to us in how we treat our members and each other
  4. Perform a SWOT exercise where we will identify our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as an industry and an association
  5. Clarify our strategic priorities to help overcome those challenges
  6. Determine the critical success factors and what success will look like for MTIA if we accomplish our goals
  7. Identify new ways to make sure we execute the above and hold each other accountable

Online Medical Coding Encyclopedia to Launch

Described as the largest collaborative online medical coding encyclopedia, Codapedia is set to launch in April.

Similar to Wikipedia, Codapedia will provide free, user-generated content related to medical billing, medical coding, collections, and compliance for medical practices.  Expert articles, interactive forums and links to definitive citations are among the many features this new web site has to offer the medical coding industry.

The online community is actively seeking “codapedists” to help ensure the growth and accuracy of medical coding information.

Click here to read the official press release: Codapedia Announced, Wiki for Coding and Medical Reimbursement.

NYC Council Speaker Aims to Improve Nurse Shortage

Although she alluded to it about a month ago during her State of the City Address, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn formally announced a five-year partnership with CUNY to increase the university’s teaching capacity to train an additional 100 nursing students a year.

New York is hit just as hard with the national nurse shortage, turning down 575 nurse applicants last year due to a lack of nursing teachers.

Quinn’s initiative would permit CUNY to pull five to ten seasoned nurses from New York City’s hospitals and have them teach as guest faculty members. Quinn’s solution would result in the training of 100 new nurses a year.

Click here to read more about Quinn’s nurse shortage plans.

Half of Nation’s Hospitals Operating in the Red

It wasn’t very long ago when PRN Funding wrote a 3-part series on the healthcare cash flow crisis in America, giving a glimpse into the actual costs of America’s healthcare system. Written at the end of 2004,we shared a startling statistic in the three-part Cash Poor Series, 1/3 of the nation’s hospitals were operating in the red. Just 4 years later, 50% of America’s hospitals are currently operating in the red, and many are in the midst of cutting back on services and staffing.

According to an article that appeared in today’s Los Angeles Times, “Forty-four percent of hospitals have seen declines in surgeries, with hip procedures showing the steepest drop-off at 45%, according to another new survey. As a result, 47% of the hospitals surveyed expect to make staff cuts, and 69% plan to cancel or delay equipment purchases, according to the survey by Novation, a company that manages supplier contracts for hospitals.

Novation has responded by demanding that vendors maintain or roll back prices on the goods they sell to hospitals.”

Click here to read the entire article: Half of nation’s hospitals running losses.

Realities of Outsourcing Medical Transcription

Senior VP and managing partner of Outsourcing Solutions Inc., Tony Incardona,  recently wrote an article for ADVANCE for Health Information Professionals, entitled, Outsourcing: The Realities of Reorganization.

In his article, Mr. Incardona discussed some of the pros and cons of medical transcription outsourcing, saying: “The decision to outsource transcription should not be limited to cost-savings alone. Transcription volume, staff on-hand and your facility’s needs all play vital roles in the process.”

Click here to read the entire article on ADVANCE’s web site: Outsourcing: The Realities of Reorganization.

Factoring for Home Care Agencies

The factoring experts at PRN Funding, LLC announced this week that it is now accepting factoring applications from home care agencies. For the convenience of the factoring blog‘s readers, we have included the text from the official press release below:

PRN Funding Expands Funding to Home Care Agencies

Cleveland, OH-Keeping up with the ever-changing medical staffing marketplace, PRN Funding, LLC made a formal announcement this week that it is now accepting home care factoring applications.

Previously, the focused accounts receivable factoring firm has worked exclusively with healthcare vendors that sell goods or deliver services directly to medical facilities. By adding home care agencies to their repertoire, the invoice funding firm is now able to collect payments directly from multiple state governments and their agencies.

“It has come to our attention that home care agencies and private duty firms could benefit greatly by PRN Funding’s factoring services,” said PRN Funding’s president, Philip Cohen. “It’s a growing market that we are excited to help.”

Home care, private duty and in-home care are all phrases that refer to a specialized care or life assistance care given to a person within the confines of his/her home rather than in a medical facility.

With years of experience in healthcare services financing, PRN Funding has a precise understanding of the unique challenges within the demanding business of serving vendors to healthcare institutions. PRN Funding offers financial resources to these companies by purchasing their accounts receivable–a process known as ‘factoring,’  which provides the cash needed to sustain and grow a healthcare business.

For more information, please visit PRN Funding’s Home Care Factoring page.

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