MTSOs Get a Bad Rap

The medical transcription factoring specialists at PRN Funding were curious if our medical transcription blog readers saw the featured article on ADVANCE for Health Information Professional’s web site: The Dark Side of Medical Transcription.

If you haven’t read it already, it’s definitely an article you should read, as it affects everyone in the medical transcription industry.  For the convenience of our medical transcription readers, PRN Funding has included the article’s highlights below:

The article opens with one medical transcriptionist’s story on how she went to work for what she thought was a reputable medical transcription service organization (MTSO) that started breaking promises in the very beginning, failing to issue direct deposits, never covering its MTs with health insurance, forbidding its MTs from contacting one another, displaying discrepancies in line counts, and finally bouncing a slew of payroll checks.

Another medical transcriptionist shared her story of the dangers of going into business with someone whom you do not know very well, which inevitably led to the closing of her medical transcription service. She was contacted years later by the IRS because the business owed a slew of back taxes, and her business partner was no where to be found.

The last bit of the article came more in the form of advice from an experienced MT. She shared a handful  of medical transcription industry tips with ADVANCE, from detailing what makes a good transcriptionist to taking the time to research medical transcription schools and then exceling in your program. She even discussed some of the benefits of continuing your medical transcription education even after graduation.

Click here to read the entire article: The Dark Side of Medical Transcription.

Temp Healthcare Workers Lack Adequate Background Checks

An interesting article appeared in the LA Times last week in which Los Angeles County officials were quoted saying “they do not know how many of the 2,000 temporary workers serving patients at county hospitals and clinics each month are working without a criminal background check.”

The LA County officials suspended the contract of one of its largest allied health staffing providers, Mediscan, because the agency placed a convicted rapist at Roybal Comprehensive Health Center, a large health clinic in east Los Angeles.

A representative from Mediscan was quoted in the article saying that all of the proper background checks had been carried out, going back seven years without a problem.

Click here to read the entire article in the LA Times: LA County Unaware How Many Temporary Healthcare Workers Lack Background Checks.

Why a Recession is a Great Time to Start a Nurse Entrepreneur Business

LeaRae Keyes, an RN and founder of the Nurse Entrepreneur Network, wrote an interesting article on her web site about the benefits of starting a nurse entrepreneur-related business during a recession. Within her article, she cited 7 reasons why a recession is a good time to start a nursing-related business, and we’ve included them here for our Factoring Blog readers:

  1. Companies are more likely to be looking for lower cost alternatives to their current providers.
  2. Business supplies are often discounted so it doesn’t cost as much to start a business.
  3. Companies do more outsourcing to decrease their bottom line which will benefit you if you can fill the gap.
  4. The marketplace is less crowded and this means less competition. It is like taking a vacation during the off season.
  5. Money is not lost in a recession. Wealth is transferred. Follow the money. Sell to those that have the money.
  6. People spend more time at home. Grab their attention by using 2.0 technologies.
  7. People working longer hours to hang onto their jobs are willing to pay for services because they have less leisure time.

And if you’re worried about securing financing in this bad economy, you don’t have to. Teaming up with a nurse staffing factoring firm, such as PRN Funding, provides nurse entrepreneurs immediate cash to meet payroll and pay taxes, without having to muddy the company’s balance sheet.

Click here to read LeaRae Keyes’ entire article: Why is a recession a great time to start a nurse entrepreneur business?

Medical Transcription Association Starts Facebook Group

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) recently announced the launch of its active Facebook group, AHDI Members on Facebook. At 218 members and growing, the AHDI Facebook page promotes the same overall mission of AHDI: “To promote the integrity of healthcare documentation through development of an educated, prepared workforce in clinical documentation.”

The active Facebook group offers recent medical transcrition industry news as well as a lively discussion board, lists upcoming events, displays member photos and encourages “wall” conversations. The AHDI Members on Facebook is open to everyone.

Sign into your Facebook account for more details.

Updates on the MedQuist Class Action Settlement

Medical transcriptionists who transcribed work for MedQuist at any time during the period from November 29, 1998 to August 11, 2008 and were paid on a line-based unit of measure for their work are a part of the class action settlement concerning MedQuist’s breach-of-contract.

According to the official MedQuist settlement page, “the case asserts that MedQuist manipulated its computer systems to underpay its medical transcriptionists for their per-line medical transcription work. MedQuist denies that it did anything wrong.”

The bulk of the $1.5 million settlement payment will go to the Association for Healthcare Documentation (AHDI). These funds will be “used to fund programs for the general benefit of medical transcriptionists and the medical transcription industry. In addition, qualifying class members will be eligible to participate in certain AHDI programs free of charge. No payments will be made directly to any individuals.”

If you have further questions/concerns about this settlement, click here to view AHDI’s FAQs about the MedQuist Class Action Settlement.

More Hospitals Hiring Temps

An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal discussed how more and more general surgeons are shifting from private practices to temporary assignments as a result of the economic downturn, rising overhead costs and declines in reimbursements.

So much so that “general surgery is now among the fastest growing areas of a temporary medical staffing undystry that’s expected to double to $2.1 billion in 2009 from five years ago, according to Locumtenens.com.”

The WSJ article, Surgeon Shortage Pushes Hospitals to Hire Temps, goes on to say that “temporary surgeons used to be mostly older physicians who wanted a lighter workload, or those fresh out of training, still deciding where to put down roots. But today, more are midcareer people.”

The WSJ estimated that it can cost a hospital up to $1500/day, plus travel and lodging expenses for a temporary surgeon to come in and perform scheduled procedures and emergency operations. But as hospitals continue to face a shortage in nurses and doctors, utilizing locum tenens staffing is quickly becoming one of the only options available.

Multiple States Face School Nurse Shortages

In the past couple of weeks, there have been a number of news reports covering the shortage of nurses in schools.

According to WKSFY.com‘s web site, in the state of South Dakota, there is only one school nurse for every 1354 students. State leaders blame the lack in school funding as the cause. Meanwhile, CampusRn reported that school nurses in West Virginia “are confronting an increasingly complex batch of patients who require more specialized treatment.” Kanawha County’s 33 school nurses are dealing with hundred of cases of asthma, anxiety, ADHD, heart problems, seizure disorders, clinical depression and lifethreatening allergies.

Q: Some schools are starting to use nurses from temporary staffing agencies to help fill the gaps and administer ongoing care. Have you considered staffing nurses to local school districts?

3M Earns Top Ranking for Medical Transcription and Medical Coding Software

According to BCAdvantage’s Web site, 3M Health Information Systems was recognized by KLAS for leading the market in three software solution categories: Other Dictation and Transcription Solutions, Medical Records Coding, and Medical Records–Other.

In its annual report, the 2008 Top 20 Best in KLAS: Software & Professional Services, KLAS, an independent healthcare IT vendor research firm, also ranked 3M Health Information Systems as the second highest-performing software vendor across all market segments.

Common Obstacles to Nurse Entrepreneurship

President of the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA), Pat Bemis, wrote an article in December’s edition of RN entitled, Obstacles to Nurse Entrepreneurship. In her article, Bemis discussed three mindsets that nurses have when making the transition from employment to entrepreneurship:

1. The instant response mindset – Bemis says that nurses are used to getting an immediate response to their work, however, it’s important to break out of that “instant gratification” mindset because it takes time.

2. The “I can do it myself” mindset – Out of fear of criticism, nurses tend to have the mindset that to “gather all the information and put it into a certain arrangement…before involving another team member.” Bemi suggests for nurses to involve business support team members early on in the start-up process.

3. The desire for perfection mindset – Bemis also advised for nurse entrepreneurs to deviate away from the need to do everything perfectly because “this mindset leads nurses to overlook opportunities that arise while seeking that elusive perfection.”

Click here for more information about Pat Bemis and the NNBA.

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