AHDI Supports Dress for Success

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity will be supporting Dress for Success, whose mission is “to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.”

Dress for Success representatives will be on-site at the 2008 Annual Convention and Expo near the registration desk on Saturday, August 9 from 8am-5pm to accept donations.  The non-profit organization is in particular need of suits, separates and blouses in plus sizes.  Donated items should be in excellent condition, should be cleaned, pressed and on hangers ready for immediate use.  Below is a list of suggested clothing items to bring for the cause:

  1. Business suits (skirts and pants)
  2. Jackets and blazers
  3. Skirts and slacks
  4. Blouses
  5. New nylons and new undergarments
  6. New and nearly new shoes
  7. Scarves, purses, belts jewelry
  8. Unused cosmetics
  9. Giftcards from a national chain, Visa or Mastercard gift cards or personal checks

    The organization does NOT accept the following:

    1. Men’s wear
    2. Children’s clothing
    3. Used cosmetics
    4. Pre-worn undergarments
    5. Dresses

    Essential Requirements for Medical Coding Vendors

    There was a great article in June’s edition of For the Record Magazine detailing how medical coding vendors and healthcare organizations can build lasting relationships.  All in all, PRN Funding feels that well-written articles like this one show how much the outsourced medical coding industry has grown, and we’re pleased to see it happening so fast.

    We summarized some interesting observations from the article for our medical coding service owners and medical coding consultants below.  The article can be viewed in its entirety by clicking here: Seal the Deal.

    The need for outsourced medical coding vendors arises when…

    1. There are long-term (one or more positions is open for three or more months) medical coder vacancies.
    2. There is an abnormal increase in discharged not final billed (DNFB) records.
    3. There is a need to cover regular medical coders when they are out for vacation, illness or maternity leave.
    4. There are seasonal spikes that cause more hospital visits and coding backlogs.
    5. A facility is having a hard time recruiting and retaining qualified medical coders or if there is a persistent  staff shortage.New medical coding guidelines, such as the Present on Admission’s (POA), are issued.

    When selecting a medical coding vendor, healthcare institutions look for…

    1. Medical coders who are both certified, have at least two years of experience and be reliable.
    2. Medical coders who have professional liability insurance.

    Some questions a healthcare facility may ask a medical coding vendor include:

    1. What are the pricing guidelines for contracted medical coding services?
    2. How does the medical coding vendor plan to perform quality checks?
    3. Who will perform the quality checks?
    4. What steps need to be taken to ensure records are coded accurately?
    5. How will the facility make sure patient records have been coded correctly using internal guidelines?


    Some qualities medical coders need to make a successful transition to working for a vendor are…

    1. Be able to work independently and make independent decisions.
    2. Be flexible and able to adapt to change easily.
    3. Have a strong motivation to find work and a designated work space if working from home.
    4. Have a willingness to learn.


    For medical coding vendors to stay at the top of the profession, they should…

    1. Develop and maintain a Web site.
    2. Ask facilities where you have worked to give a testimonial to include in marketing materials.
    3. Print business cards and network.
    4. Attend local, regional and state medical coding meetings, such as the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

    PRN Funding Preps for AHDI’s ACE08

    The president of PRN Funding, Phil Cohen, and Nikki Flores, marketing associate, will be representing PRN Funding, LLC in booth 608 at the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity’s (AHDI) 30th Annual Conference and Expo (ACE).  Phil and Nikki will be available during show hours to speak with medical transcription service owners about the benefits of PRN Funding’s medical transcription accounts receivable factoring program.

    Held at the Hilton Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, the AHDI meeting is expected to draw between 600-700 medical transcription industry professionals.  It all starts on Wednesday, August 6 at 7pm with a ’70s-Themed Welcome Reception .

    Click here to read the official press release: PRN Preps for ACE08

    PRN Funding: Not a Commodity Business After All

    Last week, we had the opportunity to welcome back a client who had previously left us for a “cheaper” factoring firm. In exchange for “lower rates,” this client received less industry experience, poor customer service, and numerous hidden fees and surcharges, which PRN is fundamentally opposed to. In the end, all of these things drove them right back to PRN Funding barely three months after leaving.

    Some services PRN Funding offers that the other factoring firm did not:

    Familiarity with the agency’s clients:

    Because of PRN Funding’s specialized niche in healthcare staffing funding, we worked with this company’s debtors (clients) before, so we already knew what type of payment terms to expect and who to call when there was a question about an invoice or recent payment.

    Quick turnaround time:

    Because PRN Funding has been in business for nine years, we understand the complexities of the accounts receivable factoring industry. We were able to process the buyout agreement quickly and initiate a funding within days.

    Superior customer service:

    PRN Funding takes pride in our customer service. Every time the nurse staffing agency calls the PRN office, a live human being answers the phone and directs the nurse staffing agency owner to his personal account manager.

    Dedicated staff:

    The account managers at PRN Funding take the time to research and post complicated deposits directly. The well-trained and committed staff at PRN Funding work diligently to correctly post deposits in a timely basis every day.

    Real time online reporting:

    PRN Funding’s clients have access to the e-Factor reporting system via our web site 24/7/365. Rather than wondering what payments came in or what invoices are still open, this nurse staffing client is able to log into the reporting system and view their account in real-time.

    Frustrated with the new factoring company’s lack of nurse staffing industry knowledge and inexperience in the factoring industry, this client found out the hard way that accounts receivable factoring firms are not a one size fits all.

    This isn’t the first time that a client has come back to us after an unpleasant experience with another factoring company. And we have to admit that we’re really happy they came back!

    KLAS Reports Decline in Offshore Medical Transcription Usage

    Healthcare Informatics posted a brief article in regards to a new Orem, Utah-based KLAS Medical Transcription Services Organizations (MTSO) report.  The data from the report shows a decline in MTSOs using offshore medical transcription services.

    38% of the 400 MTSOs surveyed said they used offshore transcription services in 2007, and this year, the number has dropped 3 points to 35%.

    KLAS also reported that “quality, turnaround time and cost continue to be the main drivers for engagements in this market segment…Adding that healthcare providers are faced with growing dictation volumes, a shrinking transcription labor force, and rising costs due to the influx of new technologies being introduced to hospitals.”

    Click here to read the entire post: KLAS: MTSO Use of Offshore Transcription Services Dropping

    Ohio Nurses Assigned Too Many Patients

    Right here in Cleveland, Ohio, nurses are protesting for a “patient protection act” to limit nurses to no more than four patients per shift.  Nurses from around the state of Ohio rallied at the Statehouse last Tuesday, asking to reduce the patient-to-nurse ratio.

    Hospitals in Ohio say that there are too few nurses to meet the proposed ratio.  Surely, bringing in supplemental staffing could help Ohio hospitals meet the 4:1 ratio.  So if you are a nurse staffing business owner servicing the Ohio area, it might be  a good idea to start calling on some of these facilities.

    Click here to read the article on MyFoxCleveland: Are Ohio Nurses Assigned to More Patients Than They Can Handle?

    2007 Survey of Medical Transcriptionists

    In the last quarter of 2007, a research team at the Bentley College (Waltham, MA) implemented a new study to help understand the role of medical transcription within in the healthcare industry.  The preliminary results of the 2007 Survey of Medical Transcriptionists were shared at the AHDI/MTIA Advocacy Summit in May 2008.  The survey’s results are based on 3809 generated responses from an online survey created by the Bentley College research team in conjunction with representatives from the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). 

    PRN Funding wanted to share a few of the study’s preliminary findings:

    1.Much like the rest of the workforce, medical transcriptionists (MTs) are aging quickly and   recruiting younger replacements is a real concern. 

    2. Medical transcription is a predominately female profession in the United States.  Globally, however, there is a higher representation of men working in the field.

    3. 41 percent of the survey respondents never completed college, but MTs have a strong desire to continue learning, especially when it comes to medical subject matter.  (It’s important to note here that the majority of older MTs entered the workforce before medical transcription training programs existed.)

    4. One of the continued challenges to attracting new medical transcriptionists to the profession is the inability to make sustainable wages.

    5. One of the primary challenges for MTs is how they are compensated, which is usually per production unit or “per line.”  With the introduction of speech-recognition technology, more medical transcriptionists are being paid as “editors,” which decreases their per unit pay because it’s expected that “reading” is easier than “typing.” 

    6. Medical transcriptionists work in a number of different environments.  The largest percentage of MTs (39.3 percent) work for a healthcare institution.  However, 54.1 percent work in association with a Medical Transcription Service Owner (MTSO)-24.7 percent as independent contractors, 6.1 percent as medical transcription service owners, and 24 percent as an employee of an MTSO.

    7. Regardless of who they work for, the majority of medical transcriptionists work from home.  This type of situation presents challenges in terms of how to create and maintain an effective workforce.

    8. Most medical transcriptionists (58.9 percent of the survey respondents) transcribe for multiple doctors from multiple hospitals and/or practices.  Due to the lack of standardized reporting formats, MTs must learn a wide range of document styles and protocols.

    Thoughts on 2008 AAPC Conference

    Three members of the PRN Funding team travelled to Orlando, FL for the 2008 American Academy of Professional Coders Conference (AAPC) earlier this week.  This is what they had to say about the overall feel of the 2008 AAPC Conference:

    As a whole, PRN Funding generally sees weak attendee turnout at trade shows.  It was for this reason that we started pruning some of the shows where we usually exhibit.  After taking some years off, this was the first time in five years that we exhibited at the AAPC Conference, and we were extremely pleased with the show.  We enjoyed speaking with the attendees and other exhibitors, and we had a lot of fun giving away a brand new Garmin Nuvi GPS.

    Having attended a multitude of trade shows over the past 20 years, we noticed quite a few things that did not fit the normal traffic flow pattern of a trade show.  Given the current economic times, we were astounded by the overwhelming number of attendees who were present for the conference.  We were also pleased with the attendees’ willingness to interact with the exhibitors.

    The only gripe our team members mentioned had to do with unwanted glitches and a general dissatisfaction with the exhibit show company on duty for the AAPC show.  Other than that, our team members came back to the office with a number of to-do’s and follow-ups, and we look forward to exhibiting at the 2009 meeting in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel.

    Centerpoint Medical Center Needs More Nurses

    For those nurse staffing agency owners looking for new clients in the Kansas City area, Centerpoint Medical Center (Independence, MO) is in dire need of more nurses.

    The Centerpoint nurses union, The Nurses United for Improved Patient Care, petitioned the hospital claiming they are forced to look after too many patients, and the care suffers as a result.

    Click here to read the entire article: Nurses Demand Increase in Staffing at Centerpoint.

    Slowdown’s Side Effect: More Nurses

    Contrary to the rest of the U.S. job market, an economic downturn actually prompts new recruits and seasoned veterans to enter the field of nursing. More nurses entering the workforce full-time means a temporary decrease in the nurse shortage and most likely a minor decrease in the demand for temporary nurses.

    But industry experts don’t expect this trend to last for long. As what goes up must surely come down, the familiar trend will reverse once the economy speeds up again. Full-time nurses will cut back on their hours and there will be an increased demand for temporary nurses to fill the vacant hospital positions.

    We encourage you to read the Wall Street Journal article, Slowdown’s Side Effect: More Nurses, to learn more about the counter-cyclical nursing profession.

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