HCA’s Parallon Acquires Healthcare Staffing Firm

Parallon Business Solutions, subsidiary of healthcare service provider HCA, recently bought a Texas based healthcare staffing agency to supplement their workforce management offerings. Their new acquisition (Martin,Fletcher) will add physician staffing to the existing pool of 7,000 health professionals. Parallon will now be able to fill temporary and full time physicians to client hospitals and elsewhere, in addition to nurses and allied staff such as dieticians and physical therapists.

This acquisition comes as no surprise in light of recent trends towards staffing, especially in the healthcare industry. Health care as we know it is changing, due in part to the Affordable Care Act and also the coming nationwide shortages of health professionals. By buying Martin, Fletcher, Parallon is simply seeking to stay ahead of the curve by forecasting the need for temporary health care workers to fill shortages.

For the full article, see HCA’s Parallon Buys Texas Company

CBiz Small Business Employment Index is Up in August

Just released: The CBiz Payroll Services announced that its Small Business Employment Index, a barometer of hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, went up by 1.15% in August, after a decline of 1.57% in July. Additionally, 29% of survey respondents increased staffing, while 20% let go employees.

Moreover, Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBiz Payroll Services, said the data sets, taken together, “provide some hope that employment is at least on solid ground and increasing moderately.”

Click here to read the entire announcement: CBiz Small Business Employment Index rises in August.

Overview of Nurse Staffing Accounts Receivable Factoring

When your nurse staffing agency bills clients, you know that medical providers (i.e. hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, etc.) can take months to compensate you for your staff’s time. When you use nurse staffing accounts receivable factoring to secure funding for your company, you can:

  • Rest assured that you can pay bills and employees on time.
  • Have the confidence to make the necessary moves toward expansion.

What Is Nurse Staffing Accounts Receivable Factoring?
In nurse staffing accounts receivable factoring, outstanding invoices are converted into cash through a ‘factor’ for a discount. This means that instead of waiting for your clients to pay you for your staffing services, you will be able to use the money your workers have already earned right away.

Most factors offer nurse staffing non-recourse factoring: this allows a factor to be held responsible for unpaid invoices if the staffing agency goes out of business or declares bankruptcy during the time in which the owner’s invoice was factored. Non-recourse factoring does not cover:

  • Very late payments where there is no bankruptcy.
  • Disputes over invoices.
  • General collections issues.

With accounts receivable factoring, you won’t hesitate to accept large staffing requests due to lack of funding.

Click here to read more about nurse staffing accounts receivables factoring.

ASA Staffing Index Weekly Report – Aug 13-19, 2012

During the week of Aug. 13-19, 2012, the American Staffing Association reported that “temporary and contract employment ticked up 0.10%, pushing the index up one point to a value of 93. The index is currently up 23.6% since the beginning of the year and is 5.9% higher year-over-year.”

Moreover, the staffing employment in August 2012 is up 6.0% from August 2011, according to the ASA Staffing Index.

Click here to read some additional temporary staffing industry statistics.

Increase in Temporary Staffing – Highest in Five Years

Good news for temporary staffing readership:

An article in The Chicago Tribune boasts that the “Number of Temps on the Job the Highest in 5 Years.” Of course, this development correlates directly with high unemployment, but for staffing agencies in every industry, “the fastest growth in U.S. temporary payrolls in more than a year” brings good news that is expected to keep on giving.

Of course, any potential temporary staffing agency owner considering payroll funding or payroll factoring should be aware that “the rate is still below past peaks and below levels in other countries.” Still, the news bodes well, indicating the role that temporary staffing, “contract, or project-based workers play in the labor market.”

Temp rates for our temporary staffing entrepreneurs are expected to reach record levels in due time, according to analysts and industry executives. This widespread optimism is grounded not only in trends indicated by charts and statistics, but by the belief that there has been “a shift in the way companies hire. They want to use talent on an on-demand basis, when they need them for projects.”

In this sense, it is easy to see why your temporary staffing agency is bound for growth. Of course, in order to grow effectively, you will need to acquire more of the life-blood of your organization: Human resources. Payroll funding or temporary staffing factoring can help you achieve the growth you need to fill as many of your clients’ needs as the temp market grows.

Hospitals for Profit or for Help?

Did anyone see the article A Giant Hospital Chain is Blazing a Profit Trail in the NYTimes earlier this week?

The article talks about HCA’s revamped billing procedures and revised patient screenings that have led them to be extremely profitable health care industry giant during a time when so many of America’s hospitals have been struggling to stay out of the red.

According to the article, “Among the secrets to HCA’s success: It figured out how to get more revenue from private insurance companies, patients and Medicare by billing much more aggressively for its services than ever before; it found ways to reduce emergency room overcrowding and expenses; and it experimented with new ways to reduce the costs of its medical staff, a move that sometimes led to conflicts with doctors and nurses over concerns about patient care.”

What are your thoughts on this article?

President of National Nurses in Business Association Announces Restructuring

The nurse staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding are proud members of the National Nurses in Business Association because it’s an organization that helps educate nurse entrepreneurs achieve their business goals. This week, we received an e-newsletter stating that the NNBA is restructuring because of the following reasons:

  • Over the past few years many competitors have emerged who offer information, education, and support for nurses in business.
  • Social media sites are offer great networking for free.
  • Many other associations have added business training to their offerings.
  • Many members are baby boomers and will be leaving the association on retirement.

Specifically, the NNBA is taking the following steps:

  • Asking nurses interested in business for feedback and ideas.
  • Rewriting their business plan.
  • Increasing staff.
  • Increasing the use of social media platforms.
  • Developing active relationships with other associations.
  • Developing partnerships with other businesses to increase member benefit value.
  • Designing a membership for students.
  • Keeping interested parties updated as the restructuring evolves.
  • Working with business experts.

We’re excited to see these revisions and changes unfold!


Thoughts on ACE2012

The medical transcription invoice factoring specialists from PRN Funding are all unpacked and settling back in from their visit to Indianapolis for AHDI’s Annual Convention and Expo at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Specifically, PRN Funding had the opportunity to meet up with one of our current clients, and we bumped into two previous clients at the show.

A few additional observations from this year’s conference (from the exhibitor’s perspective):

    1. It seemed like the show, as a whole, was much smaller than in the past. It felt like there were fewer bodies in the exhibit hall (both exhibitors and attendees) at this show.
    2. The attendees were professional and eager to learn about PRN Funding’s medical transcription factoring services. PRN Funding was able to discuss how factoring can help small MTSOs balance out their cash flow to many attendees.
    3. The exhibitors were engaging and interactive.
    4. Everyone (exhibitors and attendees alike) enjoyed the Treasure Hunt (PRN Funding was a participant).

      PRN Funding is dedicated to help medical transcription service owners continue to maintain a positive cash flow as the transcription and documentation industry continues to change over the years. We look forward to seeing everyone again in Lake Buena Vista, FL in 2013.

      PRN Funding Headed to ACE2012 to Talk Factoring to MTSOs

      PRN Funding, LLC has been invited to exhibit at The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)’s Annual Convention and Expo.

      This year’s event, held at the JW Marriott Indianapolis August 8-11, is an exciting one. All AHDI attendees are invited to stop by the company’s booth #108, to secure a stamp to help them win a prize in the Wheel of Prizes game. President Phil Cohen and Marketing Manager Nikki Flores will be available to share insider tips on the benefits of medical transcription factoring.

      Click here to read the press release in its entirety: PRN Funding, LLC to Travel to Indianapolis as Experts on Medical Transcription Factoring

      Temp Staffing Agencies Can Help Small Businesses Grow

      With June’s national unemployment rate at about 8.2%, it should be very difficult to imagine a shortage of human resources in any workforce. This hypothesis is disproven in the “Marketplace” section of Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, which tells us that many “Small Firms Seek Skilled Workers but Can’t Find Any.”

      The Journal polled 811 small business owners and chief executives. 31% reported that “they had unfilled job openings in July because they couldn’t identify applicants with the right skills or experience.” Furthermore, an astounding 41% of 154 small manufacturing firms surveyed reported being unable to find skilled and experienced workers. This figure is markedly different from the 30% of services business surveyed and 29% of retail businesses.

      “We could grow a lot faster if we could find the right people,” one business owner lamented. Many businesses are forced to turn away new business for fear of being unable to provide sufficient service and support. Simply hiring one or two additional skilled workers could have a deep and long-lasting effect on growth in a small business.

      So why not train employees? Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of owning a small business can be a shortage of reserves for training new employees.

      Staffing agencies can provide a remedy to the problem of skilled labor shortage, but what happens when staffers are unable to train their employees? These problems are merely symptoms of a greater cause: a lack of funding. Training-whether for a staffing firm or a small business-is an investment. How can you expect to invest in your employees’ skills if your cash flow is nearly stagnant?

      If you cannot find the funds to train employees, your best option may be to factor your temporary staffing receivables. This is an easy way to access the cash you need to spur the growth you want. Skilled labor may be hard to come by, but a skilled small business factor or a skilled staffing factor may be right before your eyes.

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