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.

Although the Ohio Hospital Association tried to prevent it, it was announced last week that Ohio hospitals will be required to start reporting in 2009 on a “consumer Web site data on surgical wound infections, antibiotic-resistant staph and clostridium difficile (C. diff), a type of intestinal infection that has risen sharply in recent years.” According to the health department, these reports will be made available to the online public in January 2010.

Click here to view the entire post on Cleveland.com.

KLAS, a research firm that specializes in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare’s information technology (HIT) vendors, announced that the third largest medical transcription provider, Transcend Services, Inc., as the #1 Medical Transcription Service Organization in the healthcare industry.

“We are extremely pleased that our customers have again ranked us number one,” stated Sue McGrogan, Chief Operating Officer of Transcend. “We believe that being in the best in our industry requires more than maintaining a relentless focus on providing high quality reports on time to our customers, as important as that is. It also requires that people in every area of our organization are available and responsive to our customers’ needs. I am extremely proud of our operational team for consistently going the extra mile to provide excellent service to each and every customer.”

Click here to read the press release on MSN: Transcend Ranked #1 Medical Transcription Company by KLAS for 2008.

Prompted by the dwindling economy, the two nurses who started the Any Nurse Can consulting business, started Pitch to Nurses about a month ago. Pitch to Nurses is a foundation is for disable, financially distressed and retired nurses who need a helping hand to those in need when the government and the financial institutions are willing to. Pitch to Nurses is designed to provide financial help and security to all the Nursing community.

Click here if you want to donate to the Pitch to Nurses program.

It’s been almost a year since we first blogged about Ensemble Chimes Global vendor management system filing for bankruptcy, and bankruptcy trustee, Howard Ehrenberg announced last week that “they are pretty close to making claims against certain third parties.”

In a Staffing Industry Analyst’s post, Ehrenberg also mentioned that the IRS made $80 million in claims against the debtors in the Chimes bankruptcy case, including $50 million as a priority claim ahead of unsecured creditors (i.e. temporary staffing agencies).

In regards to temporary staffing firms who utilized Chimes’ vendor management system, Ehrenberg said that a few customers are continuing to dispute a court order to pay management fees.  “If those customers don’t pay, the court has allowed the fees to be collected from staffing firms involved.”

Click here to read the entire post: Claims may soon be filed in Chimes case.

A federal jury convicted the nurse staffing owner of Kirpal Nurses dba Kind Hearts for not paying $500,000 in federal employment taxes last week.  The nurse staffing agency owner, Francis LeRoy McLain of Livingston, MT, supplies temporary nurses to nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.  (Some other companies McLain has operated since 1987 include: Lifelines Care Inc., Lifelines Cooperative Care Inc. and Cooperative Nurses Inc.).

McLain sued the U.S. in 1995, claiming his nurses were independent contractors rather than employees, and then the U.S. countersued, and the suits were settled in 1998 with McLain agreeing to withhold pay over employment taxes for nurses who worked for his businesses.  However, nonpayment of employment taxes still continued, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Minnesota district.

The Physicians’ Foundation recently conducted a survey of 150,000 doctors nationwide, and 49 percent of the 12,000 respondents reported that they were considering leaving medicine because of “too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.”

Last week’s American Medical Association annual meeting predicted a shortage of 35,000-40,000 of primary care physicians by 2025.  According to a survey published in the September issue of the Journal of the Medical Association, only 2 percent of med school students plan to practice family medicine.

PRN Funding has written before about using temporary nurses to help fill the gaps when it comes to the nurse shortage.  Perhaps this physician shortage is an opportunity for locum tenens to seize.  What do you think?

This post referenced an article on CNN.com.  Click here if you want to read the entire article: Half of primary-care doctors in survey would leave medicine.

According to an article in yesterday’s Staffing Industry Analysts Daily News, a new survey conducted by AMN Healthcare Services Inc. said the new Medicare changes will make hospital revenue more dependent on nurses than in the past.

The write-up states: “Sixty-two percent of chief nursing officers said an ongoing Medicare effort to tie hospital reimbursement to patient satisfaction would enhance the status of nurses. In addition, new rules where Medicare will not pay hospitals for care provided as a result of diseases acquired at hospitals, known as “never events,” will also enhance the status of nurses, according to more than 54% of chief nursing officers.”

Click here to read the post: Medicare changes could boost nurses’ status.

ADVANCE for Health Information Professionals ran an article in its e-newsletter: RNs Turning to Coding Career, discussing how RNs have the ability to “increase their earning potential and augment their job security” through medical coding.

The article discusses how nurses are starting to take advantage of special credentialing like the Certified RN Coder (CRN-C) offered by the American Association of Clinical Coders and Auditors (AACCA) and the Certified Professional Coder-Hospital (CPC-H) offered by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).  The article states, “RNs intimately know their way around a patient chart, making them among the best qualified individuals to choose accurate diagnosis and procedure codes for billing purposes.”

There were quite a few follow-up comments to this article debating the advantages/disadvantages of RNs entering into the HIM arena.

Q: What do you think about RN medical coders?

Arden Dale wrote an article in this week’s Wall Street Journal reviewing three alternative credit sources for small businesses who are being turned down for traditional bank loans.  Specifically, the article discussed accounts receivable factoring, borrowing from friends and family, and peer-to-peer lending.

Executive Director of the International Factoring Association (IFA), Bert Goldberg, advised business owners to only consider factoring companies who follow industry best practices.  He recommended choosing an invoice funding firm who is a member of the IFA because “all members have agreed to adhere to a strict code of ethics.” 

Note to our readers: For those healthcare vendors looking for an specialized factoring firm, PRN Funding, LLC is a proud member of the IFA.