The medical transcription factoring specialists at PRN Funding recently invited one of our current medical transcription clients to “spill the beans: in a tell-all interview about how PRN Funding helped her MT service more than double in size. Although it’s posted on PRN Funding’s web site, we also included a copy of it on The Factoring Blog for all of our MTSO readers:
Launching a New Company
In May 2009, Terri Davis started Clear Choice Transcription, a diverse transcription company specializing in the medical field. Having spent 13 and a half years in the industry, Davis knew she would need help managing cash flow to meet payroll and keep vendors happy until the client payments started coming in. She also knew standard financing was not an option. This is when she decided to look into special medical transcription factoring.
“When we launched, our largest client was giving us overflow work only, and some of the smaller clients who were paying very quickly were not enough to fund payroll for future growth. Similar to other business owners in this industry, I did not have a lot of tangible assets to offer a bank as collateral. That’s a good thing in that there’s not a lot you need to purchase, but it made it very difficult to get standard financing,” says Davis.
A Flexible Factoring Lender
Clear Choice Transcription’s flexibility in working with their customers gives them the ability to work with different size medical practices, as well as clinics and hospitals. Clear Choice offers differing pricing structures and domestic and overseas transcription options, works within varying Electronic Medical Record (EMR) programs, and with different dictation styles and templates. And so they appreciated a lender who was flexible working with them.
That flexibility, and expertise, is what sold Davis on PRN Funding, even though they considered other funding partners.
“They were very knowledgeable in the medical transcription industry, and the information I received was very impressive. From the very beginning, they worked with me whenever we needed something a little different. For instance, we had to break a large client’s invoice down into different parts due to issues with the client’s billing system. Instead of simply saying no, PRN Funding immediately presented a very easy factoring solution and it worked out very well,” she says. “And I genuinely like the people at PRN Funding. Their response time is great and they made me feel we were on the right track in partnering with them.”
PRN has an intimate knowledge of the medical transcription industry that helps them help their clients.
“We’re unique in the medical transcription factoring industry in that before I started PRN Funding I worked for the nation’s largest medical transcription company,” says founder Phil Cohen. “So I know the industry inside and out and we have a good number of clients in the space. Having worked in the industry for such a long time, my account managers and I bring a lot of expertise to the table.”
Stabilizing Cash Flow
“In this business, as I am sure with most, without cash flow you’re dead in the water. You can’t pay your people, you can’t move forward, and growth is most times impossible,” Davis says. Medical transcription financing was a great option for Clear Choice Transcription, allowing Davis to bring in the people she needed in order to take on more work while continuing to meet payroll obligations. ”
Terri’s largest client was having some issues with their accounts payable system, getting invoices processed, and there were invoices that were aging out past 60 days,” Cohen recalls. “She was stressed about the fees involved with medical transcription funding, but it was nothing compared to the stress she would have felt if she wasn’t able to make payroll.”
Quadrupling Business Growth
Medical transcription factoring with PRN Funding gave Davis the stable cash flow she needed to quadruple Clear Choice billings in just a nine-month period.
“Thanks to PRN Funding, we had the cash flow we needed to bring in enough people to convert this very large client into a full service account, instead of just the overflow work we had been receiving. That was a huge growth for us. It also helped us bring on new clients, too,” Davis explains.
In the beginning Clear Choice had 25 medical transcriptionists in the U.S. and an offshore vendor. Today, they have 110 medical transcriptionists in the U.S. and about 150 on their offshore team. In a very short time frame, Clear Choice Medical Transcription had grown dramatically.
Value-Add: Peace of Mind
To Davis, knowing she has PRN Funding behind her gives her a secret weapon in the competition for new clients.
“It’s the security of having them there. If there’s a client we’re chasing after and their terms need to be extended to 45 or 60 days, knowing in the back of my mind that I have access to the cash flow immediately after invoicing gives me a very big bargaining chip with the prospect. It’s very helpful in bidding on new clients, to know that we can accommodate their needs without over-extending ourselves.”
As an ongoing PRN Funding client, Davis is excited about the future.
“In this industry, if you don’t have a huge bankroll in the beginning it’s very difficult to get started. We were lucky to find PRN Funding in the beginning, and I’m looking forward to continued growth,” Davis says.
