PRN to Introduce Home Care Factoring to NPDA Show Attendees

Since Health Decision’s Annual Private Duty National Conference and Expo in Las Vegas was such an exciting show for PRN Funding, the private duty factoring firm announces that it will also be exhibiting at the National Private Duty Association’s 2010 Conference in March.

President, Phil Cohen, and Marketing Manager, Nikki Flores, will be talking with home care business owners in the exhibit hall at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel March 10-11. In addition to discussing the benefits of home care factoring, business owners are invited to stop by the booth and enter for a chance to win a Flip Mino camcorder or an iPod Shuffle.

Click here to read the official press release about PRN Funding Exhibiting at NPDA.

How Medical Billing Factoring Increases Cash Flow

Phil Cohen, president of PRN Funding, LLC, was recently featured as a guest writer for a popular medical billing and coding web site.

He previously wrote a two-part series explaining how medical coding companies can improve their cash flow by factoring their receivables. Mr. Cohen discussed the things to look for when choosing a medical coding factoring company.

This time, Mr. Cohen wrote specifically how medical billing companies can benefit from selling their invoices to a factoring firm. In a nutshell, instead of waiting up to 90 days for reimbursement, medical billing factoring provides business owners immediate cash.

Check out the article here: Medical Billing Companies Can Increase Their Cash Flow Through Factoring.

Symbio Solutions Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

According to a post that appeared on Staffing Industry Analysts North American Daily News, “Symbio Solutions, which operates a healthcare vendor management system, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.”

Proceeds from the sale will go to 100-plus creditors, however, creditors that are entitled to receive funds may not get 100% of what is owed.

Plans call for an auction of the company later this month, and for the sale to close in February, Shifflette said.

Interesting enough, the post reported that Symbio first  ran into payment difficulties last summer after an issue rose with its former factoring company, Sun Capital.

Click here to read the entire post: VMS files bankruptcy, plans sale.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Increases Given Bad Economy

According to data taken from the National Bankruptcy Research Center and printed in the Wall Street Journal, personal bankruptcy filings hit 1.41 million in 2009, which was a 32% increase since 2008.

Analysts blame  job losses and the crumbling housing market. In the past, people who earned $40,000-$80,000 were the ones filing for bankruptcy, but the poor economy has pushed people earning as much as $300,000 annually to file.

The article even highlighted an entrepreneur, who had to file bankruptcy when his contracting business started going down hill. Unfortunately, for business owners whose personal credit is less-than-perfect, securing a credit line via a bank has become extremely difficult in these times.

However, factoring firms are still able to look past a personal bankruptcy  because a factor is mainly concerned with the creditworthiness of a business owner’s customers. It’s important for business owners to keep invoice factoring in mind if and when their traditional lenders cut back.

Click here to read the entire WSJ article: Personal Bankruptcy Filing Rise Fast.

2009 HIM Salary Survey Results

Advance for Health Information Professionals published their annual HIM professionals’ salary survey results in the December Issue (pages 12-15). For the convenience of The Factoring Blog’s HIM readership, we’ve included some of the more pertinent findings below:

  • 90% of respondents are full-time HIM professionals (up from 88% in 2008)
  • 64% of those who responded to the survey are employed as a HIM director, coder, MT or cancer registrar
  • Only 19% of respondents indicated that they were working more than 45 hours/week
  • 46% said their salary had NOT increased from 2008
  • 8% said their salary actually DECREASED from 2008

Start-Ups Will Keep Struggling in 2010

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, entrepreneurs looking to start a new business in 2010 will continue to struggle to find a traditional lending source.

It seems as though the economy has affected every lending option out there…Business owners have seen their personal savings dry up, at the same time that contributions from friends and family seem to be significantly lower. Meanwhile, banks are still incredibly stringent with their lending criteria, angel investors are investing less and SBA-backed loans are shrinking.

The good news is that SBA loans are projected to increase as the government “provides more incentives for financial institutions…to provide financing to small businesses.” However, industry experts predict that it will be incredibly difficult for start-ups to tap into bank financing.

The article failed to draw attention an alternative funding option for start-ups–Accounts receivable factoring. Contrary to their traditional lending partners, invoice funding firms don’t have nearly as many requirements for business owners to qualify for funding. In fact, many factoring firms can work with start-up companies. For example, PRN Funding is comfortable purchasing a healthcare vendor’s very first invoice provided that the debtor is creditworthy.

Click here to learn more about PRN Funding’s factoring services.

Click here to read the entire article: Start-Ups will Keep Struggling in 2010.

Ethics Manual Now Available for Healthcare Documentation Sector

Last week, AHDI and MTIA announced on AHDI’s blog that the “first set of documents for for its compliance and best practices program is available for purchase.”

The package will include:

Sample HIPAA policies and procedures in addition to a sample business associate agreement (pursuant to the Feb 2010 HIPAA regulations).
Click here for more information and pricing: Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector.