Small Business Owners Still Waiting for Recovery

According to Discover’s Financial’s (DFA) Business Watch, some small business owners have yet to see the recovery that some experts claim will occur this year. In fact, some entrepreneurs view the economy as worsening, and the climate for their companies has declined over the past two months. As an aside, Discover Business Watch measures the relative economic confidence of U.S. small-business owners with fewer than five employees.

Here are some more interesting pieces of information taken from the most recent survey:

  1. More than half of the survey’s respondents rated the economy as still in “poor” condition for the 19th consecutive month.
  2. Nearly 1/3 of small business owners told DFS that they have contemplated going out of business sometime during the last two months.
  3. More than 3/4 of the respondents said that rising fuel prices have affected profitability.
  4. Ironically, 52% of business owners reported no temporary cash flow issues affecting their ability to pay their bills on time, which is up from 46% last month.
  5. And 29% of entrepreneurs intend to increase spending on business development within the next six months.

Click here to read the entire article on TheStreet.com.

Medical Scribes Role in Transcription Industry

The medical transcription invoice funding specialists recently stumbled upon an “Open Letter Series” written by AHDI’s 2011 Director, Kristen Hagen, discussing the role of medical scribes in the healthcare documentation industry.

Even though, Ms. Hagen wrote the Let’s Talk About…Medical Scribes Open Letter in February, the information within it is still very relevant for our medical transcription factoring blog readers. Here are some tidbits of information we wanted to highlight:

What is the background of a medical scribe?
“Today scribes are commonly referred to as Clinical Information Managers. The primary function of a scribe is the creation and maintenance of the patient’s medical record, which is created under the supervision of the attending physician. The scribe documents the patient’s history and story through direct observation of the physician’s interaction with the patient as well as the procedures performed, the results of the laboratory studies, and the other ancillary information gathered at the point of care…The demand has traditionally been filled with eager pre-medical students, learning first-hand about the workflow patterns and patient care they will deliver in the future.”

What are the skill set requirements and training required to become a medical scribe?
“Medical scribes may be trained on site or through affordable online distance education programs. Skill sets include strong English grammar, a compelling interest in healthcare and  patient improvement, a strong desire to work in a clinical setting, superior analytical and resource skills, understanding and training in enabling technologies…an understanding of information workflow, attention to detail, keen listening skills, and strong multi-tasking abilities…Scribes are also expected to be well-versed in HIPAA and regulatory compliance, and like MTs, scribes have a steep learning curve, with clinical shadowing required in the post training phase.”

Could this be a stepping stone for medical transcriptionists and others in the medical transcription field? Is this an alternate career path for medical transcriptionists?
“There are similarities and distinct differences between medical transcriptionist and medical scribes, as are there in comparing these roles with any other health information management role…Healthcare will need professionals who have flexible resume of contributory skills applicable to an EHR-centric documentation setting. Scribing is a potential alternate documentation setting for medical transcriptionists.”

Ms. Hagen’s two-cents:
“I can tell you that transcribing and scribing are neither competing nor complementary. They are quite unique, with some overlapping fundamental training but with divergent connection to technology and practical application. They are simply two of the many current and evolving roles available for those who seek career in the documentation of healthcare encounters.”

Q: What do you think about the medical scribe industry?

Receivables Exchange Vs Traditional Invoice Factoring

Eric Eagen wrote an interesting post earlier this week identifying some of the differences between the Receivables Exchange program and traditional invoice factoring. The healthcare factoring specialists at PRN Funding thought it was well-executed, however, we thought it might be helpful to add in some more information in favor of traditional invoice factoring:

Here’s a snip it from Mr. Eagen’s post:

Here are some key differences between the Exchange and factoring:

  1. The Receivables Exchange opens up the sale of receivables to a global community of investors in a real-time auction. Those investors compete to purchase your receivables, lowering your cost of capital. On the Exchange, you have access to many potential capital providers, not just one factoring company.
  2. You have complete control over the terms of your auction. You can set the discount fee and minimum advance amount, as well as the duration of the auction.
  3. You can choose what receivables to sell and when. You can sell one or multiple, and are not bound by the onerous contracts or minimums that come with invoice factoring.
  4. There are no personal guarantees or all-asset liens.
  5. And one more major difference: you are not required to notify your customers that their receivables are for sale. You control your valuable customer relationships.

Here are some of PRN Funding’s responses in favor of traditional invoice factoring:

  1. One could easily argue that thanks to the Internet, business owners always have access to many potential capital providers, not just one factoring company. Simply searching “factoring companies” on Google pulls back more than 1.5 million search results.
  2. When comparing and contrasting traditional factoring firms, entrepreneurs still have a say when it comes to choosing their terms. For example, if they’re only interested in working with a factor who advances 80 percent of the invoice or more, then they can choose to pass up on the factors who do not advance over 80 percent.
  3. Traditional factoring firms comes in all different shapes and sizes, and their funding programs vary across the board. For example, with PRN Funding’s healthcare factoring program, business owners have the ability to choose which invoices to sell, and we do not have any minimums or maximums.
  4. Once again, not all traditional factoring firms will require a personal guarantee or an all-asset liens. PRN Funding only requires a validity guarantee, and we’re able to file liens that are not all-assets.
  5. Finally, there are factoring firms that operate under a non-notification model, whereas a business owner’s customers are not notified that the receivables have been sold.

Of course, when comparing and contrasting working with the Receivables Exchange or with a traditional factoring firm, there are advantages and disadvantages for both. It’s entirely up to the business owner to decided how he/she wishes to proceed.

Gearing up for 17th Annual Factoring Conference

The World’s Largest Receivable Finance Conference is set to be the largest conference yet. Will you be there?

The International Factoring Association’s (IFA) 17th Annual Factoring Conference is set for April 13-16 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC.

There is a jam-packed schedule of exciting and entertaining speakers. Here is a list of just a few of the topics that will be covered:

  • Forecasts for the Future from the Federal Reserve Bank presented by Elizabeth A. Duke, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
  • How Technology will affect Business & Finance in the Coming 20 Years presented by Dr. Michio Kaku, Physicist / Futurist
  • Due Diligence Issues presented by Mike Ullman, Esq., Attorney, Ullman & Ullman, PA
  • IRS and Tax Lien Issues presented by Jason Peckham, Esq., Director of Business Development, Tax Guard
  • Current Topics in Transportation Factoring presented by David Jencks, Esq., Attorney, Jencks & Jencks

There are also a lot of fun and exciting events scheduled during the conference, such as a Golf Tournament, multiple receptions and socials. However, the healthcare factoring experts at PRN Funding are most excited about Factoring Jeopardy because the President of PRN Funding, LLC, Phil Cohen will be hosting the highly anticipated game show.

In the IFA’s version of Factoring Jeopardy, contestants will be given the opportunity to pit their accounts receivable factoring knowledge against other players and win valuable gifts and prizes. All categories and questions will be from the field of invoice factoring.

Click here for more info on the 17th Annual Factoring Conference.

How Medical Billing Companies Can Increase Their Cash Flow through Factoring

While the public’s confidence on the economy continues to spiral downward, the demand for health care in this country continues to grow.  According to the National Coalition on Health Care, the U.S. spent approximately 17% of its GDP in 2008 on health care costs.  That percentage is expected to jump to 20% by 2017.

Doctors’ offices will soon be flooded by 78 million baby boomers as they become eligible for retirement.  To handle this sudden influx, physicians will have little time for the day-to-day business operations of their practices and must focus primarily on patient care.  As a result, medical billing companies are seeing increased demand for their services.

More and more doctors are outsourcing services such as medical billing and coding to subcontractors, and these companies are reaping the benefits.  However, due to the slow pace at which insurance companies approve patient claims, it takes a while for doctors to be paid, and in turn it takes even longer for them to pay their vendors, especially medical billing companies.  According to the American Medical Billing Association, it takes an average of 90 days for paper claims to be reimbursed.  Granted the advent of an electronic claims system has lowered reimbursement times, it is still problematic for medical billing companies to wait to be paid.

For example, an insured patient goes in to see a doctor.  The cost of the visit is $100.  Because the patient is covered for this visit, the doctor must make a claim to the insurance company and wait an indefinite amount of time for the claim to be approved.  If the claim is not approved, the doctor must send more details of the visit.  This increased lag creates a problem for doctors who would rather spend their time with patients than following up on claims.  Therefore, doctors turn to experts and subcontract medical billing companies to handle these issues.

Whether they are start-ups trying to gain a market share of this ever-increasing business, or a veteran company trying to beat the slow-payments system of insurance companies and doctors, a viable and flexible option exists for companies called medical billing factoring.

Medical billing factoring is converting the accounts receivable of a business into cash by selling outstanding invoices to a ‘factor’ for a discount.  Accounts receivable factoring gives the medical billing business immediate access to cash so that it can manage its operations more efficiently.

Instead of waiting months to be paid by doctors’ offices, medical billing companies can use factoring services to get cash now to pay for their employees and ongoing business expenses.  They can also use the money to expand their businesses, such as hiring and training new employees or purchasing new equipment, in a time when the healthcare industry demands these companies more than ever.

Doctors need all the time they can get to provide care for their increased number of patients. While the amount of work has increased and the payments remain slow, outsourcing medical billing duties gives doctors more time with patients.  By factoring their receivables, medical billing companies do not have to wait to be paid and can continue expanding their businesses in a market that is favorable towards this niche.

NOTE: This was originally written for PRN Funding’s web site, and a re-print addition also appears on FactoringInvestor.com.

Find Nursing Info on Twitter

Howard Gerber of Sunbelt Staffing did a great blog post about how nurses can use Twitter to stay up-to-date on nurse industry news. For the convenience of our nurse staffing industry readers, the temporary nurse staffing invoice funding specialists at PRN Funding wanted to re-post the valuable information on The Factoring Blog as well:

As a nurse, you probably work long hours and have very little down time to read about medical news, keep up with other nursing journals or nursing issues. Twitter can make it much easier to keep up with the latest news and information. By following accounts specific to the field of nursing, you can have all of the news and information sent to you in short bursts that can be read quickly. If they interest you, you can follow links for more information. With free Twitter apps available for all smart phones, you can keep up while on breaks at work or while you are on your commute home – as long as you aren’t driving!

@NursingTimes

This Twitter account is maintained by the Nursing Times website. They tweet multiple times a day and include news items related to the field of health, nursing, and nursing education.

@AmericanNurseToday

This is the official Twitter account of the journal for the American Nurses Association. They tweet news articles from their own journal as well as from other health publications several times a day.

@NEJM

This Twitter account is maintained by the New England Journal of Medicine. While this is not a journal specifically for nurses, they do provide a wide range of medical information. The Twitter feed is updated several times a day as new articles are published to their site.

@AmJNurs

The American Journal of Nursing is a peer-reviewed journal that has been publishing evidence-based articles since 1900. Their Twitter feed is updated numerous times a day during the week and include links to their own articles, news articles, and information posted by other health organizations.

@MinorityNurse

Minority nurses, nursing students, and faculty often face unique challenges in the field of medicine. This account tweets frequently and includes links to their own articles as well as to general health articles and resources for minorities.

@MedSurgNurses

This Twitter account is maintained by the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. This is a national organization specifically for medical-surgical nurses. They update several times daily during the week with links to nursing news and resources as well as recommendations for other Twitter accounts to follow in the field of health.

@aorn

This is another nursing specialty account maintained by the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses. They discuss issues specific to their field as well as general health topics and items of interest to nurses in general.

There are hundreds of Twitter accounts that are maintained by nurses, nursing students, nurse educators, nursing journals, nursing schools, and nursing associations. Use these as a starting point and look at the organizations they are following as well as who they have as followers to find even more accounts you may be interested in.

Invoice Factoring: Verification vs. Notification

The invoice funding experts at PRN Funding are frequently asked: When it comes to invoice factoring, what is the verification process, and what it the notification process? Watch this video to find out:

Invoice Factoring Notification Procedures

At some point in the beginning stages of a factoring relationship, the invoice  funder will communicate with your clients’ accounts payabale department in order to make them aware of the new factoring relationship as well as give instructions on where to send future payments. This can usually be accomplished with a quick phone call and/or email. In most cases, the factor will send a written notification via fax or email to re-affirm what was discussed over the phone.

Invoice Factoring Verification Procedures

Verification procedures differ depending on the funder and depending on the type of business you operate.

For example, if you run a medical supply company, a good way for a factor to verify the invoices is to view a copy of the signed delivery receipt and/or speak to the person who accepted the shipment to confirm that they are satisfied with the supplies.

On the other hand, if you own a nurse staffing agency, where you are, in effect, providing a service, rather than a concrete good, the verification process will be slightly different. Most likely, factors will verify invoices with signed timesheets and/or periodically speak with a Director of Nursing (DON) at the facility where you staff to confirm the nurses listed on your invoices worked the shifts listed on the invoices.

Some factoring clients are concerned that a factoring firm who notifies and verifies will become hurt their vendor-customer relationship, the opposite is true.In most cases, notification and verification procedures are brief and non-intrusive.

Do you have more invoice factoring questions? Feel free to write them in the comments section below…

Schedule Released for 2011 CDIA Conference

CDIA (formerly MTIA) published an interactive schedule of events for it’s 2011 Conference. The 22nd annual medical transcription and clinical documentation industry conference will be held in Charlotte, NC April 13-16.

According to CDIA’s web site, those interested in viewing the interactive conference schedule can click on the session titles on the page to read the session summary and speaker bio.

(NOTE: Not all sessions are currently clickable, as CDIA is still collecting information from speakers and finalizing the schedule. Please check back frequently for updates.)

AAPC Launches ICD-10 Resource Site

According to the ADVANCE Perspective HIM Blog, the American Academy of Professional Coders, a trade association dedicated to serving the medical coding industry, recently created an ICD-10 resource site in preparation for the government’s mandated ICD-10 changeover in October 2013.

ICD-10 is expected to affect all heathcare professionals, not just the administrative medical coders and medical billing staff.

Among the key features include:

  • An ICD-10 code conversion tool allowing users to translate an ICD-9 code to ICD-10 instantly;
  • ICD-10 news and articles from industry experts helping prepare for implementation;
  • Two interactive floor plan tools that show how ICD-10 affects all aspects of a practice or health plan; and
  • An online application used to track and graphically measure the ICD-10 implementation progress.

For further information about ICD-10 implementation, please visit the AAPC ICD-10 site.

Medical Transcription Educational Opportunities Available at MTIA 2011 Conference

According to a brief write-up in March’s issue of Plexus, MTIA will once again offer a morning of education sessions that are specifically aimed at practicing MTs on Saturday, April 16, in Charlotte, NC. Available for a special price, medical transcriptionist attendees will learn:

  • ICD-10 Implementation
  • Revenue Cycle Process
  • Meaningful Use

MTs can choose between two different registration options:

  • MT Package #1 – Saturday morning classes only 9am-1pm; and
  • MT Package #2 – Saturday morning and the closing reception of the MTIA Conference scheduled for April 15 from 5:30-6:30pm.

MTs must register using the MT Package Registration Form: http://www.mtia.com/downloads/MTIA2011_MTPackage_RegForm.pdf).

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