AAHAM to hold Annual National Institute

In a recent press release, the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management announced that it will hold its Annual National Institute from October 14-16 in Scottsdale, AZ at the Fairmont Princess Resort and Spa.  The conference will focus on the future of health care in the U.S.’s changing economy. 

Over the three days, there will be educational sessions, opportunities to hear from keynote speakers-over 50 of them-as well as networking in an exhibit hall.  The speaker series will focus on five health care topics: management/revenue cycle, access/quality management, compliance, leadership/professional development, and specialty. 

For more information about the event, visit www.aaham.org or contact AAHAM directly at (703) 281-4043.

Speakers Wanted for 2010 AAPC Nat’l Conference

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is asking for speaking commitments from payers, providers, and administrators in the coding industry.  Online applications are currently being accepted through September 20.  The organization is looking for speakers to discuss the latest trends in health care and current topics within the industry.

A list of sample topics can be found on the AAPC website.  Selected speakers will be notified by email by November 20.

The 18th national conference, which will be held in Nashville, TN from June 6-9, will feature 45 educational sessions and more than 70 exhibitors.

To learn more about the program, click here: AAPC Issues Call for Speakers for 2010 National Conference

Jobs in Health Care Rising

President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors released a report Monday surveying the parts of the labor force that are expected to grow most rapidly in the future.  The report is a reminder to everyone in the health care industry that it is one of the few industries still growing.

Specifically, professions in health care including home health care, outpatient care, and medical laboratory positions will add the most jobs. 

This is good news to our clients as well as to entrepreneurs looking to start their own healthcare-related business!

Click here to read the complete New York Times article: Job Growth in Health is Expected to be Strong

Obama Talks Health Care on ABC

As President Obama advocates for a health care system overhaul, many Americans are questioning how it will function as well as how the country will pay for it.  The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog profiled Obama’s televised town hall meeting on ABC last week to try and explain his plans in more detail.

The President assured Americans that the government will not force them to switch doctors or health insurance plans.  Also, private companies will still be able to choose different plans for their employees on their own.  However, critics argue that given a cheaper government option, most businesses will jump ship from private insurance companies. 

Health insurance companies feel threatened by the proposal, stating that a government program would put them out of business.  Obama responded to these concerns by admitting he wasn’t sure a government plan would be included in his final proposal.

Additionally, Obama explained that the funding for his health care system would either come from lowering the amount that wealthy Americans can deduct on their taxes or from taxing health benefits. Regardless of how he accomplishes this, many wonder if Obama will be the first president to solve the problem of uninsured Americans.

Little is known right now about how President Obama’s healthcare reform will affect healthcare vendors like medical billing and coding companies and/or temporary nurse staffing agencies. They will have to wait patiently to see how the President’s changes will affect them.

To read the entire Wall Street Journal Blog article, click here: Separating Fact from Fiction on Health-Care Reform

To view a clip of the town hall meeting, click here: President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care

For a full transcript of the meeting, click here: Questions for the President: Prescription for America

For Profit Hospitals Doing Better in Bad Economy

Some interesting statistics were announced at last week at the annual South Florida Summit. Caroline Rossi Steinber, a trends specialist with the American Hospital Association (AHA), shared the following information with attendees:

90% of surveyed hospitals have made cutbacks as a result of the tough economic times, with the biggest cuts in administrative expenses.

43% of surveyed hospitals had a negative net return for the first quarter, which was 17% higher than the same time last year

65% of hospitals reported that they witnessesed an increase in the number of physicians seeking employment

In addition, according to Darren P. Lehrich, Deutsche Bank’s managing director of healthcare providers research, for profit hospitals’ stocks have increased 70% in the past three months. Moreoever, the profit margins for publicly traded hospitals during the quarter were the highest they’ve been in a number of years.

A big concern for hospitals across the U.S. is how the concept of public health insurance will be interpreted and enforced in the future.

The AHA’s studies show that most hospitals are relying on current government payers like Medicare and Medicaid, whose combined brings in 56% of the revenue, while private insurance accounts for 43% of revenue.

Steinberg noted that providers depend heavily on private insurance providers to pay the bills because Medicaid only reimburses 90% of their costs and private insurance generally reimburses 130%. If the public health insurance is specified as a health insurance option for the uninsured, it would help hospitals immensely by reducing the uncompensated care. On the other hand, if public health insurance is used as a “cheap public plan open to everybody an reimbursed providers at low rates,” it would be devastating to the hospital industry.

Click here to read more details: Hospitals cutting back.

Entrepreneurs Notice Credit Lines Disappearing, Should Turn to Factoring

BusinessWeek.com recently published an article that put JPMorgan Chase bank in the spotlight, as the bank started reducing or eliminating credit lines  for a large number of small business owners to help even out its balance sheets.

According to the article, in most cases, “If business owners can’t convince Chase of their creditworthiness, they have three options: 1) pay off the balance in full; 2) agree to a conversion of the line of credit into a term loan; or 3) go into default.”

One business owner interviewed for the article described how his four lines of credit were reduced to two on the exact same day that he received a letter from Chase that the bank was blocking him from drawing on two lines of credit due to “an adverse change in his ‘financial condition and/or credit history.'” The entrepreneur had been drawing on all four of the lines to help meet his monthly payroll, and he’s not sure where the money will come from if he’s not able to reistate the two lines.

As banks continue to reduce and eliminate credit lines, there will continue to be an influx of established healthcare business owners who are in this same situation. Lucky for them, there is an immediate answer to their cash flow problems.

Home care agencies who need additional funding to pay their sitters and companions, medical transcription service owners who are waiting a long time for hospitals to pay, and medical coding companies who are looking to expand can and should take advantage of healthcare accounts receivable factoring programs to help them at a time when more traditional funding avenues are failing them.

Click here to read the entire article: Snipping Credit Lines for Small Businesses.

Small Business Owners Report Cash Flow Concerns

According to the Monthly Small Business Watch, a report that measures economic confidence by randomly selecting 750 small business owners and asking them to respond to six questions, 50% of small business owners have experienced temporary cash flow issues in the past 90 days. In addition, 53% of the surveyed business owners reported that they will decrease spending on business development in the next six months.

Now, more than ever, is a prime time for cash flow consultants and factoring brokers to reach out to those small business owners and pair them with the appropriate funding source. As many of The Factoring Blog’s readers know, PRN Funding is a great option for medical staffing factoring, medical transcription factoring, medical coding factoring and home care factoring.

Click here to read more current small business cash flow statistics.

Factoring Makes List of 101 Ways to Save Money

Jill Amadio, Jacquelyn Lynn, Ivan R. Misner, Chris Penttila, Guen Sublette and Laura Tiffany of Entrepreneur.com came recently contributed to a very important document for business owners: 101 Ways to Save Money in Your Business.

Compiled to advise business owners and entrepreneurs on how to save money in a penny-pinching economy, the accounts receivable factoring specialists at PRN Funding found #86 particularly helpful:

“Consider the factors. Factors–companies that essentially buy and then liquidate a company’s accounts receivable–provide an option to tied-up money.”

AAPC iTouch Winner Announced

Last month, PRN Funding announced that it would have a drawing  for a 16-gig iTouch at the 2009 American Academy of Professional Coders Conference in Las Vegas.

Attendees lined up at PRN Funding’s booth each day to learn about the benefits of medical coding factoring and medical billing factoring.

While at the booth, they also had a chance to fill out an entry form for a chance to win the iTouch. On the last day of the show, PRN Funding put all 535 entry forms from medical coding and billing professionals into our fish bowl and chose one.

Congratulations to Jean Pryor of Anderson Medical Billing who was the lucky winner!

PRN Funding to Give Away iTouch

PRN Funding, LLC is headed to the 2009 American Academy of Professional Coders Convention in Las Vegas. The medical coding factoring specialists are eager to meet with medical coding consultants and medical coding business owners in booth #110.

As an added bonus, attendees who stop by the booth sometime between April 5-8 can fill out an entry form to win a 16-GB iTouch.

Click here to read the official press release: PRN Funding to Give Away Apple iTouch at AAPC Conference.

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