Nurse Staffing Agency Convicted of Failing to Pay Taxes

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.

Primary-Care Doctors Leaving Medicine in Droves

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.

RNs Status Gets Boost with Medicare Changes

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.

Nurses and Medical Coding Careers

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?

Healthcare Staffing Provider Changes Corporate Name

According to a press release that appeared in the Staffing Industry Analysts‘ Daily News, the “Arlington TX-based healthcare staffing provider Nursefinders Inc. has changed its corporate name to Medfinders Inc. to reflect the broadening scope of its service offerings.

It will continue doing business through its various brands, namely: Nursefinders for local nuse staffing; Nursefinders Homecare, provider of specialty programs for homecare market; SingleSource, provider of managed staffing programs (MSPs); Club Staffing and Resources On Call,  for allied health staffing; Nursefinders Travel, National Healthcare Staffing and TVL Healthcare, for travel nursing; Linde Healthcare, offering locum tenens (contract physicians) recruitment services; and Kendall & Davis, for physician permanent placement services.”

The CEO of Medfiders, Bob Livonius was quoted in the press release as saying: “Having expanded well beyond the provision of nurses alone, our new corporate identity, Medfinders Inc., better reflects our current market leading position in all four sub-sectors of healthcare staffing, per diem nursing, travel nursing, allied staffing and physician recruitment, as well as homecare.  Offering the greatest breadth and depth of service in the industry is fundamental to our strategy of partnering with healthcare facilities to deliver value-added workforce solutions that better address staffing challenges, compliance standards, cost management goals and quality patient outcomes.”

Staffing Temp Nurses in a Bad Economy

David Searns of Haley Marketing Group had a great article in Net-Temps Recruiters e-newsletter, entitled: How to Sell When Someone Says “We’re Not Hiring.”  In the article, he discusses how the poor economy is affecting all sectors of the temporary staffing industry–in that facilities are cutting costs and decreasing their temporary staff.  If you want to succeed in this economic downturn, Searns suggests the following:

1. Stop being reactive
2. Go back to sales 101
3. Find ways to drive out costs
4. Capitalize on opportunities
5. Utilizing strategic recruiting

Click here to read the details on how to combat the “we’re not hiring” phrase.

Housing Market Affects Nurses Living in Florida

An article from today’s Miami Herald described an interesting phenomenon going on in the world of nursing. In an effort to combat the nursing shortage, nurses living and working in southern Florida are quietly being recruited to the north with promises of cheaper housing and better hiring incentives.

Recruiters from Moses Cone Health System, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, met with a number of nurses this week in a Westin hotel in Fort Lauderdale yesterday.  Next week the recruiters will be at the Marriott Miami Dadeland, and an Orlando location is scheduled for Thursday.

Q: What do you think about this kind of recruiting method?

Click here to read the entire article: NC hospitals quietly tempt South Florida’s nurses.

PRN Funding to Speak at NNBA Meeting

Next weekend, PRN Funding will be in Daytona Beach exhibiting and sponsoring breakfast at the National Nurses in Business Association’s 19th Annual Conference .

In addition to exhibiting, PRN Funding will conduct a table-top presentation for nurse entrepreneurs entitled: How to Locate Money Sources for Your Business.

Click here to read the press release: PRN Funding Joins Nurses in Business for Annual Meeting.

Small Businesses Turn to Alternative Funding, AR Factoring

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.

Travel Nurse Staffing Client Becomes JCAHO Certified

One of our travel nurse staffing factoring clients had some exciting news to share with us last week.  They wrote to tell us that their company achieved the Gold Seal of Approval for healthcare staffing services from the Joint Commission for Accreditation and Certification Operations (JCAHO).

The temporary nurse staffing company underwent an audit of its complete operations including amongst other things, compliance with national standards, qualification and competency of staff (office and nurses), how nurses are placed and how nurse and staff’s performance is monitored.

The nurse staffing factoring client also mentioned that at the present time, only about 5% of all healthcare staffing firms have achieved the standard. The JCAHO certification program offers an independent, comprehensive evaluation of a staffing firm’s abilities to provide competent and safe staffing services.

It is hoped that this certification will provide the travel nurse staffing factoring client with increased access to new customers.

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