Social Media for the Mind and Body – Jiff Reveals ‘Circle of Life’

If you can believe it, there is now a social network devoted to the collective wellness of healthcare consumers. Members of Jiff Inc.’s new platform, Circle of Health, will be able to embed a profile at the center of their very own network of friends, family, doctors, nurses, and insurance agents.

According to last month’s edition of the health information magazine, For the Record, Circle of Health (a HIPAA-approved service) will allow consumers to “share medical documents, videos, and information useful to managing health and wellness” with a network of three to fifteen people. This limited size will allow for greater privacy, facilitating simpler interactions among members of each network. Furthermore, Jiff is pushing to further simplify their platform by constructing an array of applications for member use.

The service may prove revolutionary, says Jiff CEO Derek Newell: “To date, healthcare has been communicated only on paper and through phone calls and office visits. This is a $2.7 trillion industry without an effective way for physicians to communicate and effectively keep track of the patient’s progress between office visits. Circle of Health changes that.”

Our medical transcription factoring clientele can find out more about this service on Circle of Health’s website.

Home Healthcare has a Banner Month

Our home healthcare factoring clientele should take pride. The industry has contributed a whopping 10 percent of an estimated 69,000 new jobs added to the U.S. workforce this past May. Though (according to this jobs report) the total number of added jobs landed well below most economists’ forecasts, healthcare continues to grow.

According to Vicki Hoak of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association (whose website informed this report), “This demonstrates what we in the homecare industry have known for years. Not only is homecare clinically-advanced, cost-effective and patient-preferred, it is also a job creator and an economic force to be reckoned with.”

Reiterating the Rights of Home Caregivers in Pennsylvania

The homecare factoring specialists came across a worthwhile article in the Pennsylvania Homecare Association’s weekly e-newsletter, and we wanted to share the details below:

Officials in the Pennsylvania Department of Health recently met with Susan Heinle of Visiting Angels and the Pennsylvania Homecare Association (PHA). They discussed the legal roles and abilities of homecare aides in medication assistance, and of “nurses employed by private duty homecare agencies and defining specialized care for homecare agencies and registries.”

Currently, the law prohibits Pennsylvania home nurses like Heinle from assisting their patients with the application of basic medications such as eye drops, topical creams and pills. These limitations affect both patients and families, who wish “to help their loved ones stay at home as they age but need help with medications.” PHA CEO Vicki Hoak decries the state of things: “not being able to provide this assistance is very frustrating to many of our members because families simply can’t afford to have a nurse come to the house just to hand over pills.”

Following this meeting, the Department of Health has decided to formulate a series of FAQs that, according to a press release on the PHA website, “will address medication assistance and provide further clarification on what is and what is not specialized care. This clarification is expected to be released in late summer.”

The goal of these discussions is the eventual optimization of home nurses’ legal capabilities. The effectiveness of the industry and its ability to assist its patients depends on the reformation of Pennsylvania’s legislation as it currently stands. These reforms would greatly benefit our homecare factoring clients in their respective missions-the improvement of the lives of each and every one of their clients. For more information, visit the PHA’s website.

Is a Loan from a Big Bank the Best Financing Option for a Small Business?

Did anyone see the article on CNBC.com called: Small Businesses, Big Banks: Good Fit?

The article basically talked about how small business owners are still facing strict lending restrictions from larger banks like Bank of America, so they’re turning to smaller banks for their small business lending needs. Specifically, the article talked about a couple of small business owners that experienced a season of poor sales (as a result of weather), and how their banking partners terminated their loans as a result. This type of situation happens often enough, and small, local banks have been sweeping into to save the day–in some cases.

Overall, all banks want assurance that borrowers have the means to repay their loans, as well as a secondary source of repayment, such as collateral.If a small business owner can’t show a profitable operating history and/or strong financials, he/she will find it extremely difficult to be approved for a traditional line of credit with any bank.

One alternative financing option that was not discussed in the article, but that would be extremely beneficial for these small business owners is for them to use is accounts receivable factoring. Instead of basing advances on the company’s past performance, a factoring firm is more concerned with the future–As in the company’s accounts receivables. Moreover, because factoring is not a loan, the balance sheet stays clean, and the credit line grows as the company grows.

Click here for more information on the differences between a bank loan and factoring.

Small Business Bank Lending is Down

The invoice factoring specialists from PRN Funding came across an interesting article on CNBC’s web site, entitled: Small Biz Lending Shrinks as Owners Grow Cautious. In a nutshell, there are a number of reports recently conducted involving small business lending, and they all point to one thing–Small businesses are still uncomfortable with adding debt to their balance sheets and/or hiring new personnel.

We have summarized some of the key takeaways from the article with the cash flow professionals and small business owners that consistently read The Factoring Blog:

  • PayNet (a research firm that tracks loans to small companies) released a report on Friday showing that lending fell 2% in April, which was after a 3% dip in March.
  • Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index fell to 94.1 in April. It was at 110.5 in December.
  • ADP (payroll processing company) said the pace of hiring by the smallest businesses, those with fewer than 50 employees, slowed in May.
  • Both ADP’s report and PayNet’s report had similar  findings, in that both reports showed that small business owners are increasingly reluctant to hire or expand in this uncertain economy. (The monthly survey of small business owners by the National Federation of Independent Business also echoed this finding.)
  • Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. (a credit reporting service for businesses), also had some interesting findings after it surveyed 6000 companies during Q1. Mainly that , 64% of businesses with revenue under $5 million said that lack of financing has made it difficult for them to grow. Furthermore, 55% said that it was also restricting their hiring plans.
  • Dun & Bradstreet also reported that banks are becoming more stringent in their lending requirements for small businesses.

Note from the invoice funding specialists at PRN Funding:

Even though small business loans seems to be trending down, there are still a number of great alternative financing methods available to small business owners. Accounts receivable invoice factoring is a great way for business owners to increase their cash flow without creating additional debt.

Invoice Factoring Case Study: Outsourced Medical Billing Company

The outsourced medical billing factoring specialists at PRN Funding wanted to share one of our more recent invoice funding case studies with the medical billing company owners that read The Factoring Blog:

David had aspirations of entrepreneurship ever since he graduated college. Due to the ever-increasing demand for health care, he spotted an opportunity to start his own medical billing company. As word quickly spread about the company’s unparalleled customer service, David’s start-up medical billing company began getting more calls and business soared. As a result, David needed to hire more medical billing specialists to handle the new demand. Because his customers took about 45 days to pay him for his medical billing services, David realized that he would not have enough readily available cash on hand to pay his employees on time. As a result, David began researching financing options. Unfortunately, because David’s company was relatively new, the bank he initially approached turned him down.

Medical Billing Factoring

David didn’t know what to do. He called his friend Steve, who is a broker for alternative financing companies. Steve informed David about accounts receivable factoring, which would help him stabilize his cash flow through the company’s growth period. Steve referred David to PRN Funding, LLC, who has a dedicated medical billing factoring program.

CMS Approves New Rates for HCBS Waivers in Pennsylvania

Last week, CMS approved new rates that were proposed by the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) for those home care agencies that provide services under HCBS waivers, including Act 150, Attendant Care, Aging, CommCare, OBRA and Independence.

A couple of different regions were affected by the new rates:

Allegheny, Beaver and Westmoreland Counties
Decrease in reimbursement for PAS (personal assistance services) from $21 to $17.16.

Philadelphia County
Increase in reimbursement for PAS from $15.76 to $19.12.

Montgomery County
Decrease in reimbursement for PAS from $24 to $19.12.

There are a couple more counties throughout the state of Pennsylvania that will see slight decreases or increases.

The Pennsylvania Homecare Association has been following the new rate change closely and advising its members on how best to handle the changeover. Click here for more information on the New Rates for HCBS Waivers.

Home Healthcare Factoring: The Right Funding Solution for Your Home Health Care Agency

Instead of waiting weeks or months to receive payments from Medicaid, Medicare, insurance companies and/or private consumers, would your home health care agency rather have your cash immediately? Did a bank recently turn down your business loan application? Are your home health care receivables available to be collateralized?

If you answered ‘yes’ to one or all of the questions above, then home health care agency invoice financing is by far the best funding option for your business. Allow me to elaborate…

Home health care invoice funding is the conversion of accounts receivable into cash by selling outstanding invoices to a factoring firm. Home healthcare agency financing is a viable financial solution that gives companies immediate cash to manage operations more efficiently. Home health care care agency owners can then use liquid capital to make payroll, pay taxes and meet other recurring financial obligations.

Click here for some additional key concepts about home healthcare agency invoice funding.

Health Care Staffing Factoring Helps Business Owners Expand Agencies

Health care staffing factoring is beneficial for growing agencies struggling to make payroll while their clients (medical providers) take weeks or months to pay for their services. Oftentimes, these agencies can’t qualify for traditional financing because banks look at a company’s past-aka: a profitable operating history-in order to extend credit. However, medical staffing funding companies are more concerned with the agency’s future-aka: its growing accounts receivable-in order to extend credit. Let’s take a look at how one healthcare staffing agency used invoice factoring to improve its cash flow.

Slow Payments Hinder an Agency’s Growth
A new healthcare staffing agency was successfully staffing LPNs and CNAs at a handful of local hospitals. Since the company’s inception six months ago, it had gained an outstanding reputation for placing the most qualified and hard-working nurses. Even though the healthcare staffing agency was a popular choice, the owner kept turning down new clients because he was struggling to make payroll and pay taxes. Simply put, payments coming in were much slower than the agency owner had originally anticipated, and his cash flow was out of sorts.

Click here to find out how the health care staffing agency owner used invoice funding to help stabilize his cash flow.

Medical Dictation and Transcription Goes Mobile with New Application

Webahn, Inc. recently announced the release of Accent HD, which is a new app for iPad that helps doctors dictate, review reports, print, and manage files in multiple formats such as PDF, RTF, and Text.

“Our goal is to provide flexible technology that moves with health care providers,” Vinu Nair, Webahn CEO said in the official press release, “Our solutions help doctors improve productivity and spend more time with patients.”

In essence, Accent HD is an app that offers a simple but intuitive interface for dictation that uploads via WiFi to OvernightScribe. Files are then transcribed, and posted in the clinic account. Physicians can carry the iPad with them to review archived reports, then dictate immediately upon seeing a patient.

Click here to read the official press release: New iPad App Accent HD Takes Medical Dictation and Transcription Mobile

Older Posts
Newer Posts