ACE11 Recap

All in all, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) 2011 Conference was a memorable one. Phil Cohen and Taylor Materna represented PRN Funding in booth #406 at ACE11 last week in Phoenix. They had the opportunity to speak with a number of MTSOs about the benefits of medical transcription invoice factoring.

Arriving back in the office today, the two had some overall thoughts to share about their experiences…

  1. They both felt that the show was run incredibly well.
  2. They had a steady stream of traffic at the booth, thanks in part to the Treasure Hunt promotion.
  3. The attendees were ready and willing to engage and learn about transcription factoring.

However, the biggest realization the medical transcription invoice funding specialists walked away with was that CDIA and AHDI need to combine forces and put on one big medical transcription conference in 2013.

Question: What do you think about CDIA and AHDI putting on one medical transcription conference in 2013?

MTChat Moves Back to MTDesk

That’s right! MTChat is moving back to MTDesk.com. The owner of both sites, Lisa Algeo, wrote a guest post on ADVANCE Perspective’s HIM Blog explaining the new change.

Ms. Algeo acquired the site in 2009 from Elsevier when they could no longer commit to running both sites. Ms. Algeo was excited to move the open source online style guide wiki that she has been working on at MT Reference to MTDesk. Over the next two years, MTChat’s forums were not as popular.

At the same time that MTChat participants were dwindling, Ms. Algeo had made significant improvements to the wiki platform being used at MTDesk, and she used that to create active forums on MTDesk.

She said in the blog post: “After reviewing the site statistics for both sites, I felt bringing the discussion forums back to MT Desk would benefit both sites and make it easier for me to manage the forums while continuing to build the reference wiki at MT Desk.”

As for the future, the forums on MTChat will remain active for some time, however, they all will eventually be migrated to MTDesk, and then MTChat will close permanently.

Click here to read Ms. Algeo’s blog post in its entirety: MTChat is Moving Back to MTDesk.

How Important is it for Nurse Staffing Agencies to Pay Payroll Taxes on Time?

From time to time, the nurse staffing invoice funding specialists at PRN Funding gets asked a question that we think our nurse staffing readers would appreciate hearing about. So today, our nurse staffing factoring staff are answering:

How Important is it for nurse staffing agencies to pay payroll taxes on time?

In short, VERY! Nurse staffing business owners may be able to dodge the bullet for a bit, but not paying your payroll taxes on time will catch up on business owners eventually. When the IRS discovers that a nurse staffing agency owner is behind, the punishment can cost the agency dearly.

The good news is that there are ways to catch up on back taxes. The best way for staffing agencies to stay in good-standing with the IRS is to respond to their calls and letters, and once a re-payment plan in is place, agency owners need to honor their commitments. Demonstrating a willingness to cooperate with the IRS helps nurse staffing agency owners avoid an IRS tax lien on his/her business.

It’s important to note that when a nurse staffing agency has a factoring relationship, the factor will be most likely want to see proof that payroll taxes are being paid. Nurse staffing invoice factoring companies will ask for this proof because the IRS is the only entity who can trump a factor’s lien.

Small Companies Need Business, Not Credit

Did anyone see the article entitled Small Firms Hunger for Sales, Not Credit in Friday’s Wall Street Journal?

The invoice funding specialists at PRN Funding thought the article was interesting because it brought to light the fact that small businesses aren’t really having a hard time securing funding these days, rather, they’re not looking for it at all. According to polls and surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the National Federation of Independent Business, The National Small Business Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the main challenge small businesses are facing is lack of customers.

Question: What are your biggest business challenges?

Learn about Medical Transcription Factoring at ACE11

Phoenix, AZ – The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)is holding its Annual Convention and Expo at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge August 17-21, and PRN Funding, LLC will be in booth #406.

MTSOs and business owners interested in learning about an alternative form of financing can meet with the owner of PRN Funding, Phil Cohen, and Account Specialist, Taylor Materna, during exhibit hours.

In addition, AHDI attendees are encouraged to stop by PRN Funding’s booth to get a sticker as part of the Wheel of Prizes game. After visiting with participating exhibitors and collecting stickers, attendees can turn in their completed cards for a chance to spin the Wheel of Prizes.

Click here to read the official press release: Learn about Medical Transcription Factoring at ACE11.

8 Things to Love About Speech Recognition Technology Editing

Just in case our medical transcription readers missed it, the July issue of Plexus Magazine had a little write-up about SRT editing, entitled: Eight Things to Love about SRT Editing. The medical transcription factoring specialists at The Factoring Blog re-printed them below:

  1. The natural language processors is sometimes better at deciphering accents compared to the human ear. As long as sound quality is god, ESL dictators are usually easier to edit compared the typing.
  2. For slower typists, high gains in production through editing may be possible.
  3. With practice, most transcriptionists can becomes successful medical editors within three months.
  4. Back-end editing can keep costs to the client low, and the client will less likely consider alternative means of documentation thatseek to remove transcriptionists and editors form the equation.
  5. Less wear and tear ib tge hands, wrists, and shoulders; this is further minimized with utilizing a word expander to do the editing.
  6. Editing can actually be a wonderful learning tool. Often speech recognition already knows a term the MT has not yet been exposed to. Research can then confirm if SR was right. It can also help the MT learn a lot of the ESL accents. Seeing the typed word and comparing it to the voice file can help MTs learn how specific accents are likely to pronounce certain words.
  7. Transcribing is limited by how fast your fingers can move. There is only so fast one will ever get transcribing once the expander is being fully utilized. With SR, you can teach your expander to do more of the work.
  8. For some it is easier to catch SRs mistake’s than it is to catch your own. After a point, you can almost pick out the errors at a glance. Over time your brain becomes trained to pick these things out of the document quickly.

Three Reasons Why Allied Health Staffing Agencies Should Factor Their Invoices

Although invoice factoring is a great alternative funding option for any type of business, it’s an especially good allied health agency financing choice for agencies that staff temporary professionals in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. In fact, selling invoices to a factor allows allied health staffing agencies to get paid quicker without going into additional debt. Furthermore, agency owners who factor their invoices will have enough liquid capital on hand to make weekly payroll and keep up with payroll tax obligations. Still not convinced? Check out the Three Reasons Why Allied Health Staffing Agencies Should Factor Their Invoices:

Reason #1: Stop Waiting to be Paid.
Instead of waiting 30, 60 or even 90 days to receive payment staffing in allied health professionals at a medical facility, temporary staffing agency owners can sell their invoices to a factor and receive cash within 24 hours of issuing an invoice. All a factoring firm needs to advance cash is a copy of the invoice and proof that the employees worked the shifts listed on the invoice. This is easily accomplished by supplying copies of signed time sheets.

Reason #2: Leverage the Credit of Your Customers.
Allied health staffing  funding is a great option for companies who are either just getting started, have less-than-perfect credit or are going through a growth spurt. Rather than make a credit decision based off of the staffing agency’s credit or the business owner’s personal credit, allied health agency funding firms determine their credit limits after reviewing the payment trends of the agency’s customers. This is usually done by using a third-party credit bureau, and it’s done in a non-intrusive way, giving companies the ability to secure allied health agency financing based off of their customers’ credit rather than their own.

Click here to find out the last reason Why Allied Health Staffing Agencies Should Factor Their Invoices.

Factoring for Medical Billing Companies – FAQs

A lot of questions can come up when a business owner starts researching medical billing funding solutions—the idea of selling their invoices to a factor or medical billing funding agency.  This article addresses some of the more frequently asked questions:

What differentiates a factoring firm who funds medical billing companies from a bank?

First and foremost, since medical billing factoring is not a loan, there is no debt on your medical billing company’s balance sheet. Moreover, factoring firms have the ability to make a quick decision regarding your medical billing funding options, while banks may take weeks—even months—to approve a loan.

Furthermore, factors determine lines of credit based on the creditworthiness of your customers, while banks focus on your company’s financial history and cash flow. In other words, a medical billing funding agency looks to your company’s future while banks place emphasis on your company’s past.

How long does it take to be approved for medical billing funding solutions?
In general, a medical billing funding agency will begin its due diligence process after receipt of a signed contract. This process can last anywhere between 1-5 business days, and money is moved at its conclusion. Thereafter, a medical billing service can receive funds in as little as 24 hours within verification.  See our medical billing factoring process and learn our medical billing funding options can benefit your medical billing business.

Click here to read more Frequently Asked Questions and Answers related to factoring for medical billing companies.

What to Tell Your Customers When You Are Working with a Nurse Staffing Factor

Hiring an invoice funding company can be an unnerving process for nurse staffing agency owners because they may be worried about how their customers will view the new financing relationship. It’s a natural concern to have; however, working with a nurse staffing account receivables factoring company doesn’t have to be scary. This article gives three unique responses that agency owners can give to their customers to help explain a new account receivables factoring arrangement.

Nurse Staffing Account Receivables Factoring Response #1:
Invoice factoring is just an alternative form of financing.

As a result of these difficult economic times, traditional lenders (i.e. banks) are not extending new credit lines, and/or they are increasing interest rates. This makes it extremely difficult for a temporary nurse staffing agency to obtain traditional financing. At the same time, the demand for temporary nurses has sky-rocketed.

Savvy staffing agency owners are turning to alternative sources of financing to ensure that their businesses have a positive cash flow. In short, working with a nurse staffing account receivables factoring firm proves that the agency is fiscally sound and prepared to weather the down economy. Moreover, the factoring arrangement will allow my agency to continue to grow without hindering our ability to provide quality nurses to your facility.

Nurse Staffing Account Receivables Factoring Response #2:
Our current nurse staffing relationship will go unchanged.

Even though a factoring company will be managing my staffing agency’s receivables, the business relationship that I have with your medical facility will not change.  We will continue to provide you with excellent nurses and invoice as usual. Should you need one of our supplemental nurses to fill a staffing gap, feel free to contact our agency directly, and we will find a nurse to fill the position.

The only thing that will change on your end is the remittance address, as payments should now be sent directly to the factoring company.

Click here to find out what the third nurse staffing factoring response is.


Healthcare Staffing Factoring – How Does it work?

There is a common misconception that healthcare staffing factoring is a complicated type of financing. In actuality, the factoring process is actually quite simple. All it takes is five easy steps…

Step One: Sell Healthcare Staffing Agency Invoices to a Factor

Technically, the first step in the healthcare staffing factoring equation happens when the agency’s customer (presumably a medical facility) has a shift open and requests the agency to fill that position. Once an agency employee works the shift, the agency is able to invoice the facility for the hours worked. At any time after the agency has invoiced the medical facility, it also has the ability to sell the invoice to a healthcare staffing factor.

The actual sale of the invoice is usually accomplished electronically, in that the agency emails or faxes a copy of the invoice along with corresponding signed timed sheets to the healthcare staffing factoring agency. The invoices and timesheets must be accompanied by an Assignment of Accounts Receivables form, which lists out all the invoices the agency wishes to sell to the factor and includes a signature from an authorized employee of the agency.

Step Two: New Debtor Credit Check

Once the healthcare staffing factoring firm receives the schedule of invoices and timesheets, an account manager reviews it for new customers. If there happens to be new customers (a.k.a. debtors), the account manager will conduct a brief credit review in order to establish a line of credit for that debtor. Typically, the credit review process can be completed within 24 hours of receipt. Once a new debtor has been approved for funding, the account manager will notify the debtor’s accounts payables department that when they receive invoices from the agency, the payment should be remitted directly to the factor.

If there are no new debtors included with the schedule, then the account manager simply moves on to step three of the healthcare staffing factoring process, which involves verifying the submitted invoices.

Want to find out the last three steps? Click here: How Does Healthcare Staffing Factoring Work?