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.

AAPC Accepting Nominations for NAB Members

Last Friday, the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) started accepting nominations for the 2009-2011 National Advisory Board (NAB).

According to the AAPC Web site, “The NAB works with the national office for the betterment of the entire membership and the medical coding community through active participation in nationally sponsored conferences, events, publications, educational programs and activities.”

The new term begins on April 8, 2009 and is comprised of 16 members appointed by the AAPC.

Click here to submit your NAB nomination.

Medical Transcription Factoring Success Story

The medical transcription factoring specialists at PRN Funding wanted to share one of our most recent client success stories with our readers.  Afterall, it’s one thing to read about our specialized factoring services, it’s quite another to hear a real-life client success story.

Patrick is one of our most recent client highlights because thanks to medical transcription factoring, he was able to utilize PRN Funding’s invoice factoring services to help grow his business.  Today, his company is one of Inc’s 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.

Please visit PRN Funding’s web site here to read the entire medical transcription factoring success story.

Unique Staffing Niche – Bilingual Nurses

PRN Funding has written a number of blogs/articles touting Dr. Linda Aiken’s studies on how supplemental staffing agencies can help solve the overall nurse shortage problem.  However, we recently read about a very specific niche in temporary nurse staffing–staffing nurses who are bilingual, especially in Spanish.

In the state of Delaware, where the spanish-speaking population has doubled in the past seven years, bilingual nurses are in high demand.  According to an article on DelawareOnline.com, there is a very real fear that “that with few Spanish-speaking health care workers, those who speak Spanish only, or little English, will be less likely to seek medical treatment.”

Proponents of training and hiring bilingual nurses think that having these specific nurses on staff at key medical facilities will help the immigrants improve their overall health as well as understand the American health care system better.

If you ask the temporary nurse staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding, staffing bilingual nurses sounds like a unique opportunity that agency owners should think about exploring.

Click here to read the entire article: State needs nurses who speak Spanish.

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