To all our readers who are sales folk, just kidding about the “cranky” and we know that you never whine . . .  Moving right along, the next tip offers the suggestion that the responsibilities for booth staffing are not confined to the hours that the exhibit hall is officially open. . .

When setting up your display at a trade show and before the doors open to the conferees, you may, from time to time, get interrupted by someone just walking around looking.  That person could be a future sale and is worth receiving a personal invitation to come back and see your product when your display is completely set up.

– John Conti, President, Continental Covers

or when you are within the boundaries of your exhibit:

No matter if you are in the booth or not, any time you spend at the show dressed in your company’s attire – you represent your company.  This includes your breaks, lunch etc.  I have made many quality contacts while on lunch or in the break/smoking area, just by initiating regular conversation.  This leads to the inevitable question: “What does your company do?”  I always use this as an opportunity to invite people back to our booth.

– Kris Magnotti, Hahn RaceCraft

The theme of creating an inviting and comfortable environment for your guests runs consistently through all the readers’ tips about booth staffing.  The thought is nicely expressed by this reader:

Make sure to dress appropriate for the conference or show - too dressy or too casual may not work for the type of show you are at.  You want your attendees to feel "at home" in your booth. Remember to always invite attendees into your booth with a warm smile and friendly greeting; the rest will take care of itself if you are prepared. Just be yourself, relax and remember its okay to have fun. We always have a big jar of chocolates in our booth – no one can resist!  We find it’s a great way to start a conversation.

– Jan Wyatt, MECO Engineering

We close with another sentiment that has been expressed by many people who have sent us their thoughts about succeeding on the show floor:

Love what you are selling. The client or customer can tell if you are faking it. Be knowledgeable about all areas of the business, not just your product. You never know what questions you might be asked.

– Kate Getty, Stephens College

Posted on 3/13/2008

Updates from AHDI and MTIA Partnership

We received a briefing the other day from the AHDI-MTIA partnership, and it looks like they have been hard at work since they partnered in May 2007.  Here's a glimpse of some of the current initiatives:

• TROTTS, also known as Transcribed Report Optimum Turnaround Time, revolves around a study of both HIM directors/supervisors and MTSO managers/supervisors to measure their experiences with turnaround times (TAT), whether or not that time meets their needs and to help understand medical transcription industry challenges, financial impacts, as well as the impact of offshore medical transcription and Electronic Health Records (EHR).  This group will publish a White Paper that will establish defininitions and standards for TAT and will demonstrate how both the use of specific standards and turnaround time affect clinical decision-making.
  
• ASRT (Automated Speech Recognition Technology Workgroup) is currently working on a type of "buyer's guide to speech recognition technology," which is scheduled to be completed in August 2008.
  
• CDA4CDT, or the Clinical Document Architecture for Common Document Types) brought together a large group of medical transcription industry stakeholders to help establish a common document architecture to preserve the narrative report component of histories, consultations, etc.  Within a year, the CDA4CDT group plans to make five mayor reports available: H&P, Consultations, Discharge Summary, Op Note and Imaging.
  
• QA Best Practices is putting together a QA Best Practices document which includes official verification of methods and sampling and still offers a methose to define errors in documentation in a numerical point system and also looks at the impact of time and cost involved with achieving quality assurance.  In addition, CEO Preziosi will eventually seek endorsement from The Joint Commission with a fully endorsed paper to follow in the fall.

Again, PRN Funding is excited about the partnership between MTIA and AHDI and the progress that it has made for the medical transcription industry during its first year is amazing.  We look forward to hearing more good news from them in the future.

Posted on 3/5/2008

Where to find Money for Your New Business

There's goods news and bad news when it comes to locating startup capital for a new healthcare company.  For example, if you own a healthcare vendor business, such as a temporary nurse staffing agency or a medical transcription service, PRN Funding can help fund your company by purchasing your accounts receivable.  Selling your invoices to a factoring firm is just one way you can bypass commercial bank's stricter lending restrictions. 

Businessweek.com offers some more ideas in their recent articles, Busting the 'Free Money' Myth and Little Lenders: Small Banks May be Your Best Bet.

Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that entrepreneurs can tap government grants and interest-free loans to use for their startup companies.  The article, Busting the 'Free Money' Myth, explains that although the U.S. government gives grants to help with small businesses, most of that money goes to local governments, state agencies and nonprofits--not individuals.  The articles also explains that loans coming from the Small Business Administration (SBA) often carry a higher interest rate that a loan from a conventional bank because of the risk involved with a startup company.

Moreover, the article, Little Lenders, shares some interesting statistics supporting the fact that smaller community banks generally are willing to lend money to small businesses as compared to the larger commercial banks.  Quoting the president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America Camden R. Fine, "Community banks focus primarily on small businesses, mom-and-pop operations and consumers because the footprint [of these banks] is a single town or small cluster of towns, they know their customers really well."  Even with their loyalty to the smaller companies, many community banks are still tightening their lending standards because of the credit crunch.

So the bads news is it's harder to gain access to capital via conventional means.  The good news is that there are some alternative way of financing startups.  Accounts receivable factoring and payroll funding are just two alternate ways to create a positive business cash flow. 

What are some other ways you can think of to help finance your new business?

Posted on 3/3/2008

Is Franchising Right for You?

There are a growing number of people who are finding viable and attractive business paths in franchsing, according to the cover story, Franchise Enterprise, in the February edition of The Costco Connection.  In fact, according to the International Franchising Association (IFA), there are more than 760,000 U.S. businesses that generate $1.5 trillion annually and supply one out of seven jobs.  With impressive numbers like these, it's hard for a smart entrepreneur to pass up the idea of franchising a medical staffing company or a medical transcription service.

Aside from sharing the success and failure stories from business owners who have decided to franchise, the article shares some of the advantages and drawbacks of opening a franchise.

Of the many cited advantages, the Small Business Administration (SBA) points out that "franchising is an attractive choice for many entrepreneurs because it eliminates the painstaking work of starting a business from scratch.  When you buy a franchise, your new venture comes with systems in place to help run it, including marketing, accounting, business training and coaching on how to retain employees."

However, franchising also has some not so tempting drawbacks.  The biggest disadvantage--Although you are the owner, you don't control your business.  Business owners have to follow the processes and procedures without variation and contracts usually last for a whopping 10 years or longer.

So the bottom line is whether you are looking for a way to grow your nurse staffing agency or increase the profits of your medical transcription service, franchising involves an element of risk, so make sure to do your homework.

Check out the article here: Franchise Enterprise.

Posted on 2/27/2008

Cleveland Clinic Teams Up with Google for National Medical Records

On February 20, Google and The Cleveland Clinic announced that they were collaborating on an electronic personal health record (PHR).  There are plans to enroll 1500-10,000 of the Clinic's patients to use the pilot version of Google's password protected online medical record system. 

A Cleveland Clinic press release explained the new project "will test secure exchange of patient medical record data such as prescriptions, conditions and allergies between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery setting." 

The Cleveland Clinic view this partnership as a strategic step to help create national access to electronic medical records for free, putting the power and the responsability back in the patients hands.

Posted on 2/27/2008

Expanding Business Owners Should Learn to Let Go

According to members at the Edward Lowe Foundation, a Michigan non-profit organization dedicated to helping second stage entrepreneurs, one of the biggest reasons why business owners cannot transition into the next level of operations is because they don't want to delegate job responsibilities.

In our line of work, PRN Funding comes across a number of startup health care staffing companies, growing medical transcription services and medical coding companies trying to get ahead in their respective industries who open their doors with 1-3 people.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with this when you are just starting out, but if you ever want to make it to the next level of operations, the Edward Lowe Foundation says it's madatory to hire additional people and delegate the responsabilities.

To learn more, visit BusinessWeek.com and read: Are You Losing Control of Your Business?

Posted on 2/22/2008

Public Relations for Entrepreneurs

For those of you entrepreneurs who are local to the Cleveland, Ohio area, there is a series of courses offerdc by Tri-C's Corporate College that targets small business owners. 

For only $39, the Public Relations for Entrepreneurs course will deliver 12 Insider Tips to Attract Free Publicity for Businesses.  Although designed for any business entpreneur, we thought it might be of particular interest to our temporary nurse staffing readers, medical transcription service owners and outsourced medical coding companies. 

According to an e-advertisement, Public Relations for Entpreneurs will teach small business owners how to:

Click here to learn more about the Cleveland Corporate College Small Business Course.

Posted on 2/21/2008

AHDI Releases Third Addition of The Book of Style for Medical Transcription

As early as March, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) will release the 3rd edition of The Book of Style for Medical Transcription.

The most recent edition of this widely acclaimed medical transcription industry standards manual comes with a boatload of new features.  Among the many changes, the AHDI web site highlights a reorganized layout for easier reference lookup, enhanced explanation of standards and practical application, robust examples taken from clinical medicine settings, and so much more.

Orders for the latest edition of the medical transcription stylus book are being taken now, with delivery dates occuring in March 2008.  AHDI also anticipates a subscription-based electronic release of the edition by the end of the year.

Click here to learn more about The Book of Style for Medical Transcription and how to pre-order it.

Posted on 2/18/2008

JustCoding.com Revamps its Web Site

HCPro, Inc. distributed a press release announcing the new additions to their Web site design.  Updates that affect the medical coding industry are constantly tracked and explained to medical coders on the new Web site www.JustCoding.com. 

The new web design also boasts enhanced search capabilities, faster access to critical coding information, and improved graphics and navigation which translates into meaningful improvements in users’ ability to access articles and updates offered on the site. In addition, improvements to the on-site search will enable medical coders to easily locate and identify numerous items offering continuing education credits, which are critical to maintaining users’ coder certification.

Visit HCPo, Inc's web site here: http://www.JustCoding.com.

Read the entire press release here: Redesign of Healthcare Coding Industry Website Provides Medical Coders Better Access to Key CMS Changes.

Posted on 2/18/2008

10 Tips for Attracting New Business

Scott Wintrip from StaffingU delivered another great tip sheet in last week's Net-Temps e-Newsletter.  This topic included tips to help business owners attract new business, which we thought would be interested to our current clients as well as readers who own their own medical staffing business, medical transcription service or medical coding company. 

1. Work less
2. Always ask for what you really want
3. Automate, delegate, or integrate
4. Pay with your business card
5. Continually add value to your services
6. Make yourself a resource for referrals
7. Maintain a strong support system
8. Install upgrades often
9. Have a vision and clear goals
10. Fully express your sense of humor

Click here to read the entire tip list: 10 Tips for Attracting New Business.

Posted on 2/18/2008

Tips for Starting a Business

Scott Shane, author of The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, shared 10 tips on BusinessWeek.com for starting a new business.  We wanted to share some of the information with our business owner readers, including nurse staffing entrepreneurs, medical transcription service owners and medical coding business owners.

Pick the right industry. Entrepreneurs "tend to choose industries in which they are most likely to fail," Shane writes. Many never look outside the industry they used to work in, even if they don't have any competitive advantage over their former employer. Pick a sector with a growing market where you can differentiate yourself from the competition.

Evaluate your ideas. Research shows "42% of new-business founders decide to start a company before they have identified a business idea," Shane writes, and 28% never consider more than one idea. Think through lots of opportunities and pick the one most likely to succeed.

Start with a team. More than half of new businesses are started by individuals, "even though the performance of new businesses founded by teams is better," writes Shane. Going in alone lowers your chances of success.

Sell to businesses, not consumers. "Most startups sell products or services to individual consumers, even though 90% of the fastest growing private companies in this country sell to businesses," according to Shane. Founding a business-to-business company will raise your odds.

Launch full-time. Even though there's lots of evidence that full-time ventures are more likely to survive, profit, and grow, Shane says, most entrepreneurs launch their companies part-time.

Click here to read the rest of the tips: A Better Way to Start a Business.  Click here to the BusinessWeek article on Scott Shane's book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship.

Posted on 2/7/2008

Advice for When a Client Files for Bankruptcy

Karen E. Klein of Businessweek.com wrote a small article giving some advice on what to do when a client files Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Given the recent events with Ensemble Chimes Group (Chimes) declaring bankruptcy, we thought it might be useful to our readers.

Some key advice from the article is here:

"You should not do any more work for the larger corporation until you've got a payment for the outstanding amount and a new contract directly with the big firm, says Donald King, a bankruptcy attorney with Odin, Feldman, Pittleman in Fairfax, Va. You should also ask for administrative priority in the subsidiary's bankruptcy case, meaning your claim will get higher priority for repayment."

Click here to read the entire article: When a Client Files for Bankruptcy.

Posted on 2/6/2008

PRN Funding discusses factoring with Medical Coding Community

PRN Funding, LLC and exclusive medical coding web site, MedicalCodingAndBilling.com joined forces when the medical coding web site published the first in a three-part series of articles: How Medical Coding Services can Improve Their Cash Flow by Choosing a Factor.

The three-part series was written with the medical coding service business owner in mind--going over the key components to think about when narrowing down which accounts receivable factoring firm is the best fit for the owner's medical coding company. 

Q: When shopping accounts receiveable factoring firms, what kinds of questions do you ask?  Click here to read some frequently asked questions about factoring. 

Posted on 1/31/2008

2008 NNBA Conference Changes Location

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to speak with Pat Bemis, president of the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA), and she gave us the inside scoop on the new location for the 2008 19th Annual Education Conference.

Previously set for Orlando, FL, the conference has been moved to Daytona Beach, FL.  Contrary to previous years, the NNBA has negotiated discounted room rates in two side-by-side hotels, The Plaza Resort and Spa and The Plaza Ocean Club Hotel.  (The conference will take place in the Plaza Ocean Club Hotel.)  Although the conference is scheduled for November 8-9, 2008, group rates apply from November 5-10.

If you are a nurse entrepreneur or if you have ever thought about starting your own nurse staffing agency, we encourage you to attend the NNBA meeting in November.  Not only will PRN Funding be in attendance, our company's president, Phil Cohen has been asked to speak to attendees about the financing options available to nurse staffing startup businesses.

Posted on 1/31/2008

Locum tenens continues double-digit growth in third quarter

The cat is out of the bag, as it seems that more staffing professionals are getting interested in locum tenens staffing.  In a briefing issued by Robin Hessinger of Staffing Industry Analysts reports "In the third quarter, two public healthcare staffing firms' locum tenens businesses saw growth of 15.5% and 21.2%, respectively...Locum tenens has been the best performing sub-segment of healthcare staffing, with unbroken double-digit growth from 2003 through 2006.  This compares with overall growth in healthcare staffing in the range of -8.5% to 7%." 

Q: It used to be that temp nurse staffing was the next big thing, then travel nuse staffing, followed by allied health.  What do you think lies ahead for locum tenens staffing?

Posted on 1/25/2008

Can you Increase Cash Flow with New Way to Sell Receivables

Imagine a world where the owner of a nurse staffing agency could offer his/her receivables to a dozen different invoice factoring companies at one time and then he/she gets to sit back and watch a bidding war unravel as factors compete to win the nurse staffing firm's receivables.  In the end, the business owner walks away with the advance rate and factoring fees that meet his/her expectations. 

That is precisely the scenario that could be played out on The Receivables Exchange (TRE), a new accounts receiveable marketplace set to launch in the first quarter of 2008.  Founded by Justin Brownhill and Nic Perkin, TRE's goal is to increase competition among factoring companies to make it easier and cheaper for growing companies to raise working capital.

"It's almost like Ebay--post you invoice and let everyone bid on it," Larry Cheng, a partner with Fidelity Ventures, who has invested heavily in TRE's operations, said in an article that ran in the January edition of Inc. Magazine. 

In theory, TRE would work best for companies looking to "spot factor" receivables.  TRE proposes that business owners stop wasting time and energy shopping factoring firms when it only has one aged receivable and instead turn to the bidding marketplace to receive cash fast.

Of course not all of the kinks are worked out so early in the game, and business owners and factors alike have their reservations about TRE.  Check out the entire article: Short on cash? There's a new way to sell receivables: on an exchange, and let us know what you think about it!

Posted on 1/25/2008

American Academy of Professional Coders invites medical coders to participate in survey

After reading the headlines in this week's BC Advantage e-Newsletter, it appears that the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is conducting a "Work of a coder" survey.  Calling on both certified and non-certified coders, the survey results will be used to examine the daily tasks and responsibilities of a coder and will provide guidance to employers on optimizing their coding staffs.

Click here to complete the Work of Coder Survey.

Posted on 1/16/2008

AHIMA Offers Webinar on HIPAA Security

On Thursday, January 17 at 1:00pm ET, 12:00pm CT, 11:00am MT, AHIMA is giving a webinar entitled, "HIPAA Security: What Everyone Should Know."

Intended for privacy officers, security officers, HIM directors, IT personnel and compliance officers, the 90-minute presentation will cover the following topics:

• Structure of HIPAA rule
• Overview of HIPAA security standards
• Required vs. addressable specification
• Organizational and documentation requirements
• Administrative, physical and technical safegaurds
• Policies and procedures
• Compliance program elements
• Auditing

The cost is $179 for AHIMA members ($229 for non-members), and each attendee receives two AHIMA CEUs.

Leading the webinar are Angela Dihn, MHA, RHIA, manager of professional practice resource at AHIMA, and Tom Walsh, CISSP, president of Tom Walsh Consulting, LLC.

Click here to register for the webinar conference, HIPAA Security:What Everyone Should Know.

Posted on 1/14/2008

Major VMS Provider Declares Bankruptcy

This was an interesting article that appeared in the American Staffing Association's Staffing Week e-Newsletter concerning a prominent VMS filing for bankruptcy:

Ensemble Chimes Group (Chimes), a major provider of vendor management services, has ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy. This leaves staffing firms in doubt as to their ability to collect payment for services provided under their VMS agreements.

VMS firms contract with staffing clients to manage the clients' use of staffing services. VMS firms typically use proprietary software systems to manage timekeeping, payroll, and billing functions of participating staffing firms. Clients pay the VMS firm for the staffing services provided, and the VMS firm in turn pays the staffing firms. Some VMS relationships pose higher risks for staffing firms than others. If VMS firm funds are commingled with client monies, as apparently was the case with Chimes, staffing firms will likely be treated as general creditors—and in some cases, payments made to staffing firms prior to the bankruptcy may have to be returned. Some VMS agreements offer greater protection to staffing firms by placing client funds in secured escrow accounts.

Chimes filed for bankruptcy Jan. 9 under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy law, which means the company is seeking to liquidate its assets rather than reorganize. Chimes's parent company Axium International Inc., a major supplier of payroll services to the entertainment industry, filed a similar petition Jan. 8.

Chimes's bankruptcy means its staffing firms must stand in line with other creditors for any outstanding amounts owed under their VMS agreements. Collection may be problematic, because the bankruptcy petition indicates that Chimes has no assets available to pay unsecured creditors.

Another issue is whether clients can now deal with their staffing firms directly to avoid disruption of the clients' operations and to ensure that temporary employees can continue to work and be paid. This may depend on the terms of the clients' VMS agreements. Because Chimes has ceased operations and therefore effectively breached its agreement, the bankruptcy trustee may determine that clients are free to deal directly with their staffing firms. Affected staffing firms are urged to consult with their lawyers regarding their rights and obligations.

ASA has retained counsel to provide guidance on the legal issues involved and the steps the staffing industry can take to ensure that the bankruptcy court understands the unique issues relating to VMS agreements and their impact on staffing clients and temporary employees.

NOTE from PRN Funding: As VMS's continue to grow in popularity in the healthcare realm, it's important to keep this in mind.  You could be staffing in hospitals and nursing homes with impeccable credit, but if those facilities are using a VMS, it's the VMS who will pay you.  So if you are considering doing business with a facility who uses a vendor management system, be sure to look into the creditworthiness of the VMS. 

We invite you to read a fellow blogger's post on the subject here: For Whom the Chimes Toll.  In his post, Barry Asin mentions writes, "In the short term, there are over 40 large Chimes client organizations that are now in crisis mode as they attempt to sort out who is working on their site, how to get them paid this week and how to make sure they come back next week.  Chimes had an estimated $1.6 billion in staffing spend rolling through its system each year, and that suggests somewhere north of 20,000 temps and contractors each week wondering if their next paycheck will be good."

Posted on 1/14/2008

Atlanta Hospital Falls into Financial Crisis

Another more pressing article appeared in The New York Times (1/8/08) concerning Grady Memorial Hospital's declining financial status.  A multimillion dollar shortfall of the 675-bed hospital is due to providing charity and emergency care that no entity (not the sourrounding counties, nor the state or federal government) has been willing to cover.  T

he lengthy article cites Medicaid and underinsured and uninsured patients as the culprit for Grady's cash flow problem.  To date, Grady Memorial estimates it would take a whopping $366 million to meet the long-ignored capital needs, which include outdated and broken equipment and nurse staffing shortages.

Although we mentioned before that Grady Memorial Hospital was paying it's vendors in about 30 days, it's currently taking PRN Funding's clients at least 60 days to be paid by the facility. 

Click here to read the entire article, A Safety-Net Hospital Falls Into Financial Crisis.  Please note, that you might have to create an account to view the article.

Posted on 1/10/2008

KLAS Study Reveals MTSO Ratings

Advance for Health Information Professionals gave some details about the recent KLAS study last week.  The study reported on the current trends in the world of medical transcription outsourcing.  I've listed a few of the study's findings in bullet points below:

• For providers using MTSO, the overall satisfaction scores rose 4.5 points in 2007 from 77.2 to 81.7 out of a possible 100 points.
• Although many are still not comfortable with the idea of sending medical transcription offshore, the overall perception is improving.
• Some of the benefits of using medical transcription service organizations were faster turnaround times (TAT), reduced costs and improved quality.
• Even though the idea of offshore medical transcription is slowly increasing in popularity, the number of provider organizations who reported using them has decreased from 55 percent in 2006 to 38 percent in 2007.
• The need for medical transcription is increasing due to a) Electronic medical records and the need to populate them quickly, and b) speech recognition services needing editing on the back end, so many MTSOs are increasing their capacity.
• Pricing is also changing.  The most popular method continues to be charging per line (67 percent of respondents use this method), down from 81 percent in 2006.  Those charging by the Visual Black Character (VBC) has grown from 12 percent in 2006 to 23 percent in 2007.  Overall, the average medical transcription price ranges from 11.9 cents to 13.2 cents per line.

Study respondents also listed multiple tips for their fellow providers who are considering outsourced medical transcription, so I condensed those answers as well into a bullet point list:

• Look into the whole medical transcription package when choosing a vendor.  For example, some MTSOs may charge less to transcribe, but they might require you to do more quality checks upfront.
• If you are thinking of sending work offshore, be sure to look closely at where the work is being performed and the employment policies and practices that mitigate your risk.
• Find out out MTs are assigned.
• Ask the vendor about their support structure and customer service practices.
• Do some investigative work and see how an medical transcription service communicated with providers in the past to get an idea of how communication with your company will be.
• Look closely at the types of tools that are available to distribute, track and capture inbounc dictation, work in progress and outbound reports.
• Understand how charges will be handled.
• Know how quality standards will be measured and ensured.

Click here to read the entire article, Study Reveals Medical Transcription Services Organization Ratings, by Michael K. Smith

Posted on 1/9/2008

Nurse Entrepreneur runs PRN Funding article series: How nurse staffing agencies can get paid quicker

Preisdent of PRN Funding, Phil Cohen has a three-part series: How Nurse Staffing Agencies Can get Paid Quicker that was published on the Nurse Entrepreneur Web site.  In the articles, Cohen discusses techniques for temporary medical staffing companies to use in order to get hospitals, nursing home and other healthcare facilities to pay them faster.

Click here to read part one of the series, which goes into detail about the steps a nurse staffing business owner should take before accepting a new client.

Click here to read part two of the series, which speaks to health care staffing business owners about the importance of sending out invoices on time with the correct information on them.

Click here to read part three of the series, which tells how medical staffing business owners need to handle their collections in order to get paid faster.

Posted on 12/21/2007

ADVANCE asks if CAC is a threat to MTs

In a recent post to the Advance Perspective blog, Lynn Jusinski asks discusses the impact that CAC (computer-assisted coding) has on medical coders as well as medical transcriptionists.  In her post, CAC A Threat to MTs? she writes:

"CAC was feared as something that would take coders' jobs away. Codes would be generated using technology, and coders would no longer be needed. That, of course, hasn't really come to pass. Like MTs, some coders are making a transition, only the coders using CAC are becoming validators instead of editors.

So speech recognition will probably not be replacing MTs anytime soon, and CAC won't be taking the place of coders in the near future either. But one thing surprised me at the AHIMA session and as I researched for this article-did MTs ever think that CAC could take their jobs?"

Lynn Jusiniski is actually in the process of writing an article about the difference between natural language processing (NLP) CAC technology and structured input (SI) technology, and she's looking for input from medical transcriptionist.  Some questions she's asking:

If you're an MT, have you heard of SI CAC technology, or have you heard of anyone losing transcription accounts because of this technology?

What are some of the hurdles you predict for this technology, and is this something you expected would come about? 

Posted on 12/21/2007

TechGroup, Inc Announces its Joint Commission Certification

TechGroup Inc., a nationwide healthcare staffing company based in Spokane, WA recently announced that it is certified by the Joint Commission for the Health Care Staffing Services program.

Q: What do you think about becoming certified?  Do you think it would help your nurse staffing business beat out other medical staffing agencies who were not yet certified? 

Posted on 12/14/2007

Thoughts on the merge between AHDI and MTIA

As long time members of both MTIA and AHDI, PRN Funding is excited about all the new opportunities that are now available to the medical transcription industry because of the partership between MTIA and AHDI.

The president of PRN Funding, Phil Cohen, has already taken advantage of some of the technological opportunities provided by the AHDI/MTIA alliance when he gave a webinar presentation to medical transcriptionists and MTSOs across America.  We're equally excited to exhibit at ACE08 and MTIA's 19th Annual Conference as well.

Overall, the new partnership seems to be running smoothly from our vendor point-of-view.

Q: How do you feel about the partnership between the two organizations?

Posted on 12/14/2007

Registered nurses will see most jobs added

Posted on 12/5/2007

AMN Healthcare offers free white papers

As an industry healthcare staffing industry leader, AMN Healthcare is now offering white papers on their web site designed to help other medical staffing companies address their healthcare staffing challenges more effectively and keep them abreast of key industry topics.  

All you have to do is fill out a form and download the white paper for free.  Currently, there are three white papers available on their web site:

Travelers on the Magnet Journey:
The Contribution of Travel Nurses in Preparing for and Maintaining ANCC Magnet™ Designation
The Magnet Recognition Program takes its name from the great success of healthcare organizations in attracting and retaining an exceptional nursing staff. Learn about the importance of the Magnet program and the role travel nurses can play in Magnet designation and promoting positive patient outcomes. 

Maximize Return on Travel Nursing Investment
Hiring the right nurses to accommodate fluctuating demand is challenging; staff surpluses mean unnecessary costs, while shortages can cause lost revenue opportunities and affect patient care. Learn how the Economic Staffing Forecaster can help you determine the most cost-effective mix of temporary and full-time nurses.

How to Hire Travel Nurses
Whether you need to cover a vacation, staff new beds or simply fill a vacant position, looking for the right nurse to fit your needs quickly and effectively can be a daunting task. Screening, interviewing and all the employment details take time and energy, so partnering with a travel nursing company you trust can make this process easier and ensure you find the right nurse.

Posted on 12/3/2007

Speech Recognition Technology - Embrace it or Fight it?

Bob Gerzel, Executive VP of Transcription, Technology, & Support, LLC wrote an article in the October 2007 edition of Health Data Matrix entitled: A 360-degree Look at SRT in which he talked about how technological advances in the medical transcription industry affects customers, prospective customers, MTSOs and MTs.

In the article, Gerzel writes:

"To many MTSOs, speech recognition is nothing more than a productivity tool enabling them to accomplosh more with the same or fewer resources.  Some MTSOs have embraced speech recognition technology and have enjoyed much success in this environment.  They continue to find a growing number of opportunities on a variety of platforms, while others have chosen a model whereby they operate on the client/vendor speech recognition platforms.

Since healthcare organizations continue to look to reduce costs and increase performance, those MTSOs who have chosen to embrace speech recognition technology have positioned themselves well for future opportunities."

Q: Do you agree with Gerzel's analysis?  Should MTSOs continue to embrace new technologies in the medical transcription industry?  Should they continue to partner with vendor management systems?

Posted on 12/3/2007

PRN Blog - The association of registered nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes

Many experts agree that the nurse-patient ratio is extremely important when it comes to improved patient outcomes.  There's a new review in December's edition of the journal Medical Care in which researchers evaluated 27 studies of patient outcomes in relation to the registered nurse-to-patient ratio. 

According to the review's findings, if hospitals added one more full-time registered nurse on staff to care for patients, the number of hospital-related deaths in the U.S. could decrease significantly.  The report goes on to say:

"When asked how hospital administrators can be better made aware of these possible rates of improved patient outcomes, lead review author Robert Kane, M.D., said, "The issue is not making them aware of the possibility, it's convincing them that it is in their best interests to act on it. From a business perspective, the savings in reduced lengths of stay would not offset the costs of the added staffing. The case would have to be made in terms of image and liability."

Click here to read the article that was posted on www.news-medical.net.

Posted on 11/29/2007

CodeRyte, Inc. and AAPC Form Alliance

On November 14, the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and CodeRyte, Inc. announced their agreement to offer computer-assisted coding technology for AAPC meber training and education.

According to a press release issued by the AAPC, "Through this alliance, AAPC will first provide instructors with the ability to use real-world computer-assisted coding technology to teach coding principles.  Later phases of the partnership will make computer-assisted coding available as a practical application for loearning both in and out of the classroom."

This partnership sounds like an interesting one that will benefit members of the AAPC.  We at PRN Funding look forward to the continued growth of the association and the additional phases of this partnership.

Posted on 11/19/2007

Evolving Medical Transcription Model

Gartner Industry Research released a new report on the future of medical transcription.  The report outlines the much talked about "Editor" Model of medical transcription, in which  medical transcriptionists spend the majority of their time correcting, reformatting and augmenting the material already created by speech recognition programs. 

The report also discusses another dictation approach that have left some industry experts worried.  The "Once-and-Done" Model (OAD), which appears to be rapidly gaining acceptance in the ambulatory, single-physician and small physician's practice marketplace.

The report goes on to explain the model: "In the OAD model, a physician performs dictattion while seated at a computer terminal.  Speech recognition is used to convert the physician's voice directly into text, and this same physician is responsible to correct errors in speech recognition, as well as to format the document appropriately...A clinical decision support systemmay then examing this content to determine wherhter any alerts or warnings are warrented based on the information that has judt been generated."

Although Gartner hails the OAD model as the next big thing in medical transcription with little disadvantages, not all industry experts agree.  (Click here to read the October Cover Story of For the Record Magazine - Once & Done Transcription: A Bold Spin or Off Target?) Whether you agree or disagree with the emergence of this new medical transcription model, it's certainly something that MTSOs should be watching closely.

Posted on 11/13/2007

Coding Crunch: The Future of Medical Coding

Did anyone see the interesting article in For The Record magazine entitled, Coding Crunch: Who will feed the cash cow?

It talks about how recruiters and HIM professionals at healthcare facilities are having a hard time recruiting and retaining medical coding specialists at their facilities.  Some are having to use outside-of-the-box techniques to lure medical coders to their facilities.  More and more coding professionals are opting to work from home instead of fighting traffic and losing out on quality family time, and medical facilities are willing to offer this perk to keep their valued coders.

Surely, this conundrum also appeals to outsourced medical coding services who can deliver qualified medical coding specialists on or off-site to these facilities as well.

Posted on 11/8/2007

Temp Nurse Staffing: Always Pay Payroll Taxes

PRN Funding's president, Phil Cohen, has given unsolicited advice and presentations on the importance of nurse staffing companies paying their payroll taxes.  Even going so far as to point out that payroll and taxes are a nurse staffing business owners two biggest obligations, and they are obligations that will NEVER go away. 

Another fellow factoring blogger warns about the complications of not paying payroll taxes in the post: Payroll Taxes Must be Paid.  The blogger states specifically: "Unpaid payroll taxes are a liability that goes beyond the corporation and sticks directly to the business owner personally."

The bottom line, don't mess around with not paying your payroll taxes because when the IRS finds out, and they will find out eventually, your temporary nurse staffing business and you, personally, will pay.

Posted on 11/8/2007

New Trends in Outsourcing

Temporary nurse staffing, medical transcription, medical coding, even locum tenens--All of these kinds of companies come to mind when you think of outsourcing in the medical world.  But what if I told you there was a new form of outsourcing that involves direct patient care?

According to a post in the Advance Perspective blog, Offshore Outsourcing: Is Your Critical Care Next?, there are already three Swedish Medical Center hospitals located in Seattle using this "telemedicine" to monitor patients i