All you need is a general understanding of the types of companies that can benefit from medical factoring and a couple of strategic partnerships with the right health care factoring firms.

Within the health care industry, there are basically two types of companies that tend to have cash flow issues—Medical providers (i.e. hospitals, physicians’ groups, medical practices, etc.) and the vendors who sell to medical providers (i.e. medical staffing agencies, medical transcription services, outsourced medical coding companies, etc.).

Medical providers suffer from cash flow issues when third-party payers take months to pay for them for their services, forcing those providers to hold off on paying their vendors. Needless to say, when medical providers take their time paying vendors, it has a profound effect on the vendors’ cash flow as well.

Third-Party Medical Receivable Factoring Decoded

Medical receivables factoring (often referred to as third-party medical receivable factoring) introduces a third party payer (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance carrier) into the invoicing process. Specifically, medical factoring works like this:

• The medical provider sends its bill to a third-party payer (i.e. Medicaid/Medicare, HMOs, private insurances, personal injury lien settlements, or worker’s compensation insurances, etc.) for the medical services performed.

• At the same time, the medical provider supplies a copy of the invoice to a third-party medical receivable factoring firm.

• The factor will purchase the provider’s invoice and advance up to 80% of the expected net collectable value within 24-72 hours.

• The medical factor retains the 20% (reserve) to use as a buffer in case the medical provider’s bill is not paid or if there was an error in the billing.

• Once the medical factor is paid in full for the invoice it purchased, the reserve, less the factoring fee, is released back to the provider.

Doctors’ offices, medical clinics and laboratories, ambulatory services, hospitals and nursing homes – All of these companies can greatly benefit from selling their invoices to a medical factor. All of these medical providers can use factoring to bridge the cash flow gap that is oftentimes created by slow payments from insurance carriers and other third-party payers.

The Other Type of Medical Factoring—Health Care Vendor Factoring

Even though health care vendor factoring may not be as well-known as third-party medical receivable factoring, it’s still an important piece of the health care cash flow puzzle. Medical providers routinely wait to pay their vendors until after they receive payments from Medicare, Medicaid and/or insurance companies. Specifically, temp nurse staffing agencies, medical transcription services, outsourced medical coding companies and outsourced medical billing services are all examples of health care vendors that tend to have cash flow issues as a result of slow paying medical providers.

Furthermore, the health care vendor factoring process is similar to the third-party medical factoring process, sans the third-party payer:

• The health care vendor sends invoices to a medical provider for services rendered or goods provided.

• The health care vendor also sends a copy of those invoices in addition to any supporting documentation (i.e. signed time sheets) to a factoring firm familiar with funding business to business transactions within the healthcare industry.

• The factoring company purchases the invoices and advances somewhere between 70-90% of their face value.

• Similar to the third-party medical receivable factoring model, the health care factoring firm will hold the remaining 20% (reserve) as a buffer in case a provider disputes the invoice and/or doesn’t pay it promptly.

• The reserve, minus the factoring fee, is remitted to the vendor upon receipt of payments from the medical providers.

As you can see, although a little less well-known, health care vendors that provide services to slower-paying medical providers can also benefit from medical factoring.

Now that you know the difference between health care vendor factoring and third-party medical receivable factoring, the next step is to locate factoring firms that can sufficiently close and manage those types of deals. When researching factoring firms, a good place to start is the International Factoring Association (http://www.factoring.org). The last step is to find medical business owners in need of factoring!

Nikki Flores is a Consultant Liaison for PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in healthcare factoring.

PRN Funding exclusively factors the accounts receivable of companies that sell goods or provide services to healthcare providers.

Typical vendors who benefit from invoice factoring include: temporary medical staffing agencies, medical transcription services, janitorial companies, and even medical supply companies.

All of these businesses routinely provide services and/or sell goods to medical providers and then have to wait weeks or months to be paid. However, there is another type of vendor that can benefit from invoice factoring that you may not know about—Outsourced Medical Billing Services.

Medical billing is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic sectors of the healthcare industry. In a nutshell, providers wouldn’t be able to get paid by third-party insurance if it weren’t for medical billing. Because the medical billing preparation and submission process is an immense task, so many medical providers choose to outsource their medical billing. Therefore, outsourced medical billing services act as intermediaries between medical providers and insurance companies.
Of course, medical billing companies charge a fee for their services. Typically, a medical billing company charges a percentage of what the medical provider collects from insurance companies. Moreover, a medical billing service strives to submit claims quickly and correctly to the insurance companies to ensure a speedy reimbursement to the provider.

So if an outsourced medical billing company works hard to get the provider paid quickly, it only makes sense that the provider will pay the medical billing company quickly as well, right? Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Hence, it’s not uncommon for outsourced medical billing companies to run into cash flow problems. Enter outsourced medical billing invoice factoring.

Even though you may not be familiar with the outsourced medical billing industry, the factoring process is virtually the same:

1. The outsourced medical billing service submits an invoice to the factoring firm.

2. The factor verifies that the billing services were performed, and in some cases, verifies that the medical provider has received payment for the processed claims listed on the invoice.

3. Once the factor is comfortable with the verification, it purchases the invoice and funds are advanced electronically to the outsourced medical billing service.

4. When the factor receives payment from the medical provider, it applies the factoring fee and releases the rest back to the medical billing company.

It’s easy to see how these unique medical vendors can benefit by factoring their invoices. The most important thing to remember is that outsourced medical billing factoring is the perfect way for a new or growing business owner to maintain a healthy cash flow. Rather than wasting time and resources chasing providers for prompt payment, outsourced medical billing business owners can factor invoices to access capital immediately. Then he/she can use that incoming cash to focus on business growth efforts.

Keep in mind that as the medical billing industry continues to grow, more players will certainly enter the market. As more outsourced medical billing companies pop up, their need for financing will also increase. When reviewing potential factoring candidates, factoring brokers should definitely include medical billing companies in their portfolio.

Nikki Flores is a Consultant Liaison for PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in healthcare factoring.

PRN Funding exclusively factors the accounts receivable of companies that sell goods or provide services to healthcare providers.

The Accounts Receivable Factoring Alternative

Fortunately, there is an excellent alternative underutilized financing option that can keep a company’s cash flow going – private duty care accounts receivable factoring. As opposed to a more tradition form of financing, such as a small business loan, private duty care accounts receivable financing is not a loan at all. In this type of funding arrangement, a factoring firm purchases the rights to the private duty agency’s invoices, advances cash immediately on those invoices and then collects on them.

The best part about accounts receivable financing is that credit decisions are based on the creditworthiness of the private duty agency’s customers (i.e. Medicaid, VA or other governmental agency,) rather than the agency itself or the business owner’s personal credit. This allows the business owner to leverage the higher quality of their customers’ credit in securing funds. (NOTE: Private duty care factoring companies cannot purchase invoices that are payable directly by individuals because evaluating the credit of an individual is far more difficult than leveraging the government’s creditworthiness).

Keep in mind that many private duty care factoring companies can also work with start-up companies. In addition, small and large companies that are going through a rapid growth phase can also factor their private duty care receivables. What’s more, many factoring firms are able fund receivables without requiring the private duty agency owner to sign a personal guarantee, which lets the owner protect his/her personal assets. What’s more, private duty care factoring arrangements tend to provide generous lines of credit because factors are able to set credit limits and increase their funding as their clients’ businesses grow.

So How Does Private Duty Care Factoring Work?

Let’s say that the owner of a private duty care agency sent employees into an elderly person’s home to assist that person throughout his/her daily activities. The agency owner then bills Medicaid for the services provided. Because it takes time between when the agency owner sends the invoice and when Medicaid actually pays for the home care services, the agency owner can sell that invoice to a private duty care factoring firm and receive roughly 80 percent of what was invoiced immediately. In turn, Medicaid payments are sent to the factor. Once the factor is paid, the firm will deduct its fees and return the balance back to the agency owner.

Factoring firms come in all different shapes and sizes, and they are spread out all over the country, and each offers their own twist to the invoice funding model. Therefore, it’s important to take the time to research factoring companies and select the best one to meet your private duty home care agency’s financing needs.

In a time when more banks and credit card companies are saying “no,” private duty home care agency owners should look into accounts receivable factoring as a viable alternative financing option.

Nikki Flores is a Consultant Liaison for PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in healthcare factoring.

PRN Funding exclusively factors the accounts receivable of companies that sell goods or provide services to healthcare providers.

To help alleviate your concerns and to educate your customers about medical staffing invoice funding, consider the following:

Medical staffing factors only work with agencies who qualify for credit.

Similar to getting a bank loan, staffing agencies go through due diligence before an invoice funding company will agree to purchase their receivables. If your company is able to secure financing, it is a positive sign that you operate a stable, growing business. Moreover, the ability to factor is dependent on the creditworthiness of your customers, not your own.

Medical staffing invoice funding is beneficial for both you and your customers.

Your customers are most likely accustomed to taking 30, 60 or even 90 days to pay for your staffing funding services. By factoring, you can maintain a “business as usual” relationship – your customers can continue to utilize your medical personnel and have time to pay for their shifts. The only difference with medical staffing invoice funding is that your company benefits from having money today, in order to more readily satisfy current obligations, while still experiencing growth.

Factoring is a smart business move for growing medical staffing companies.

A business most often uses financing obtained through the sale of receivables to expand and take on larger contracts, without compromising the quality of their services. By getting money sooner than later, your staffing business has the resources to focus on critical success issues – sales, operations and growth – while still meeting its demand.

Many of your customers may already deal with factors and may not be aware of it.

Factoring is one of the oldest methods of providing working capital to help businesses solve their cash flow needs. Credit cards transactions are actually the most common form of factoring used every day. Many hospitals and physicians’ practices factor their medical receivables due from insurance companies and therefore are already familiar with how factoring works and why companies choose to do it.

Educating your customers about why you decided to obtain staffing funding services should eliminate many of their concerns, and invoice funding firms are available to help explain your new financial situation. For too long, factoring was only available to large, multi-billion dollar corporations. Now there are specific invoice funding firms that provide medical staffing funding services to companies like yours, so you can enjoy both the perception and the reality of being a growing, profitable company.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in the medical staffing invoice funding market place. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides staffing business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding http://www.prnfunding.com provides staffing companies with flexible and immediate access to capital.

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.

Banks are not approving loans like they used to and recurring cash flow challenges for medical supplies companies are not going away.

Medical supplies factoring has been evaluated in the past, but this alternative financing option is becoming a popular and convenient solution to cash flow problems.

Most medical supplies companies do not receive payments for their goods until weeks after they have been delivered. In fact, a common cycle occurs when companies need to order additional products to ship out to their customers before they have been paid by those same customers.

By factoring their receivables,these companies can improve their cash flow tremendously, giving them enough cash to buy new inventory regardless of when their customers pay.

Factoring is Not a Bank Loan

Factoring offers a huge advantage for companies because unlike a bank, the factor’s main concern is the credit rating of the customer who is responsible for paying the invoice. In addition, the only collateral used by the factor is the receivable, whereas a bank would often require personal collateral to secure a loan. Also, many of factoring firms do not require long-term commitment. Therefore, a company can factor its receivables for as long as it likes.

Factoring Promotes Business Growth

Another advantage of factoring is that it alleviates the hassles of the collections process. Once the company sells the receivable, the collection process can be handled by the factor. Medical supplies companies don’t have to worry about making collections calls, following up on skipped invoices or hunting down missing documents. This saves time and money and allows companies to allocate resources to more important day-to-day operations of the business.

Factoring is Easier to Find than a Bank Loan

There are thousands of factoring companies to choose from, so finding a company that will factor medical supplies accounts receivables is easier than ever. For example, type ‘medical supplies factoring’ into a search engine, and a slew of factoring companies will show up in the results. While there are many factoring companies to choose from, they differ on a large scale. Some may serve an array of industries, while other only factor invoices for a specific industry. Some operate nationally, while some focus their attention in one geographic region. Of course, there will also be many different advance rates and factoring fees amongst factoring firms.

With the current economic climate, it’s likely that more medical supplies companies will turn to factoring firms for financing. It allows start-up companies to develop and helps veteran companies continue to thrive.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in the medical supplies factoring market place. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding provides medical supplies companies with flexible and immediate access to capital. We give you the freedom to factor what you want, when you want, whom you want, for as long as you want. Prior to founding PRN Funding, Mr. Cohen was an executive officer of The MRC Group, a national provider of Medical Transcription Services. Contact Philip Cohen at toll-free 866.776.5407 or via email at pcohen@prnfunding.com. Please visit PRN Funding, LLC on the web at http://www.prnfunding.com/

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.

What differentiates a factoring company from a bank?

First and foremost, since factoring is not a loan, there is no debt on your 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 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 factoring funding solutions?

In general, a 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 company can receive funds in as little as 24 hours within verification. See our factoring process and learn our medical billing funding options can benefit your business.

What information does a business owner need to provide to a factor in order to begin the process of coming up with funding options?

Required paperwork varies among factors, however, there are a handful of documents that most all will expect. Most likely, the owner of a medical company will be asked to provide a copy of your company’s most recent accounts receivable and accounts payable aging reports, Articles of Incorporation or Organization filing, copy of owner’s driver’s license, voided copy of a check, a master customer list, a sample contract, and of course, invoices to factor.

What happens if my customers don’t pay an invoice?

This depends on whether your company entered into a non-recourse or recourse agreement with the factor. Within a non-recourse agreement, the funder assumes the credit-related loss. However, most medical billing solutions (factors) do not assume the risk of non-payment due to disputes regarding quality or timeliness of your company’s medical billing services. On the other hand, if you have a recourse agreement, your company will have to reimburse the factor for any unpaid invoices. This is usually accomplished by having the past due invoice deducted from the next advance or replacing it with another factored invoice.

Can a medical billing service qualify for funding if it’s a new business or has past credit problems (i.e. bankruptcy, IRS liens, and judgments)?

Yes. A reputable medical billing factoring company will still consider your application if you have credit problems or a recent bankruptcy because the credit decision is based primarily on the creditworthiness of your customers. However, tax problems are handled on a case-by-case basis, so be sure to let you funder know if you have any IRS issues.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is a focused player in the medical invoice funding marketplace. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides medical business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding (http://www.prnfunding.com) provides medical companies with flexible and immediate access to capital.

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.

Defined as clinical healthcare professionals that assist physicians and nurses, allied health personnel are an important part of the healthcare system. Hospitals, nursing homes and clinics are beginning to feel the stress of the aging Baby Boomer population, as these institutions are seeing the allied workforce retiring in droves at the same time that patient intake is increasing. Given the circumstances, now seems like a perfect opportunity for savvy business owners to develop their staffing agency to meet the new demands.

However, growing a business takes money…

Allied health staffing agencies need cash to cover the costs of advertising, recruiting, and expanding offices. Unfortunately, right now is a bad time for businesses who are seeking ongoing financing because banks have tightened their lending criteria as a result of the national credit crunch. Moreover, the economic decline instigated a jump in small business credit card interest rates in addition to overly-obtrusive credit restrictions on small business owners.

This situation puts allied health staffing business owners in a conundrum. On the one hand, now is a prime opportunity for supplemental staffing agencies to expand, but on the other hand, no one seems to be lending to businesses these days.

Luckily, accounts receivable factoring companies are still lending.

What’s more, factoring firms do not have the same arduous loan criteria as their conventional counterparts. Here are a few ways that allied health staffing factoring differs from traditional bank loans:

Quick Funding Application Process

Factors generally do not require a history of profitability, personal financial statements, business plans or personal guarantees. Because there are fewer documents needed, allied health staffing companies can receive their first funding within 3-5 days of returning factoring documentation.

No Long-Term Obligation

Many factoring firms will not require business owners to sign a long-term contract. In addition, once the staffing agency has been approved, it can stop or start factoring at any time.

Access to Unlimited Capital

With bank financing, once a company hits the credit limit, it cannot borrow more cash. Invoice factoring is the only source of business financing that grows with the company’s sales. As sales increase, more money becomes immediately available to the agency owner.

No Liability on the Company’s Balance Sheet

Because factoring is not a small business loan, there is no debt, and there are no monthly payments to ‘muddy up’ the company balance sheet.

Allied Health Staffing Industry Expertise

Banks work with all kinds of companies, so they might not be familiar with the intricacies of the industry. There are factoring companies out there who understand the ins and outs of the allied health staffing industry, so business owners won’t have to worry about teaching a factor about their business model.

The allied health workforce will continue to play an integral role in the healthcare system as the demand for their services continues to rise. This need presents a great opportunity that allied health staffing agencies can use to their advantage.

In order for these staffing agencies to acquire new customers, they will need to hire additional employees and possibly expand their infrastructure. Unfortunately, these staffing agencies also need to accomplish this growth during a time when it has become increasingly more difficult to obtain traditional financing. Fortunately, those allied health staffing agencies can use factoring as a flexible financing solution to the cash flow problems that can arise during periods of growth.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in allied health staffing invoice funding. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides allied health staffing business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding provides staffing companies with flexible and immediate access to capital. Contact Philip Cohen at toll-free 866.776.5407 or via email at pcohen@prnfunding.com. Please visit PRN Funding, LLC on the web at http://www.prnfunding.com.

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.

Oftentimes, factoring prospects annualize the percentage charged by factors, extrapolating three percent per month to an interest rate of 36 percent per year. In the world of healthcare staffing financing, this scenario is like comparing apples to oranges.

When comparing a bank loan with invoice factoring, it’s important to keep a few things in mind:

• A factor does not loan money like a bank does. Rather, a healthcare staffing accounts receivable factor purchases invoices at a discounted rate. Factoring is a form of short-term funding, so a discount rate should not be converted to an interest rate. For example, some firms offer a two percent discount (2% for net 10) for quick payment. In a year, there are roughly 36 10-day periods. Using the annualized percentage parallel, that comes out to 72% “interest.” Are these companies really paying 72% for quick payment? No, and healthcare staffing factoring companies don’t earn 36% interest either.

• Moreover, a factor is continuously advancing and collecting funds, compared to a bank that provides the money only one time, the day that the loan is received. An accounts receivable factor has the ability to grow as its clients grow. Once a company uses the funds from a bank loan or exceeds its credit limit, there’s little room for it to grow.

• Banks approve business loans or lines of credit based on a company’s historical operating and financial performance, a factor’s main criteria is the creditworthiness of a prospect’s customers. Banks tend to shy away from business owners who are just starting up, going through seasonal growth, have bad personal credit or have too much concentration of their sales with one or two customers. Many factors are able to look past the above criteria because their decisions are based off of a prospect’s customers’ ability to pay. So it’s very possible for a business that has creditworthy customers to work with a healthcare staffing factoring company even though they have been previously turned down for a traditional bank loan.

• The loan process with a bank is time-consuming and cumbersome, and it could take weeks or even months to receive the loan proceeds. Whereas a factoring firm’s application and approval process can take less than a week, and factors have an ongoing ability to approve additional lines of credit quickly.

• Oftentimes, a bank loan requires collateral in addition to a company’s accounts receivable. The only collateral that a factor requires is the company’s accounts receivable. A bank will most likely require business owners to personally guarantee the loan as well, and factoring companies won’t always require a personal guarantee to advance money.

• Taking out a business loan creates debt on a company’s balance sheet, and credit ratings go down because of loan limitations. On the other hand, healthcare staffing funding through a factor increases credit ratings by creating better cash flow and helping the company pay their bills promptly.

• Whereas banks only loan money, there are a multitude of services that factoring companies provide their clients in addition to ongoing funding. Some of these supplementary services include: posting payments, dispersing reports, handling collections and reviewing credit for their customers’ clients.

When looking at the big picture, entrepreneurs have to weigh the costs of factoring against not having immediate cash. More often than not, the decision comes down to either selling the accounts receivable or putting up with crippling cash flow problems and missed sales opportunities.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in the healthcare staffing funding marketplace. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding provides healthcare staffing agencies with flexible and immediate access to capital. We give you the freedom to factor what you want, when you want, whom you want, for as long as you want. Prior to founding PRN Funding, Mr. Cohen was an executive officer of The MRC Group, a national provider of Medical Transcription Services. Contact Philip Cohen at toll-free 866.776.5407 or via email at pcohen@prnfunding.com. Please visit PRN Funding, LLC on the web at http://www.prnfunding.com/

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.

New Factoring Broker Promotion!

We all know that factoring brokers normally get paid a referral fee after the factoring companies fund the invoices.  But PRN Funding is currently running a special offer to factoring brokers that pays a $50 gift card upon referral of a qualified medical staffing lead!

It doesn’t matter if it turns into a closed deal… you still get paid! It just has to meet these requirements:

Upon evaluation and approval that the following criteria have been met for a referral, PRN Funding will mail out a $50 gift card (of the broker’s choosing) directly to the referral source:

1. The prospect must be an organized entity (Corporation, LLC). Sole proprietorships, general partnerships and DBA’s do not qualify for this promotion.
2. Broker/cash flow consultant must, at minimum, informally introduce PRN Funding, LLC to the prospect. In other words, PRN Funding will not make any cold calls as part of this promotion.
3. The prospect must have a legitimate need and interest in accounts receivable factoring.
4. PRN Funding must receive a completed application and accounts receivable aging report from the prospect.

Source: Get all the details from Nikki Flores of PRN Funding at Factoring Broker Summer Promo.

Gift card choices include popular places like Amazon, AMC Movie Theaters, Starbucks, iTunes, Golfsmith, Olive Garden, and many more.

Want more good factoring news?

You can also be eligible to win an iPad if you refer the most potential clients (with at least 3 leads needed to qualify).

But hurry, factoring brokers have until September 30, 2011 to take advantage of this great offer.

Need marketing ideas to jump start your factoring business?

Grab your copy of Marketing Tools for Small Factors and Consultants.

You’ll get instant access to this incredible ebook filled with 45 marketing strategies from 7 successful factoring brokers, consultants, and companies.

Outsourced medical billing providers are just one type of business that is being affected by the “double credit crunch.” On the one hand, banks have tightened up on their lending criteria, and most are slashing credit lines instead of extending them, which means the likelihood of a medical billing provider securing bank funding is slim-to-none. On the other hand, even though an outsourced company’s main job is to bill insurance companies correctly so physicians (their customers) get paid quicker, those same physicians are oftentimes notorious for stretching out their payables.

Fortunately, there is an alternative financing option that can help speed up the payables process.

Medical billing accounts receivable factoring is the conversion of receivables into cash by selling outstanding invoices to a factor. A viable option for medical billing companies in the early stages of business development and /or during rapid growth, accounts receivable factoring is a financial solution that gives medical billers immediate cash to manage operations more efficiently. Here are some additional key concepts about this practical financing alternative.

Medical Billing Accounts Receivable Factoring is:

• A way to fill the gap between when your company provides outsourced billing services and when the physicians pay. Simply put, medical billing invoice factoring can turn weeks into hours or days.

• Based on your customers’ credit history, not yours. If your company is providing billing services to a creditworthy physician’s office or medical facility, then your business is a good candidate for accounts receivable factoring.

• A simple, fast method to sustain your “business as usual” relationship with your customers. Your company can continue to provide medical billing services to your customers with a set-term payment; but with accounts receivable factoring, you no longer have to wait to be paid. By working with a factoring firm, your company can easily obtain cash advances of 80% of the invoiced amount. Cash can be obtained within hours and as often as needed.

• One of the oldest methods of providing working capital. Dating back 4,000 years, receivables factoring has long been used as a feasible and easy way for businesses to obtain cash flow in order to cover expenses while experiencing growth.

• A chance to obtain cash without providing personal collateral or increasing interest expense. Invoice factoring is not a loan and does not “muddy up” your medical billing company’s balance sheet. You do not accrue interest or penalties. The medical billing factoring fee is clear and objective; it is based on the size of the invoice, the length of time it takes to collect the payment, and the creditworthiness of your customers.

• An opportunity to build your outsourced medical billing company’s credit: With adequate cash flow, you can use money from accounts receivable factoring to clean up your debts as well as pay overhead, salaries and invoices. This will improve your credit history and make it easier to obtain credit from vendors and other financial institutions in the future.

By working with an accounts receivable factoring company, your company’s cash flow problems can be solved. In most cases, a medical billing company can receive the majority of what’s owed to them within hours of selling their invoices to a factor. Factoring for your medical billing company will help you avoid falling prey to today’s “double credit crunch” that so many other small businesses are enduring as a result of the current economic climate.

Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in the medical billing accounts receivable funding market place. Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides healthcare service business owners with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding ( http://www.prnfunding.com ) provides health service providers with flexible and immediate access to capital.

Article reprinted with permission by PRN Funding, LLC.