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NATHO Newsletter - August 10, 2011NATHO
Since 2008, NATHO has strived to promote ethical business practices in the travel healthcare industry, setting the gold standard for conduct among member agencies on behalf of travel healthcare candidates and clients. With the release of the KPMG U.S. Hospital Labor Costs Study, 2011 has been a busy year for NATHO. The KPMG Study is just one of several benefits NATHO members enjoy. Other benefits include Group Purchasing Discounts, Industry Benchmarking Statistics, Federal and State Legislative Issue Updates, and Standards of Practice. NATHO will continue to be a not-for-profit organization that provides an unbiased environment for all Travel Healthcare companies.
NATHO Membership
NATHO now has approximately 40 members representing over 90% of the Travel Healthcare Staffing revenue in the nation. There is a broad cross section of members including large and small nurse staffing firms, as well as, allied staffing firms.
NATHO Clinical Executive Council
The Clinical Executive Council (CEC) continues to develop standards of clinical excellence for the Travel Healthcare Industry. The CEC has developed "Best Practices for Screening," as well as, "Principals for Healthcare Staffing Firms." Both documents can be found at http://natho.org/.
NATHO Annual Membership Meeting
NATHO will host its Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, September 23 from 12:15-1:30pm in ad-hoc meeting room 413 at the Philadelphia Marriott. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the Staffing Industry Analysts’ Healthcare Staffing Summit.
Below is an announcement from Staffing Industry Analysts regarding a NATHO discount to attend the conference:
"We are excited to offer NATHO members a flat rate to attend the 2011 Healthcare Staffing Summit, regardless of whether they are a Staffing Industry Analysts' Corporate Member or not. They can attend the Summit for $1435 and that rate is good from now up to the start of the conference. However, if they take advantage of this special rate, they are ineligible for any of our other offers (discounts for Corporate Membership or the 10% team discount.) The $1435 is our lowest possible rate, so they are getting the best non-corporate member deal. To take advantage of this offer, they need to use promo code NATHO11 when registering online at www.healthcarestaffingsummit.com , or if they call into 800-950-9496.
For those NATHO members who are not current Corporate Members, we may also have special pricing available for joining, but they'll need to call our member services department directly at 800-950-9496 to get those rates."
NATHO Tax-Free FAQ
NATHO has devised a comprehensive FAQ guideline for how travel firms should distribute tax-free per diems to travelers. This FAQ was sent to all active NATHO members. A shorter, traveler version of the Tax-Free FAQ is located at http://natho.org/.
NATHO and Healthcare Traveler
NATHO has partnered with Healthcare Traveler magazine to publish a monthly article on the industry. Topics in the past have included Choosing a Reputable Agency, Positioning Yourself to Land the Best Assignments, and Don’t Let Tax Time Trip You Up. NATHO will continue to use this forum to provide meaningful information to traveling professionals. If you have any suggestions on topics, please email info@natho.org.
Legislative Update
A controversial state bill termed the "Temporary Workers Right to Know" bill (H.B.1393), that targets the staffing industry, is being debated in Massachusetts. This bill (in some form) has been circulating for approximately 10 years and has failed to move forward in previous legislation sessions. Each year as it is reintroduced, more terms and regulations are added. Backers and proponents of the bill (mostly organized labor) claim the law is needed, and designed to, stop the egregious breaches of labor laws committed by temporary day labor companies; companies that practice soliciting (mostly) immigrant and undocumented workers at street corners with promise of a day's work but, fail to provide them information about where they will be working and cheat them out of pay. In its current form, the bill discusses "staffing agencies" instead of "day labor companies." Unfortunately, this could be interpreted to include the entire staffing industry including professional and healthcare staffing.
Specific provisions of the bill that are of most concern:
Again (because of its broad language), if this bill is passed in its current form, it could seriously impact the ability of all staffing companies to staff and recruit in Massachusetts. Obviously there is optimism that common sense will prevail with the MA state legislators as the bill is reviewed and amended in committee before it is voted on by the state assembly and senate. But, many bills have passed before with unintended consequences so it is very important to continue to monitor and advocate as appropriate against this bill.
NATHO and its members must support the Massachusetts Staffing Association, the American Staffing Association and the Massachusetts Association of Personnel Services who have organized a strong lobbying effort and advocacy campaign to education the MA state legislators on the distinctions of the different sectors within the staffing industry and the damage this bill could cause. The American Staffing Association reported that over 100 people from the staffing industry gathered to testify against the bill on June 9 and even more attended a follow-up hearing on June 30.
Steve Wehn NATHO Board Member
KPMG Labor Cost Study
The 2011 U.S. Hospital Nursing Labor Costs Study, conducted by KPMG LLP, is analyzing the current condition of United States hospital labor costs and exploring issues that could shape a hospital's labor strategy in the coming years. To see the entire survey, go to KPMG's website by clicking here.
NATHO believes this study discusses important issues and will help hospitals better understand the all-in cost of their permanent RNs, as well as, the benefits of utilizing temporary travel RNs to augment their staff.
NATHO Benchmarking
In January 2009, NATHO began a benchmarking index that tracks the number of open Travel RN job orders, as well as, the number of Travel RNs on contract. In July 2010, NATHO added booked weeks and allied modalities to the benchmarking.
Companies that participate in the benchmarking index, by completing a weekly survey, have full access to all data on a weekly basis. If you would like to participate in the index, please E-mail info@natho.org.
NPDB Update
Access to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) has been made available to healthcare staffing firms. The NPDB tracks all adverse licensure actions (suspensions, revocations, etc.) for healthcare professionals nationwide. The NPDB should be used, in conjunction with state licensing board verification sites, to better screen healthcare professionals ensuring the highest quality candidates for hospital clients. The process for gaining access to the NPDB is somewhat complex and NATHO has developed a "How-To" manual that will assist NATHO members in gaining access to the NPDB. For more information on the NPDB, please visit their website at http://www.npdb-hipdb.com/.
NATHO and Travelers Haven
Travelers Haven is a temporary housing provider in the healthcare industry. Travelers Haven locates housing, sets up utilities, provides furnishings and house wares, pays monthly bills, and closes out units. Last year Travelers Haven provided housing for over 4,000 healthcare travelers in the United States.
NATHO and Travelers Haven have partnered to increase their collective purchasing power, creating a competitive advantage for all NATHO member companies. By using Travelers Haven exclusively, NATHO member companies will have the benefit of waived security deposits, 24/7 live on-call support, and consolidated invoicing. For more information on Travelers Haven visit www.mytravelershaven.com.
NATHO and Jaffe Management
As you may know, NATHO has a volunteer board representing both small and large firms in the travel healthcare industry. However, one of the major items annual dues cover is a management firm that runs NATHO behind the scenes. This includes keeping up the membership database, guiding the strategic direction of NATHO to ensure fulfillment of its mission, running the website and metrics, making announcements and communicating with its members, keeping minutes at board meetings, and maintaining the financials. NATHO is pleased to announce that, effective July 2011, the board has selected Jaffe Management as NATHO's management firm. NATHO made this change to deliver better service and communication to you, our valued members. So, keep in mind you may be contacted by Jaffe in order to update your company contacts; NATHO wants to be certain you will receive key announcements and work products that are part of the benefits of being a NATHO member. NATHO is confident this change will result in more consistent communication and benefits for all members.
NATHO Web Calculator
NATHO will be distributing a web calculator for members to add to their websites. The calculator will help member clients calculate the true costs of permanent vs. temporary staff. The calculator is based on computations from the KPMG Labor Cost Study. An example of the calculator can me found on American Mobile Healthcare’s website by clicking the following link http://www.amnhealthcare.com/staffing-services/rn-laborcost-comparison.aspx.
A Message from the Board
The NATHO Board would like to thank you for you continued support. The Board is committed to providing value to all of our members through ongoing projects and committees. If you would like to get involved in committees looking at topics such as Tax Advantage Programs or Understating Healthcare Reform, please contact the board at info@natho.org. We look forward to seeing everyone in Philadelphia in September.
Best, Kris Cannon NATHO Board Member
Date:
August 10, 2011
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