Any infor on Interim Health Care?

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Hi Friends,

I am considering signing with another agency in Western Pa, Have any of you heard of or worked for Interim healthcare? I would appreciate all honest feedback. Thanks.

One of the things I have always thought about doing was having my own agency. My question to agency nurses is what do you look for. Having been a temp in various agencies, I know that though the client is important, so are the workers sent out. When temp agencies treat temps with the respect they deserve, I knew it was an agency I wanted to belong to. I believe this is no less what nurses deserve.

Again, let me know what you want in your agency.

Kris

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In my time I have seen more "mom and pop" agencies fail miserably than succeed. It is very costly. Remember you have to pay your nurses and bills but the clients don't pay for at least a month after the invoice and often two months. Some will never pay. Ever wondered why nursing homes change names so often? Besides the fact that they were shutdown for poor conditions they also do this when they build up too much debt and file chapter 11. For some places this is almost an annual event! There are several nursing home companies that are actually in the business of buying and selling bankrupt nursing home property, building up debt and selling it off for a profit right after they default on all the payments and file chapter 11. They simply change names and keep going. However, you HAVE to pay your nurses and your bills and unless you have a lot of cash the financing on your payroll (until the client pays).

The agency thing is best left to corporate investors who know the "bad" companies, can absorb the loses when they happen, and get by in the slow times. It is far more work and expense than most individuals can handle. Trust me I have thought about opening one too, and those books that claim they can tell you how to do it (which I've read) are full of BS. I was an accountant for 10 years before I got into nursing, and I will tell you right now unless you have a million bucks to play around with, you are better off investing your money in T-Bills (which suck) than you are trying to open an agency. Even with a million bucks I would say you are better off doing something else!

The common belief is that this industry is SOOOO profitable. It most certainly can be, but it is also a way to lose everything real fast. The ones who profit from this are us nurses who work for the agencies and let them deal with the business part of it.

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Originally posted by eddy

The agency thing is best left to corporate investors who know the "bad" companies, can absorb the loses when they happen, and get by in the slow times. It is far more work and expense than most individuals can handle. Trust me I have thought about opening one too, and those books that claim they can tell you how to do it (which I've read) are full of BS. I was an accountant for 10 years before I got into nursing, and I will tell you right now unless you have a million bucks to play around with, you are better off investing your money in T-Bills (which suck) than you are trying to open an agency. Even with a million bucks I would say you are better off doing something else!

The common belief is that this industry is SOOOO profitable. It most certainly can be, but it is also a way to lose everything real fast. The ones who profit from this are us nurses who work for the agencies and let them deal with the business part of it.

I am an agency of one; Come to the Entrepreneural Forum and join in conversation there. We are building our own future.

I am currently in a small business class set up through the local chamber of commerce (they are nationwide) instructing and aiding in "How To Run a Sucessfull Business". It is not for everyone. I do not mind the extra paperwork etc... I am enjoying the liberation and power in creating my own destiny.

I agree.. it is not for everyone but we should know our options.

Nursing homes are not my cup of tea by the way. I deal in med/surg, CPR instruction, and the whole gambit that diverse nursing has to offer.

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Independant contracting is a completely different thing though. They are almost so different as to be non-comparable. Licensing, , financial liability and risk, marketing and advertising costs, workers comp, social security, unemployment, financial reporting and auditing, and so on are completely different. Not to mention as an independant contractor you have little to no office overhead and you are not "funding" a payroll, just yourself.

I am all for nurses exploring independant contracting. It's a great gig, but takes a great deal of research and marketing yourself. The end result is well worth it though... as long as you are willing to put in the required work. However, when it comes to nurses trying to open a full-blown agency, I am VERY against it. No offense but few nurses have the financial/accounting, marketing and management skills/education to do such a thing. We were trained and educated to care for people and it is a very admirable career, but I don't recall taking accounting I or II, human resoure management or principles of marketing when I went to school for my RN. Further, I don't think too many of us have access to the funds you REALLY need to start a successful agency. I have seen too many nurses with bright ideas lose everything because they too thought they could compete in a market they have far too little knowledge about. I'm not trying to anger anyone, I am merely trying to keep someone else from making a BIG mistake.

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I agree with you totally Eddy. Coincidently, I was posting to your remark and had not yet seen the post about starting their own agency etc...

The Skies the Limit If Your Heart is in it!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Thanks for all the responses, I have been working with Favorite Nurses for 3 years, I have been very pleased with them but I did want a back up agency because I was interested in working in some hospitals that Favorite did not have a contract with. I have not had very good feedback from Interim which is why I decided not to go with them. I decided instead to go with Nurse Finders, both agencies have been very good. I agree with the above poster who stated that agencies have several nurses so why shouldn't we have more than one agency. In todays market it is time to seize the opportunity that agency allows, the money is great, the flexibility, and now benefits are offered if you need them. I just could not see myself going back into staff. Once you go agency you just can't go back.

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From my understanding NurseFinders is not in very good financial shape and are closing several offices across the country.

Favorite Nurses on the other hand is doing quite well so I've heard. The downside to Favorite is that they are generally on the lower end of the pay scale yet charge the facilities higher hourly rates than almost anyone else. The result can sometimes be two-fold... more frequent cancellations (facilities generally cancel the most expensive agency nurses first) and lower pay.

This sounds kind of stupid, but many times the highest paying agencies are the rinky dink mom and pop ones. They really don't understand profit margins and p&l's and think that if they make a 15% markup on the hourly nurse rate that they are making money. Hardly, that doesn't even cover tax burden! Darn accounting roots showing again... sorry. But take advantage... while they will definately go out of business, another idiot always seems to pop up. Unfortunately, I am not in a big city market anymore, so I can only dream. Kansas City was like that when I lived there. St. Paul, MN was like that too. Topeka, KS on the other hand.... well... Nursefinders, StarMed, Creative Care and Spencer Reed all closed in the last month here! Luckily my primary agency seems to still be going strong still. I have faith in them though. They haven't let me down yet.....

-eddy

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