CLNC® SUCCESS STORY
CLNC® Course Paves Way for Success as In-House LNC
by Michelle Tucker, RN, MSN, CLNC
For 15 years, I was a pediatric critical care clinical specialist for a large Florida county hospital. I also worked as a pediatric critical care expert witness and wanted the additional training Vickie's program offered. After I served as an expert witness on one case, the attorney recruited me for an in-house position with his large medical malpractice defense firm.
The day I left the hospital was the day I ordered the CLNC® Home-Study Certification Program. My goal was to get through the program before I started my new position. I finished the course, took my test, and passed the certification exam in record time (four weeks exactly).
More important than passing the certification exam was the knowledge I gained from the program. I took on my new job with confidence. I have been at the law firm for over a year now, and I'm certain I couldn't have made it without Vickie's informative, straightforward program.
My job at the law firm entails many duties, including:
Organizing and summarizing all medical records that come into the office
Identifying relevant medical issues and new angles in the cases
Determining the types of expert witnesses needed
Locating and speaking with expert witnesses
Writing medical chronologies
Writing deposition summaries
Medical research
Identifying healthcare providers and witnesses in the discovery process
Collaborating with the graphic designers for trial preparation
I keep all my books from the CLNC® Certification Program at my office. On many occasions I've been stumped by a question at work, but my Home-Study books always give me the answers.
My boss treats me like gold, and I've never been happier in my career! Vickie's CLNC® Home-Study Certification Program is worth every penny. It gave me the tools to make it as a legal nurse consultant. I recommend Vickie's course to any nurse who is interested in the field of legal nurse consulting.
Michelle L. Tucker, RN, MSN, CLNC is a full-time legal nurse consultant for a Florida law firm specializing in defense malpractice litigation. She has been practicing legal nurse consulting for four years. For 15 years she was the clinical nurse specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit at a large university teaching hospital.
BEST PRACTICES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
One Thing I Wish I'd Known
We asked our CLNC® pros to share the one thing they wish they'd known when they started their legal nurse consulting businesses. Their 20-20 hindsight can help you avoid costly mistakes as you launch or build your LNC practice.
– Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
The Buck Stops Here
by Pamela A. Hollsten, RN, BSN, DABFN, CLNC
"It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the pope."
– Pope John XXIII
When I started my business, I knew no one would care as much about my success as I would. Yet it still amazes me how this important concept shapes and impacts my practice daily. My professional colleagues, friends and family all wished me the best and promised to help with my networking efforts. But it was my responsibility to follow my business and marketing plan, and ultimately, my efforts that would lead to success or failure. Certainly, a variety of tools, products, mentors and resources are available to help us develop the business of our dreams, but it still takes our constant commitment to put those resources to good use.
We must make the mental shift to being self-reliant, independent business owners. In our traditional nursing roles, we relied on some other entity, usually an employer. Most of us applied and interviewed for positions and were offered the "job." Some other department did marketing and public relations for us, and we had a steady stream of "clients," our patients. We thought in terms of paycheck and benefits, not in terms of profit or business growth.
I couldn't fathom making the mental shift from "employee" to "business owner" until I was actually in that position. One of the best guides through this transition is Secrets of Self-Employment: Surviving and Thriving on the Ups and Downs of Being Your Own Boss, by Sarah and Paul Edwards. My transition has been the most rewarding, challenging, frightening, yet exhilarating experience I could ever imagine. Shamelessly take advantage of all available resources to make your transition to successful business owner a smooth one, but remember that ultimately, it's all up to you.
Pam Hollsten, RN, BSN, DABFN, CLNC, an independent LNC in Georgia, owns Hollsten & Associates, specializing in medical malpractice.
Find a Mentor and Hang On Tight
by Donna Adkins, RN, BSN, CRRN, CCM, CLCP
Nurses who enter the business world of legal nurse consulting (and it is a BUSINESS) must learn from successful LNCs. After you
learn the basics of legal nurse consulting, seek out a mentor and soak up the skills. At the core of most nurses is a sense of caring, compassion, sympathy, empathy and sharing. But having those traits doesn't mean the nurse will use them when caring for herself. And applying these "touchy-feely" characteristics to a business decision could be the undoing of the business. Successful LNCs have blazed the trail for you in this area. They've learned the tricks of the trade and made money; they've made mistakes and lost money. Most of all, they know how to separate personal feelings from sound professional business decisions. Hook up with a mentor and hold on for dear life.
Give back to the mentor as well. Pay for accessing her knowledge and respect her time. Use those inherent nursing traits on both yourself and your fellow nurses. Nurture yourself, and share the good times. There's plenty to go around.
Donna Adkins, RN, BSN, CRRN, CCM, CLCP, owns Medical Claims Analysis & Management Services. Inc., in Kentucky. The company develops life care plans and consults on plaintiff and defense workers' compensation, medical negligence, malpractice, personal injury and criminal cases.
Get Your Act Together Up Front
by Carla R. Kitten, RN, BSN, CLNC
When I started, I wish I had known to talk to every nurse consultant I knew, listen to Vickie's tapes and take note of all the systems other LNCs used. Then I would have decided which systems best fit my planned business and organizational management skills, and put those systems in place before starting my business.
I learned the hard way that implementing systems when business is pouring in is just too difficult. You will find yourself disorganized and frustrated, and this will have a negative impact on your work product. Modifying your systems once they're in place is much easier than starting them from scratch. Don't take a chance. Spend that much-needed time to implement systems up front before you're inundated with the day-to-day responsibilities of running your business.
Carla R. Kitten, RN, BSN, CLNC has been a practicing legal nurse consultant since 1993, specializing in medical malpractice and criminal defense. She is also a full-time in-house legal nurse consultant for the Gray Hart Law Firm in Texas.
Learn the Basics of Business Management
by Lisa Ellison, RNC, CLNC
Vickie's course covers a huge number of business-related topics that were invaluable to me in starting my business. In addition to what I learned from her course, I wish I had known more about the nuts and bolts of business management, such as taxes, insurance, computer skills, time management and telecommunications. A good basic business course would have been worthwhile.
I also wish I had known how consuming it is to own your own business. You never really stop thinking about the business and ways to make it better and more profitable. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and have to write down an idea I've dreamed up so I won't forget it. You must be very committed before you open your own business.
Lisa Ellison, RNC, CLNC owns Premier Nursing Consultants in Texas. She helps attorneys prepare medical malpractice and personal injury cases and provides in-depth research, chronologies and reports.
Let the Pros Handle the Details
by Nancy Dion, RN, MSM, CLNC, CPHQ, CHCRM, LNHA
Limiting myself to one issue is always hard, however, I wish I had listened to the experts in our field so that I could have focused purely on the case review end of the business while other experts handled operational details, such as, accounting, taxes, and payroll.
Nancy Dion is a healthcare professional with more than 35 successful years in the healthcare and business arenas. Her expertise includes clinical services, organizational redesign, quality improvement, risk management, facility and agency executive team building and management, along with her legal nurse consulting skills.
Show Me the Money
by Rose Clifford, RN, CLNC
I wish I had realized early on the importance of developing a plan to ensure prompt payment by attorney-clients. Here are some tips to assure prompt payment.
Once you establish your hourly rate ($75-$150/hr), practice saying it with conviction and without hesitation. Don't grimace as you firmly state your fee. Too low a fee denotes a lack of knowledge and in our society a lack of worth. Bear in mind that, no matter what your fee is, some attorneys will tell you it's too high. Knowing your market value ahead of time will help you reply confidently and give you credibility.
Have the attorney sign a letter agreement or contract clearly spelling out the terms and conditions of the working relationship, including your fees.
Know when the attorney is most likely to pay. For example, many attorneys are more willing to pay at the beginning of a new case, just before or immediately after receiving a report, chronology or time line, and prior to deposition or trial.
Request a monthly retainer at the start of a new case and throughout the litigation process. The retainer should be 10%-100% of the fee for the anticipated monthly number of hours. You can bill against the retainer monthly or apply the retainer to the last invoice as a credit. If the attorney is reluctant to pay a retainer up front, he may be reluctant to pay in the end. If you're a testifying expert called to give a deposition that opposing counsel is to pay for, request a retainer to cover the deposition day in advance.
Establish a regular billing pattern, usually once every 30 days, to ensure prompt payment or identify faulty payment practices. Attorneys prefer smaller, more frequent bills rather than one huge bill at the end of the case.
Bill promptly and accurately. The attorney is most grateful for your services right after you've rendered them. The further you get from the peak of the attorney's gratitude, the less likely you are to receive immediate payment. Another reason to bill promptly is that most plaintiff attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning they get paid a percentage of the award when the case is settled. The attorney is responsible for notifying all consultants and experts that the case has concluded and that a final bill is due within a certain period of time. Failure to provide your bill promptly could lead to nonpayment. Rest assured that if your bill is received after the award money is disbursed, you will never get paid.
Finally, if the attorney fails to pay, do not expend any more time on the case until you receive payment.
Knowing and understanding these ground rules about fees and billing would have made my transition into the business of legal nurse consulting easier.
For 14 years Rose Clifford, RN, CLNC has been an expert independent LNC specializing in investigating Medicare billing fraud and PIP auto fraud. She owns Medical Analysis Resources, Inc. in Kentucky.
Get Ready for the Ride of Your Life
by Gloria Blackmon, RNC, BSN, LNHA
When I started legal nurse consulting, I wish I had known the inordinate amount of time, mental energy and sheer labor that was required for this journey. I am not sure you can wrap your mind around what you are about to embark upon. However, even as I share this thought, I know that the journey has been worth the investment. I consider myself extremely blessed. I'm a survivor and I'm grateful for every experience I've had along the way – even those that left me bruised and battered, faint and weary.
Even if you think you have your path all mapped out, SHIFT happens. Shift is the blind turn, the pop quiz, the one scary thing you had not anticipated that jumps out and leaves you momentarily breathless. Some shifts are automatic, and some require both hands and feet. Those shifts that use every muscle are the ones that build your business character and help you dig down to find hidden determination and talent you didn't even know you had.
I can honestly say that taking state nursing boards pales in comparison to some of the hairpin turns I've faced in running my own business. Yet I experience such intoxicating bliss when a case goes well or a client calls me as his first choice. That kind of bliss will sustain you through all the shifts.
It does not matter what kind of shift you experience in your business or in your role as a legal nurse consultant. What matters is what you do with it. Work diligently towards your goals, but be aware of shift. Learn to recognize it but do not run from it. Learn what it is trying to teach you and how to reshape it if necessary.
Be careful to not fall into the trap of expecting instant success. Challenges will meet you often on this path, and you'll have to pull over at a rest stop or gas station. Don't be so focused on getting somewhere that you miss the notable observation points and vistas along the way. Success will arrive in steps, not instantly.
Above all, I encourage you to celebrate small victories (mile markers and scenic overlooks) along the way instead of waiting for something big. Take a wide-angle approach to success instead of always being concerned with the close-ups. Laugh with yourself and do not be consumed with thoughts of failure. Aspire to some of the qualities of your role models, but be your own person. And when SHIFT appears, say to yourself:
"I am not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship."
– Louisa May Alcott
Gloria A. Blackmon, RNC, BSN, LNHA is the CEO of Blackmon & Associates Medical-Legal Consulting in Kansas specializing in long-term care issues.
