Entrepreneurship

Vickie and I have trained our BlackBerries not to rattle, buzz or make noise when a new email comes in. That way we can concentrate for more than 50 or 60 seconds without an interruption crying out for us to “CHECK THAT EMAIL NOW!!!!!” It allows us to control interruptions and check email only when we want, at our leisure.

In contrast, we have a friend who lives and dies by her BlackBerry^®. It’ll beep, rattle and roll and do everything it can to get her attention every time she gets a text, email or reminder. Talking with her in person (or on a landline) can be frustrating as she’s constantly pulling her BlackBerry out of her hip holster (which isn’t hip at all) to see each obviously very and absolutely important communication she’s just received. You can always tell when you’ve lost her attention (What?).

Even worse, she’s developed phantom rattle. When she’s not wearing her BlackBerry (which is rare) you’ll see her reflexively touch her hip because she’s felt a rattle that isn’t there. Anyone else want to confess to this? But even worse than even worse, she’s confessed to me that if she’s in line at the grocery, post office or OTB counter and there’s no email to read, she’ll play one of the games loaded on her device. Even though I consider her a social person, she won’t talk to people, instead preferring to play games or sometimes even re-read email that she’s already read.

As much as I love tech, there’s a time and a place for tech. Sometimes you just have to put down the phone and drive or walk or wait in line or talk. Do you remember the time before cell phones when people would actually engage in civil discourse while waiting in a line or standing in an elevator? Today people use tech to isolate themselves. Their smart phone becomes an excuse to ignore you. Sorry, but I’m too busy and important to say hello to you – I’ve got email to read.

You never know what opportunity you’re missing when you put your head down and play the 15th level of BrickBreaker instead of engaging in a little “Who do you know who…” or “I’m a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, what do you do?” Every person you meet is a potential legal nurse consulting lead to a new attorney-client or prospect opportunity. Even if they’re part of the 0.003% of Americans who don’t know an attorney (I just made up that statistic), they may simply brighten your day or become a new friend.

This week, make it a goal to talk to people and keep your BlackBerry or other smart phone holstered or in your purse while you’re in public spaces. If we all talked to each other a little more, we’d make the world a friendlier place (and safer to walk and drive around in). In the meantime, stop updating your Spacebook, MyFace and Twister accounts and actually tell a real person what you’re doing and what you do. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

I think I must have been the last person in the world to see Avatar. Sunday, a week ago, Tom and I went with a large group of our friends (all of whom were seeing it for the second time) to see this movie. Everyone I knew who had seen it, raved about it (which seemed to be everyone I know) and I was so excited about seeing it that I even brought my own 3D glasses!

About an hour into the movie I turned to Tom, and after yanking the popcorn away from him, whispered, “If this doesn’t get Best Picture I’ll be shocked.” I loved the movie.

Last night, I watched the Academy Awards and was indeed shocked when Hurt Locker won Best Picture. In all fairness I never saw Hurt Locker and will have to add it to my list. Until then my vote is still Avatar. Not only was it entertaining, Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can learn several lessons from director, James Cameron. The lessons all stem from an opinion I feel strongly about after growing my successful legal nurse consulting business for 28 years – the experts are often wrong and you shouldn’t always listen to them!

Think about it. Hollywood experts said audiences won’t go see an intelligent movie; that they only want gross-out, teen-style comedies or star-driven vehicles where the star walks through his role in his sleep. Cameron ignored them and penned a movie that required your full attention and one that put its leading characters into unrecognizable avatars.

The experts say the attention span of audiences cap out after 80-90 minutes and that audiences won’t sit for a movie that runs 162 minutes caption-to-credit. Cameron ignored that line of thinking and cut the movie he wanted audiences to see. Again, the experts were wrong to the tune of over $2.5 billion worldwide!

Experts also believed that audiences weren’t ready for full-length 3D movies other than horror, children’s or the occasional IMAX^® film. Instead of following that thinking, Cameron went out on a limb and filmed the movie in 3D applying it tastefully, without cheap shock effects. This has turned out to be one of the most popular methods to see Avatar.

Like I’ve always told CLNC^® consultants, you can’t always listen to the experts because they’re often wrong. Like James Cameron you have to make your own decisions and follow your own dreams. Like James Cameron, your CLNC^® business may not win a coveted Academy Award, but there’s nothing holding you back from trying, except the experts.

See you in the theaters!

Tax season will be here before you know it. Choosing a CPA is a necessity as you begin your legal nurse consulting business and as your CLNC^® business grows. This experience need not be a daunting one.

Match the CPA’s Service to Your Needs

Your main focus should be to match the needs of your CLNC^® business with the services provided by the CPA. CPAs can:

1. Set up your books – A CPA can help you determine your chart of accounts, set up record-keeping guidelines and generally get you started. A CPA can also review your records and tax returns to be sure you’ve made no blatant mistakes.
2. Prepare all tax returns – These can include both Federal and state tax returns for personal, corporate,  payroll, sales tax and other business-related filings. While a CPA may review returns you have prepared, the CPA will not sign off on them unless he completed the return. A CPA can also help in the event of an audit by the IRS or any other taxing authority. You may also want to consider a payroll service to handle your payroll needs, including tax filings and records compliance.
3. Provide managerial advice – A CPA who is well informed about your legal nurse consulting business can often provide tax and cost saving suggestions as well as help you make informed decisions about your business based on your financial statements and tax returns. Tax laws and reporting requirements frequently change, and helping you stay abreast of these changes is an important role of the CPA.
4. Provide complete bookkeeping services – Some CPA firms have bookkeepers on staff who perform the record-keeping the CPA requires for your financial statements and tax returns. While this service is not free, you gain billable hours to devote to your CLNC^® business at a higher billing rate than what you would pay for the bookkeeping services.
5. Help with computer applications – A CPA may be able to guide you in choosing the appropriate accounting software package for your business. Easy-to-use, complete accounting software packages, such as Quicken, Quickbooks and Peachtree are available as are tax preparation software (TurboTax, Tax Cut).

Find the Right Professional

To begin your search for the right CPA, consider networking with other business owners, family members and friends. Other sources for referrals are local legal and professional associations. Each state has an association of CPAs that can give you names. The Internet can also be a source for names of CPAs in your state. One helpful website is aicpa.org which offers a list of State Boards of Accountancy that can be accessed online to research names and verify licensing.

When you have narrowed the field, interview each candidate. Verify the CPA’s license with the respective State Board of accountancy. Take previous tax returns and financial statements with you to give each candidate a chance to understand your business. Ask what their specialties are and if they have worked with consultants or other business owners previously. Request references and contact the references, asking how helpful and accessible the CPA has been for them. If at all possible, have the CPA come to your office. This can help the CPA appreciate where you are in your business and where you want to go in the future. Your focus should be on finding an individual who is compatible with you and knowledgeable about your CLNC^® business. Assess whether the candidates have answered your questions thoroughly and used terms you understand.

Here are some additional factors to consider when choosing a CPA:

• Size
  The size of the CPA firm is important. Large firms can be costly and less likely to give you personal attention. However, they will likely provide a wider range of services than a smaller firm. A sole practitioner can provide personal attention but may offer fewer services, have less time to devote to staying current and might become overwhelmed by a growing business. You may want to start with a sole practitioner and, when your needs outgrow his services, move on to a larger firm.

• Credentials
  Check the accountant’s credentials. An individual with the CPA designation has met state licensing requirements and passed a difficult two-day national exam. CPAs who belong to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) are governed by a strict code of ethics and must complete extensive continuing education requirements. Inquire about association memberships and how active the CPA is in those organizations.

• Integrity
  Integrity and honesty are also a major consideration. Some CPAs stretch the meaning of the law. Be sure you are comfortable with the interpretation your CPA gives you. If you have any doubt about the advice the CPA gives you, get a second opinion.

Be sure to get the fee schedule in writing so you can budget to make the best use of the CPA’s time.

Don’t hesitate to replace your CPA if you find that your needs as a legal nurse consultant are not being met. When you consider the dollars you are losing by using an inefficient CPA, it will help you justify the time you will spend on a search for your new “financial partner.”

Success Is Inside!

I recently found myself in the company of a complainer and to my horror found that I was letting myself get sucked into it. Do you ever find yourself getting sucked in by people who like to complain but don’t really want to solve their problem? Well don’t.

Instead of joining the complaining party, use your precious time to solve your own problems or to enjoy your life as intended. Even 10 minutes given to a complainer (family, friend or colleague) is bound to sap your energy. Those are 10 precious minutes you could’ve been doing something for you and your legal nurse consulting business. Minutes you’ll never get back. Rather than waste them in a negative manner, do something fun for yourself. Take a relaxing mineral-salt bath, drink a glass of wine or go ahead – do both! You can also put those minutes into your CLNC^® business by working on a report or calling an attorney on your prospect list.

The next time you find yourself snared by a complainer, detach and interrupt the complaining. Before you give 10 precious minutes away to someone else’s soap opera, ask yourself if you’ll really be making a difference by listening or joining in. Or would those 10 minutes be better spent on you or something more positive?

For the next 30 days be a conscious observer of complainers in your life and conscientious of your own commitment to detach from them. When you do, your life and your legal nurse consulting business will soar.

Success Is Inside!

Here at Vickie Milazzo Institute we frequently mentor new CLNC^® graduates on creating their unique selling position (USP). Your USP communicates how your legal nurse consulting experience, nursing experience, education and leadership in nursing can specifically benefit the attorney-client with his medical-related cases. In essence, you are translating your experience into a benefit for the attorney. USP is not about you and the CLNC^® services that you provide. It is about how you translate you and your CLNC^® services into the mind of the attorney-prospect.

The important word in USP is “unique.” What can you claim that another registered nurse cannot? The most common mistake I see is including a generic quality or characteristic that any legal nurse consultant can claim such as, “I’m organized and very analytical.” Who among us would say we’re not organized and analytical? If you want to stress your analytical skills, is there a specific experience that separates you from other RNs? Here’s an example:

“Five years of experience reviewing medical records as a risk manager in a variety of specialties plus my CLNC^® Certification qualifies me to quickly and cost-effectively review cases in any medical and nursing specialty. I can save you time and money by screening cases before you pay to send them to expensive medical experts.”

A second common mistake I see is legal nurse consultants stating expertise and credentials without a benefit statement such as, “I have 10 years of experience.” The attorney might not instantly understand all the benefits these 10 years of experience offer. Here’s an example of adding a benefit statement to your experience:

“I have 10 years of emergency experience. Having worked inside emergency departments, I can share details of how emergency services are provided that you will never find in an emergency medicine textbook. This will reduce the time you’ll have to spend with expensive medical experts.”

A third mistake I see is focusing on the CLNC^® services you provide such as screening cases and analyzing causation issues. At some stage you will want to emphasize CLNC^® services you provide, but they are not a USP. CLNC^® services are common to all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. Your USP can, however, qualify you to deliver a CLNC^® service in a very unique, more qualified or more specific way. Here’s an example:

“My five years of experience in cardiology qualifies me to identify plaintiffs who have a pre-existing risk for heart attack and stroke in the defense of your Vioxx^® cases.”

Put your USP to work for your CLNC^® business with your attorney-prospects and remember to keep it unique.

Success Is Inside!

In my 2/17 blog “Ditch Unnecessary Complexities in your CLNC^® Business,” I shared the 2010 theme we adopted here at Vickie Milazzo Institute – “Ditch Unnecessary Complexities.”

One strategy to help you with this goal is to ditch perfectionism. As nurses, perfectionism is not only rewarded, it’s expected. You make a mistake and someone can die. I’m sure those kind of mistakes don’t go over well with your boss either (not to mention the patient). But do your internal documents for your legal nurse consulting business have to be so perfect? Misguided perfectionism can keep you from stepping out and going for the big things for your CLNC^® business or it can rob you of enjoying your business and your life.

I am surrounded by perfectionists (lots of Virgos) at Vickie Milazzo Institute and I often suffer from the perfectionism obsession myself. Ten drafts of a document is not uncommon. Over the years, we’ve had to acknowledge that perfectionism is important for the big things that count (like a report for your attorney-client) but can actually detract us from the big important things when we apply it to the small insignificant tasks that we all have to do. The advent of computers has made this problem worse than ever. In the old days of typewriters, it was difficult to revise and reprint a document and people were very careful about making revisions. Today, we can move a comma or a line of type and reprint it to our heart’s content without even questioning the gain.

Growing up in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong was an icon. I often think if he had been a perfectionist, we would never have heard him sing “What a Wonderful World.” The great Satchmo came close to perfection as a trumpet player, but his voice, his unique, gravelly voice was certainly untraditional – sometimes not hitting any recognizable notes, sometimes incomprehensible, but ALL THE TIME – his own unique expression of his interpretation of the music.  And it wouldn’t BE such a wonderful world without THAT song.

If you think about it, when you’re demanding perfection on the wrong stuff as a legal nurse consultant, you too miss notes, high and low. Then, instead of moving on, you’re sidelined by rejection or imperfection. Now, instead of looking at your attorney-prospect list, you’re looking in the refrigerator. And guess what? Unless you work in the morgue, there are no attorneys in the refrigerator!

Think back to the first attorney who said no to you. Is that so important today? Can you even remember that attorney’s name?

Ditch perfectionism! Lighten up when you pick up the phone for that next attorney call or write that next report. If you don’t get that perfect case, or your perfect attorney-client doesn’t give you those perfect glowing reviews, don’t give up… That’s nothing more than a perfect experience to learn from.

Only you can properly assess where it’s okay to ditch perfectionism in your CLNC^® business, but do make it a goal. When you ditch perfectionism, you free yourself to spend time on the important and BIG things that will propel your legal nurse consulting business to the next level and keep those attorney-clients coming your way.

Success Is Inside!

Nurses naturally have the strength of agility. After all, you can’t be a nurse and not be agile. When you have five people talking to you at once, and you’re handling five different emergencies at once, that takes agility. When you go from this to that, without time to think and seconds are making a difference – that’s agility. When you’re floated to a unit you know nothing about – and you don’t kill anyone – that’s agility. As nurses, we’re all over that strength, aren’t we?

But agility is more than bending over backwards to satisfy a patient or even a unit of patients. Instead of simply using your agility to cope with your nursing practice or your day-to-day life, do you use your agility to stretch and grow to new levels professionally and personally? Agility is also flexing a curiosity about what else is out there for you professionally.

Agility is also about challenging fixed viewpoints that people (like the doctors, your supervisor, your spouse) have about you and fixed viewpoints you have about yourself. When I started my legal nurse consulting business, I had to challenge the fixed viewpoint that nurses don’t go into business. I also had to challenge the fixed viewpoint that if the business idea hasn’t already been invented, there’s probably no market for it. But more importantly, I had to challenge my own fixed viewpoints.

These include the belief that nursing didn’t prepare me for owning a legal nurse consulting business and the belief that I didn’t have time to start a business as a legal nurse consultant with my full-time nursing job at the hospital.

Open your mind and energy to people who can introduce you to new ways of thinking about nursing or your CLNC^® business and the unlimited possibilities that are available when you stretch your agility. You’ll need to be willing to change directions, just like you do in your hospital job. And be ready to shake things up.

Risking even minor change strengthens your agility to go where you need to go next and prepares you for future challenges that will undoubtedly require even more change. When you stretch yourself to a new level, the next challenge isn’t nearly as scary; the ground is more familiar. Agility is your path to a deeper, richer experience in nursing and in your CLNC^® business, as well as the strength you’ll need to side-step any challenges you’ll meet along the way.

Success Is Inside!

Every year we adopt a new business theme at Vickie Milazzo Institute. Some previous examples are “Let It Go” and “Move Like a Maverick.” All year long we have a lot of fun with the theme, but more important, we use the theme to challenge how we think and how we do business. The staff especially enjoys reminding me of the theme to persuade me of their position on issues. I think “Let it Go” was my staff’s all-time favorite and quickly became the catch-phrase any time something was a little bit off or I found a mistake or error. I was definitely ready to let that theme go!

This year’s theme is “Ditch Unnecessary Complexities.” Complexity in and of itself is not negative. In fact, because what we do at the Institute is complex, copycats cannot replicate the quality of what we offer to Certified Legal Nurse Consultants and CLNC^® students.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant when you write a report and analysis for a medical-malpractice case, you expect your report to have a level of complexity that cannot be replicated by a nurse who has not been trained as a CLNC^® consultant.

But in both your business and mine, this is a good year to eliminate unnecessary complexities that creep into our CLNC^® businesses and are accepted without question or thought.

At a recent Vickie Milazzo Institute staff brainstorm, I asked the staff to help identify unnecessary complexities with the focus on being more efficient, cutting costs and eliminating a process or procedure that is no longer needed. Together they identified 48 of them for 2010. Of course we triaged the most important ones to tackle first, but many required very little effort.

You can do this for your CLNC^® business by raising your consciousness and asking yourself the following questions:

1. “Am I doing something that I no longer need to be doing?”
2. “Why exactly are we doing it this way? Is it simply because that’s the way we’ve always done it?”
3. “Am I doing something that gives me little or no payoff?”
4. “Can I simplify this process?”
5. “Does technology exist to automate or simplify this process?”
6. “Is there not just an easier way, but a better and faster way to accomplish this goal?”

In 2010, let’s commit to focus on the core purpose of our CLNC^® businesses – i.e. servicing our clients and producing the best quality product by freeing ourselves from unnecessary complexities. The time we save can be used to improve other processes or, just to improve our lives outside of our legal nurse consulting businesses. Once you’ve completed this process for your CLNC^® business, consider trying it in your home – just don’t let your family in on “let it go!”

Success Is Inside!

Read Part 1.

In Part 1 we discussed 6 Best Practices for subcontracting with Certified Legal Nurse Consultants to grow your CLNC^® business. Here are 9 more Best Practices.

1. Sign a formal contract with each subcontractor, and include a fair noncompetition clause. Use the recommended CLNC^® subcontractor contract from Vickie Milazzo Institute.

2. Have each CLNC^® subcontractor fill out a W-9 form at the time they sign their contract. Don’t pay their invoice until you receive a completed form. You can download a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification form and instructions from IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.

3. Market to your attorney-clients that you have a network of CLNC^® subcontractors in a variety of specialties to encourage them to send you more cases.

4. Communicate your expectations, deadlines and budget for the assignment clearly. Every attorney-client is different and there’s more than one right way to design the report. Clear communication helps to ensure that the CLNC^® subcontractor provides work product that meets your attorney-client’s needs.

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC says,

“A mistake I made in the beginning was not giving the subcontractors a deadline. I found that by leaving the deadline to them, it was often last minute, and I got nervous about getting the report to the attorney in a timely manner. Now, I always give a reasonable deadline, allowing a bit more time than the CLNC^® subcontractor may need so that it can be done expediently.

I have also learned the importance of giving the subcontractor parameters and limits for hours allowed per case. It is the same as checking with an attorney before doing too much or too little. If you do not provide a budget, you could end up paying more than is necessary for details that are not needed quite yet.”

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC says,

“I make sure my CLNC^® subcontractor knows the deadline and I have them check in along the way. I like to see the first page of their report. I just want to make sure they are on the right track. Once I approve the first page, they continue with the case.

About halfway through the case, I have them check in again to make sure it remains what I want. If all is okay, then they complete the work. If something is not meeting my expectations, I discuss it with them before they finish the entire report. I want to save them time also. I am confident that as long as we continue to communicate with each other, the report will be what I want for my attorney-client.

When the finished product is sent to me, I review it, make any necessary changes and send them the completed one so that they can see what I like and expect for the next time. I don’t believe in wasting their time or mine, so I like to be with them throughout the process.

One thing I always make sure of is that my CLNC^® subcontractors get paid on time. I like to keep them happy so they will work again.”

Don’t cut your deadlines too close. Get your work from the CLNC^® subcontractor as far in advance of the due date as possible to allow you to assess their work product.

5. Put each new subcontractor to the test. Start with small tasks and advance to more complex projects.

6. Be sure to review the work prepared for your clients by your subcontractors (especially beginners) before submitting it. Always allow time to carefully check and edit your subcontractors’ work. Share your changes so the subcontractor can learn to model your best practices.

7. Pay your CLNC^® subcontractors 50% of your billing rate. The attorney will be invoiced at your hourly rate. It is not necessary to indicate to the attorney the number of hours you worked vs. the hours your CLNC^® subcontractor worked. Pay within 30 days of invoice date to encourage loyalty and enthusiasm for future projects.

8. Treat each CLNC^® subcontractor as an individual. Focus on and use their strengths to supplement your own strengths. One CLNC^® consultant may write great personal injury chronologies, but is not as strong at analyzing medical malpractice cases. Likewise, the CLNC^® subcontractor who is masterful at analyzing malpractice cases may be easily bored by writing personal injury summaries.

9. Acknowledge and thank your CLNC^® subcontractors. Don’t take your CLNC^® subcontractors for granted.
   
   As Larry Frace, RN, CLNC says,

“Keep in constant touch with all of your CLNC^® subcontractors by teleconferencing, emailing and at the next NACLNC^® Conference.”

Follow these Best Practices and you will master the art of sensational subcontracting to achieve sensational results for your CLNC^® business.

Success Is Inside!

Read Part 2.

The quickest way to grow your legal nurse consulting business is to expand with CLNC^® subcontractors. Check out these Best Practices and how the CLNC^® Pros are using them to expand their CLNC^® business in sensational ways.

1. Hire only Certified Legal Nurse Consultant subcontractors. This will save you time and heartache in the long run. Through the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, you’ll find plenty of qualified CLNC^® consultants who can help you manage your cases. Working only with other CLNC^® consultants is the key to sensational subcontracting and the strongest method for building your CLNC^® business.

Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC says,

“I am a firm believer in using only CLNC^® subcontractors. In the beginning, I tried using non-Certified Legal Nurse Consultants because I thought, ‘Gee, she is a good nurse… she knows what she’s doing.’ But the reality was, I ended up reviewing the chart and writing the report all over again because it just wasn’t a product that met my standards or those of my attorney-client. Needless to say, this was exhausting, double the work, and just wasn’t worth my time, energy or money!”

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC shares,

“Many years ago, as a new CLNC^® consultant, I learned my first lesson about subcontracting. I knew so many RNs and thought I could use them as subcontractors. I found a couple of really good nurses who wanted to learn from working with me. Though I showed them reports I had written and clearly explained what I needed from them for the work product, they still lacked the CLNC^® training I had received as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant from Vickie Milazzo Institute.

These RNs wrote their reports and gave them back to me. To my great disappointment, I found that I had to rewrite most of what they gave me. These were not billable hours. Due to their lack of formal training, they were not capable of producing the same level of work product. I wasted a lot of time and energy, and have only used Certified Legal Nurse Consultants since that time.”

Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC recommends,

“Only use Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I repeat… only use Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I decided that since I was going to use subcontractors and had the agreement ready to go, why not start with nine CLNC^® subcontractors and cover the nine major areas of nursing. I chose CLNC^® consultants who had experience in long term care, emergency room, medical/surgical, neonatal, obstetrics, operation room, pediatrics, critical care, outpatient care and mental health. I had always feared that an attorney might offer me a case in which I lacked nursing experience. Now with nine hand-picked CLNC^® subcontractors in place, I feel confident that I can accept any case offered. No more fear for Larry, thanks to my CLNC^® subcontractors.

I had networked at prior NACLNC^® Conferences and from that networking, already had most of the names I needed to get started. I also accessed the listing of CLNC^® consultants from the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. The reason that I stress using only Certified Legal Nurse Consultants as subcontractors is because it’s smart to bring a team together who are all singing off the same page from the get go. We were all trained by the best – Vickie Milazzo Institute – why settle for anything less?”

2. Build your CLNC^® subcontractor network in advance of needing each one. This allows you to respond timely to the attorneys’ deadlines on cases outside of your specialty. The best way to find subcontractors is by networking at the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC^®) Annual Conference and with the NACLNC^® members on our password-protected website. The online directory is an exclusive benefit for CLNC^® consultants only.

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC explains,

“I subcontract my cases only to other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I like to search from the cards that I receive at the NACLNC^® Conferences or look in the NACLNC^® Directory for someone who meets the criteria.”

3. Don’t become dependent on just one or two subcontractors. Continue to expand your CLNC^® subcontractor network. This frees you to meet tight deadlines or to let go of someone who is not the right match for you.
4. Hire CLNC^® subcontractors who live outside your geographical area. This will help to avoid any competitive attitude between you and your CLNC^® subcontractors. Avoid networking with local groups who may mean well, but are more interested in competing with you than helping you.
5. Look for a CLNC^® subcontractor who has three to five years of experience in the nursing specialty of the case and who is still connected to the healthcare system. This assures you’re subcontracting with a true expert on the issues.

Nikki J. Chuml says,

“I will contact the CLNC^® consultant and do a phone interview. Once I like how the telephone interview goes, then I will tell them a little about the case and see if their experience fits the case. After the agreement has been made, I will send the CLNC^® subcontractor an agreement to sign.”

6. Require all subcontractors to provide a resume and to produce some sample work product before you hire them. Assess the samples to be sure all work product is consistent and represents the same level of quality you provide to your attorney-clients.

Success Is Inside!