So You Want to Subcontract for another LNC?

· Blog, Legal Nurse Consultant
Author

I belatedly decided to do some research on what to look for in a LNC when looking for subcontracting work. Interestingly I found quite a few links regarding what a LNC should look for in finding nurses to use as subcontractors, but I found nothing on the characteristics of an LNC one would want to subcontract under. I have found out that the parts of this equation are equally important.
The person subcontracting should have some experience, make sure that they understand what the nurse they are working under wants in each specific case, meet deadlines, and communicate effectively.
But what about the characteristics of the Legal Nurse Consultant that is hiring subcontractors. I have found that vetting the person you may work under is a good idea. And if you find that they have personal characteristics that raise a red flag then you will probably have a problem with their work ethic also.
Before jumping into a situation ask around and talk to others that may have worked for this person. Never go into a work relationship with somebody blindly!!

Important points to research:

• Do they communicate effectively with people that have worked for them?
• Do they communicate effectively what they want in their work product?
• Are they someone that always finds a case in anything that is reviewed (steer clear of these people)?
• Communications avenues are important. Do they insist on always communicating via texting? Miscommunication easily occurs in this situation. It raises a red flag with me if the Legal Nurse Consultant is not willing to pick up the phone and speak with me directly.
• Does the Legal Nurse Consultant keep their relationships with their subcontractors on a professional, working level?
• Have they been viewed in a professional arena? If so, is this someone with which you would want yourself associated? Do they behave professionally or are they crude and unprofessional. These are people of which to steer clear.
• Are the boastful, telling others how great they are; that they are the best? Usually these Legal Nurses either have an inferiority complex that gets in the way of working relationships with others, or they have an inflated opinion of their importance in the field which also gets in the way of working relationships. On the other hand, if they are exceptional at what they do and go about doing it in an off-hand manner, this would be the person to choose.
• Do they pay their subcontractors in a timely manner? Have people that worked for them in the past had to wait months to be paid, had checks bounce, and ultimately do they have a track record for not paying LNC’s for work that waAlvin-Associates-logo.jpgs done? I think that one would obviously steer clear of the person who takes months to pay or does not even pay for work done.Alvin-Associates-logo.jpgAlvin-Associates-logo.jpg

12 Comments

Comments RSS
  1. Jennifer Smith

    All great points, Carol. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Connie Whitesides

    Good information Carol. Since many of us are perfectionists, we want to work with the same.

  3. Pam Klin

    I have learned this lesson as well Carol. So glad that you actually wrote a blog about it so others are forewarned.

  4. Denise Reck

    As always Carol, you do a great job of expressing yourself and helping others with the subject. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Stormy

    Carol, thank you so much for sharing your insights. I appreciate the good advice.

  6. Susan Bailey

    Carol,
    Great blog article! All very good points to consider when working with another LNC as a subcontractor. It’s so important to communicate well with anyone you work with. And it’s important to give appropriate feedback so that both the work product that the LNC is seeking and that you’re producing is to the standard that they expect – and if it’s not, to be explicit about what is needed for improvement. Lastly, I think that if you subcontract and are explicit about the budget and hours, you should never fail to pay for the time the subcontractor has put in. If you don’t pay, you lose massive credibility because word will spread and your business will be affected.

    • Carol

      Thanks for your well written comment Sue. I would agree that communication is paramount; and of course being paid appropriately and timely. I went back to see how quickly my attorneys reimburse me for work done and it ranges from 3-10 days with the occasional 30 or 31 days. I do have one invoice out for longer because it was a deposition and the defense has not paid the invoice they had received from the plaintiff firm. That kind of delay is understanding to me.

  7. Janice Freel

    Great article. I recently joined the group and I sense that the information shared will greatly assist me to start and grow my business.

  8. Jane Ambrose

    Thanks for the great article!

  9. Suzanne Horkan, RN, BSN, CLNC

    Carol,

    Thank you for the excellent blog…it reaffirms the gut feelings I have had in an experience with a CLNC seeking subcontractors that caused red flags for me. The sharing of your insight as a result of all your experience as a legal nurse consultant is so appreciated.

  10. Deborah Hill

    I have my BSN, RN. I have been a nurse for 30 years. I have worked in multiple areas including CVICU,CCU,NEURO ICU,NEONATAL ICU, MEDSURGTRAUMA ICU, (multiple level One trauma centers), home Health CARE in areas of medicare scheduled visits,mother baby, Private CARE, high risk pregnancy with in home monitoring. I have worked in multiple hospitals, in multiple citys,multiple units across the country with travel agencies, local agencies,Private and medicare certified homecare agencies, pediatric telephone triage. I have been interested in legal nurse consulting for years. Is there any way to begin consulting without any extra certification? If so, what steps do I need to take? I have a friend that has an Attorney friend that may be interested in my consulting. I would appreciate knowing how to price my services. I had a friend, many years ago that consulted as anyone expert witness and charged $40/research time, $175/hr deposition time, $200/hr court time. I attempted to consult on One case and, at the time, I was young and not very responsible. I did enjoy what I was able to do. Thank you for your time. Deborah Hill BSN RN

    • Carol

      Deborah–Thank you for your comment and interest in the Legal Nurse Consulting field. I wrote a post regarding pursuing the Legal Nurse Consulting field on July 21st which can be found in the blog section of my web site. You definitely have a very well rounded nursing career to draw on in terms of experience and this is definitely a plus. There is only one certification for Legal Nurse Consultants and that is through AALNC (American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants). In order to sit for this certification exam one must have 2000 hours of experience. The other “certifications” that you may be thinking about are really certificates for completion of the program that they promote. Examples of this are the Vickie Milazzo CLNC and the RN Market ALNC. These courses are very worthwhile (I took one of them myself) but they are expensive. One can gain the same knowledge from other, less expensive sources. Proponents of these courses will tell you that you can get mentoring with these courses (the Milazzo course requires you to pay for a more expensive package to get the mentoring; the RN Market mentoring does not require an extra fee).

      I strongly suggest that you invest in some type of education before beginning your legal nurse consulting career. One needs to realize what to look for in the medical records; i.e. what is needed to pursue a case for malpractice or to pursue a personal injury case. There are many ways to pursue getting this education and I have these listed in my blog of July 21st. The AALNC has an 8 module program that is very reasonably priced. You can purchase whatever modules that you are interested. Pat Iyer (my mentor) has a reasonably priced program on her website: patiyer.com There are many other sources out there as well.

      I cannot speak to the issue of pricing your services. Much goes into the pricing of ones’ services: experience, area of the country where you are working are two of the main ones. A new legal nurse consultant generally should not consider charging what an experienced legal nurse consultant charges and expect to gain clients.

      I hope this has helped and I wish you success with this new career if you choose to pursue a career as a Legal Nurse Consultant.

Leave a Comment