Category: Prosperident Newsletters

Prosperident’s Wendy Chediac and Sonya Hudson have recently completed the study requirements necessary to be awarded their Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designations from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Wendy is Prosperident’s Chief Operating Officer, and in this capacity, she oversees all of Prosperident’s investigations. Wendy is often the first point of contact for new clients.

Sonya is one of our Senior Fraud Examiners, as well as one of Prosperident’s longest-serving team members. Sonya’s specialty is investigations for our Canadian clients.

Congratulations to you both on all of your hard work in earning this accreditation!

Winter is still hitting many of us full-force, but with March comes the promise of finally being “in the home stretch.” Winter is not a race, but if it were, then March and all of the changes it will bring are certainly a way of feeling that we are close to the finish line.

Warmer temperatures, longer days, and for a few lucky folks, crocuses will soon be in bloom. March offers us a newness that is different from that which we associate with New Year’s Day or our birthdays. With March and spring come a desire to shake off the winter cobwebs and dive into some much-needed spring cleaning. After a long winter confinement many of us can’t wait to open up our windows, shampoo our rugs, empty the ashes from our fireplaces, and finally rake the last of the fall leaves that we were able to ignore while they were covered with snow. And maybe, just maybe, while we are hard at work cleaning up all of winter’s little messes, we will have cause to pause and ask ourselves; “could my business need a good spring cleaning too?”

My team and I hope that most of you can answer that question for yourself, without feeling that there is any major work to be done. For others, you may feel that it’s time to have a chat with us or visit our website www.prosperident.com to see if there is something we can do to assist you with a more thorough spring cleaning of your office. For nearly 30 years the team at Prosperident has been proud to serve the dental community, and we hope that you will never need our services, but if you ever feel you want to talk to us about what our team can do for you, we are always here for you, and we are always happy to help.

Are You Aware?

The question sounds a little New Age, but in our era of perpetual sensory assault and overload, asking about awareness is not as “out there” as you may think.

We live in a time of rapid technological progress and nothing we do or have seems to be immune from progress’s path. We rely on so many smart devices and their plentiful apps that it seems archaic to ask someone to stop what they’re doing, take a deep breath, and quietly ask the question; “what is really going on here?”

For decades now my team and I have had the pleasure of working with and for the dental community. As the years fly by it seems that no matter how many technological advances come along to make practices run smoother and more securely, we never stop hearing dentists say; “I just knew that something didn’t feel right, but with all of the changes in my practice between team members coming and going, and software constantly updating, I just chalked my feelings up to change.”

Listening and responding to your gut feeling when you think something terrible or inappropriate might be happening is instinct, and here’s the kicker – there is NO APP FOR THAT!

Winter is still hitting many of us full-force, but with March comes the promise of finally being “in the home stretch.” Winter is not a race, but if it were, then March and all of the changes it will bring are certainly a way of feeling that we are close to the finish line.

Warmer temperatures, longer days, and for a few lucky folks, crocuses will soon be in bloom. March offers us a newness that is different from that which we associate with New Year’s Day or our birthdays. With March and spring come a desire to shake off the winter cobwebs and dive into some much-needed spring cleaning. After a long winter confinement many of us can’t wait to open up our windows, shampoo our rugs, empty the ashes from our fireplaces, and finally rake the last of the fall leaves that we were able to ignore while they were covered with snow. And maybe, just maybe, while we are hard at work cleaning up all of winter’s little messes, we will have cause to pause and ask ourselves; “could my business need a good spring cleaning too?”

My team and I hope that most of you can answer that question for yourself, without feeling that there is any major work to be done. For others, you may feel that it’s time to have a chat with us or visit our website www.prosperident.com to see if there is something we can do to assist you with a more thorough spring cleaning of your office. For nearly 30 years the team at Prosperident has been proud to serve the dental community, and we hope that you will never need our services, but if you ever feel you want to talk to us about what our team can do for you, we are always here for you, and we are always happy to help.

We’ve all read about the threats to our health, personal relationships, and our culture from being constantly connected. The debates over the health and cultural impacts will continue indefinitely, but I would like to draw to your attention to the risks that technology poses to your practice.

Never, ever, EVER, has it been easier for someone to have the ability to wreak havoc on your practice, because you’ve generously provided them with all the tools they’ll need to defraud you – a computer and an internet connection. As surely as technology has solved many of our business issues, like timely bank-runs and ensuring that bill payments are mailed on time every month; technology has made it easier than ever for a team member who is willing to study your habits to steal from you.

Practice management software, online banking, and Facebook business promotions are modern miracles for efficiency and growth. However, the flip side of using these amazing tools is that a would-be thief in your office can find a way to manipulate a system or device you use in your practice to steal from you. Technology makes embezzlement easier than ever. Ugh!

At Prosperident our mission is to be able to help and support you by developing ways to control, detect and eliminate embezzlement in your practice. We certainly don’t believe that every practice has a thief lurking among its valued team members, but we know that more than 60% of all dental practices will eventually succumb to a team member stealing. We always hope that you are not a part of this horrible statistic, and we will continue to work and grow to be there for you when you need us.

One Thanksgiving tradition many of us indulge in, besides three helpings of dessert, is taking advantage of the fantastic deals to be had on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day.

It has always amazed me how people (me included!) will buy almost anything that has a sizable discount offered with it. We buy things we need as well as a few things that we will never get value from, no matter how deep the discount. More often than not we purchase unnecessary or poor quality items because an aggressive salesperson made us feel that there was NEVER a better time to buy. The truth is some things are not meant for deep discounts, and what appears to be aggressive price slashing should make you wary.

To all of you who have served in the military, thank you for your service and your contribution to our freedom. My own time in uniform had a hugely positive impact on the person I am today, and I expect most of you who served would say the same thing. Again, we thank you.

Thanksgiving not only marks the beginning of another holiday season, but it gives us a chance to sincerely express how genuinely thankful we are to be a growing part of your community and businesses. Your trust and generosity have played a significant role in the way we organize and continue to develop our company and services. We appreciate everything that your community does for us, and we always strive to reciprocate with professionalism and gratitude.

We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, whatever way you choose to celebrate. We at Prosperident will be pausing to count our blessings and to give thanks for the friendship, confidence, and loyalty you have shown us. We are deeply thankful and want to extend to you our best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Well, we made it! September, with all of its scheduling responsibilities and a return to fall and winter activities, has flown by. Time to bring on the Pumpkin Spice anything and everything! The coming month is about changing leaves, crisp nights, the return of our favorite fall television shows, and of course – watching and playing our favorite fall and winter sports. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it should be no surprise that we want to tell you how thankful we are here at Prosperident for your ongoing loyalty and support. Serving dentistry is our passion, and we are grateful for our ability to be a part of your community.

As our business continues to grow, we realize that it is because some of you have made a horrific discovery in the place that you consider to be your second “home.” We are never thankful for that!

However, we are grateful to be able to offer you an ever-expanding team of incredibly capable embezzlement investigators and support staff, who are ready to step in, take over and help you get back control of your practice and its finances.

My team and I have spent a great deal of time this year honoring our commitment to you with the continued development of our Office Protection System program, as well as the other services we offer. As we see OPS being successfully employed in dental practices as a frontline defense against potential embezzlement, we are grateful to those of you who pushed us to develop a system to safeguard your practice’s financial well-being, before trouble can line its pocketbook with your money. You asked, and we have delivered a viable solution for all of you who wish to stop embezzlement in your practice before it starts.

Enjoy your October and all of the beauty and bounty it brings.

And so it begins.

For many of us, our “New Year” actually starts in September. Fall’s shorter days, cooler nights and the start of a new school year, also coincide with the beginning of a continuing education year for many of you. As summer fades and we settle into our fall routines, many of us here at Prosperident feel a sense of renewal, and an exciting and fresh opportunity to connect on a more meaningful level with the fantastic dental community we are so privileged to serve.

This summer was a full one here at Prosperident. We busied ourselves with onboarding new team members including investigators, Office Protection System specialists and educational speakers, while our IT team continued the development of software that makes the work we do for you more efficient and faster to deliver.

Probably the most exciting news we have to share with you is that we have continued developing our Office Protection System (OPS) Service, as well as our OPS Multi-Office Service, with the addition of more OPS Specialists, carefully selected and trained to assist you and get your practice set up even faster!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this service, OPS is a complete and thorough diagnostic review of your practice’s policies, procedures, and systems performed by one of our OPS Specialists, with a view to identifying and correcting the weaknesses that could be exploited by an embezzler. Your assigned OPS Specialist will focus on over 25 of what we consider to be the most important policies and procedures, essential to a healthy, well-functioning practice. Based on our specialist’s in-depth review, we make recommendations on what areas we feel need upgrading, elimination, and restructuring to make your office the most efficient and productive place for you to earn your living. OPS provides you with peace of mind, by ensuring that you have the right office systems in place, and that staff compliance with your policies is measurable. OPS is not software, but it is the most advanced protection system available, designed by Prosperident, specifically for dentistry. We would like to invite you to visit our website to find out more.

So, welcome September! The Prosperident team and I would like to wish you and yours a happy and prosperous “New Year.”