Category: Prosperident Pulse Newsletters

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June 2021 Webinars Did you know that Prosperident puts on a free webinar every month? The theme for our Spring webinars is How to Outsmart Embezzlers. Our next webinar takes place on June 22 at 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 Pacific, titled Slam the Door Shut on Embezzlers. Free registration is available HERE, and PACE CE is offered. We’d love to speak at your event! We are excited to be back to live speaking. We have great titles like “How to Outsmart the Thief in Your Practice.” If you would like to book a speaker for your event, please give us a call or use THIS LINK. Here are some of the places you can see us soon: May 27 Canadian Association of Orthodontists Webinar Jun 11 Atlantic Virtual Dental Conference Halifax NS Sep 9 Smile Source Exchange Las Vegas NV Sep 16 Seattle Study Club Austin TX Sep 25 Canadian Association of Dental Consultants Toronto ON Oct 19 Compre-hensive Care Club Port Huron MI 2022 Feb 26 Chicago Midwinter Meeting Chicago IL Mar 8 Dr. Graham Jones Study Club Monroe WA May 6 Ontario Dental Association Toronto ON Did you miss a previous newsletter? We archive them HERE. All of us at Prosperident (including our CEO who is a veteran) wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend, and we thank all veterans for their service. Forward this email to a friend Why Virtual Credit Cards are a Bad Idea Some insurance companies make payments to practices by creating a virtual credit card with a credit balance and then providing the card number. The practice can then enter the credit card number into their merchant terminal and receive payment. Many dentists have reported that this arrangement was put in place without their consent and that opting out was not presented to them as an option. Insurance companies favor this arrangement because it is more efficient than issuing checks or arranging ACH payments. There are several disadvantages to allowing an insurance company to pay you in this way. READ MORE Something to Talk About… I did my first dental embezzlement investigation in 1989. Dentistry was much simpler then. The practice that I investigated worked on “pegboard” because practice management software was still years from being available. The practice did not accept credit cards – payment was by cash or check, and electronic funds transfers did not exist. HIPAA was seven years away from becoming law, and OSHA was just beginning to turn its attention to dentistry. PPO was a term that dentists were hearing for the first time, and autoclaves were replacing boiling water for sterilization. A lot has changed since 1989. Dentistry is safer, more comfortable, and more convenient for patients. The profession’s ability to deliver natural-looking restorations and even improve someone’s appearance has advanced beyond what most would have dreamed in 1989. But paralleling these advances were increases in complexity in all the areas that I mentioned. And many dentists, for whom the ownership of a practice was already an unwelcome burden, have become overwhelmed with the duality of generating high-volume, high-quality clinical output while also managing a complex business entity. From the unique perch from which I observe dentistry, I see some dentists who thrive in this stressful environment and others who become overwhelmed. What can an overburdened dentist do to make their professional life manageable? Fortunately, there are some good options. Our webinar series, which began over a year ago, tackles issues that many dentists find vexing, demystifies them, and provides guidance on navigating these areas. You can access all our past webinars HERE. For those dentists with an intense dislike for being business owners, affiliating with a DSO may provide the ability to be a “pure dentist” and completely offload business responsibilities,in a financially rewarding manner. Finally, if you want some personalized help with taming the business elements of your practice, we are happy to assist. I am happy to speak with any practice owner who wants to discuss their options for making practice ownership less onerous. If this is a discussion you are interested in, please book a time HERE. For the past 32 years, we have been on your “team” and invested in your success. If we can help you, please feel free to reach out. Yours truly, David Harris We are Prosperident, Dentistry’s Embezzlement Experts 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com

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Newsletter January 2021 






Hello, 2021! Full Steam Ahead



Like so many others, the dental community has endured a nearly year-long stress test. For the most part, dentistry's adaptability to change has been the foundation for its success in recovering from this unprecedented year. Although none of us wants to dwell on the year that was 2020, it did present us with an education and a few "silver linings" as we faced global societal changes and internal cracks, highlighted by the unusual circumstances that characterized the year.
 The internal and external trials of 2020 set us at Prosperident on the path of an internal review. Our current policies, products, and services were all put under the microscope to ensure that we kept pace with the changes around us. We have always been committed to remaining a valuable and contributing entity in the dental community. To this end, my team and I have been working with valued clients and outside consultants to ensure that now and in the future, inclusion, diversity, and respect for each other remain a part of our mandate.
 2021 will not be like 2020, thank goodness, nor will it be like 2019. The "exercise" of 2020 has delivered to us the remarkable gift of being grateful for change, no matter how difficult. Who we were, who we are, and whom we want to be will create a shift in how we all do business forever. Prosperident is not just a collection of experienced investigators, IT experts, and talented support staff. We are and have for over 30 years been all of those things and more. We are the total of all the energy, experience, and expertise that our team member brings to each investigation and service that we produce or perform. This you can rely on!
2021 will mark the beginning of fresh starts in many areas for both you and us. In January, Prosperident will launch a quarterly themed webinar series. The theme for winter 2021 is "Designing Your Post Covid Practice," and it reflects our commitment to no-cost education and CE's for all dentists, dental specialists, and dental practice owners. We have streamlined the registration process and concentrated on presenting topics meant to inform and educate you as you continue to reach your goal of having your most prosperous business year ever!
 If there is a silver lining to the events of 2020, Covid has created a wave of thoughtfulness and caring for each other that, while always a hallmark of the dental profession and Prosperident, seems more genuine and authentic now. This is the one gift offered by the past year's events that my team and I will hold close.
Please join Prosperident as we invite all of you to put 2020 in the rearview mirror and as we all forge ahead, both stronger and more connected than ever.
 Happy New Year!





 David Harris



Designing Your Post Covid Practice
Join us for our Winter 2021 webinar series. For information and registration please click HERE.
We are looking forward to "seeing" you on January 21!








Prosperident Inc. 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com

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Newsletter December 2020 Season’s Greetings! The Holiday Season is upon us, and without a doubt, there will be a departure from all that we consider “normal” about our celebrations this year. Like many of you, I’ve been feeling a little bit overwhelmed during the Coronavirus pandemic. Although my team and I were able to work, we certainly feel the pain and uncertainty that the pandemic has caused, particularly for our friends in the dental community. I recently asked my team how Prosperident could best help you while you continue to face this unprecedented time of stress and uncertainty, especially going into this Holiday Season. The conversation that followed was inspiring, hopeful, and optimistic in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. Yay, team! In the upcoming months, I will be putting several of my team’s progressive and innovative ideas into action. We are excited to evolve, and we sincerely want to continue to be a valued part of your community. Please know that we are here for you, and we will be making every effort to be available to you in every way we can to help you with your businesses as we celebrate the holidays and move forward into a brand new year. The entire team at Prosperident wishes you and those you love a peaceful, joyous, and most of all, a safe and healthy holiday season. Sincerely, David Harris Prosperident Inc. 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com

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November 2020 Next Webinar November 19! We were pretty brave last month. We went head to head with the Presidential Debate — and we won. We had record registration. In November, there will be no such distraction; the election will be a fading memory for most of us, and there are barely any sports on TV. You have to like the title for November – Healing After Stealing. We will be talking about the effects of embezzlement on victims, staff, and their families. The webinar takes place Thursday, November 19, at 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 pm Pacific. To register, click HERE. If you want to catch up on our previous webinars, including October’s The Million Dollar Club, Meet Embezzlement’s Elite, you can access them at THIS LINK. PACE CE credit is available. We look forward to having you back in our audience! Happy Halloween from Prosperident Most of you know Amber Weber as one of our Senior Fraud Examiners and as an on-camera host of our webinar series. But it doesn’t stop there — Amber has lots of other talents. Here is Amber giving a Halloween Greeting (and some wisdom about hiring) in a Halloween Rap. Click HERE to play the video. Did you miss a previous newsletter? We archive them HERE. Big News! Our Embezzlement Risk Assessment Questionnaire has just received a major overhaul. Our research into the causes and correlates of embezzlement never ceases, and we have just incorporated the results of that research into the new version of the Questionnaire. The basic elements are still there; the Questionnaire consists of 37 yes/no completed online questions and takes less than 15 minutes. When someone takes it, they receive an overall score (we’ve simplified that a bit too) and an emailed report with details on a lot of the answers they provided and some recommendations based on their score. The Questionnaire normally costs $139, but until November 30, we are offering it to practice owners at no cost. TAKE THE QUESTIONNAIRE What is the Most Secure Practice Management Software? We are featuring excerpts from the upcoming second edition of David Harris’ book, Dental Embezzlement; the Art of Theft and the Science of Control. A frequently asked question by doctors regarding practice management software is whether there is a brand of practice management software that is better at protecting a doctor against embezzlement. This is like asking if one hammer is safer to use than another. All hammers have the potential to be safe if used properly and the potential to cause grievous harm if they are not. Let’s start by looking at your software in a way that is slightly different than what you are accustomed to. READ MORE Something to Talk About… As we move past Halloween and the Christmas season rushes headlong toward us, many people pause for a nanosecond or two in November to give thanks for the blessings that have been bestowed on them. With the second wave of Covid arriving, a politically polarized population, racial tensions, and many other issues in the world, negativity is not in short supply these days. However, it wasn’t hard for me to come up with a lot of positives: 1. I’m thankful that my family is healthy and safe. 2. I am blessed to have the chance to work with smart, talented people who are also fantastic human beings (although some should not quit their day jobs — see the column to the left). 3. I’m thankful that, through the challenges of Covid, dentists have found a way to deliver the care that their patients need safely. 4. I’m really thankful that my giant son is ensconsed in residence at college and that feeding him is now someone else’s problem. The meal plan really is a bargain for him. 5. Most of all, my team is humbled by the partnership we have formed with the dental profession as we guide its members through particularly stressful periods in their lives. Thank you for the trust you have placed in us! Sincerely, David Harris We are Prosperident, Dentistry’s Embezzlement Experts 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com

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October 2020 Next Webinar October 22! This month’s webinar promises to be particularly interesting. The topic is The Million Dollar Club – Meet Dentistry’s Elite. David, Wendy, and Amber will be joined by some Prosperident investigators who will talk about some of their most interesting cases, including thieves who took over a million dollars from their dentists. The webinar takes place Thursday, October 22, at 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 pm Pacific. To register, click HERE. If you want to catch up on our previous webinars (we had some great topics like Forensic Hiring and Steal and Conceal; What Serial Embezzlers Can Teach Us), you can access them at THIS LINK. PACE CE credit is available. We look forward to having you back in our audience! A Minute with Scott Clifford Scott is one of the three people at Prosperident to hold the title Supervising Examiner. This means that Scott has that combination of intelligence and tenacity to put him at the top of his field. Let’s hear what Scott has to say about practice management software. Click HERE to play the video. Did you miss a previous newsletter? We archive them HERE. How Big is the Embezzlement Problem? Over the next few months, we are featuring excerpts from the upcoming second edition of David Harris’ book, Dental Embezzlement; the Art of Theft and the Science of Control. The most recent broadly-based survey of embezzlement was performed by the American Dental Association’s Center for Dental Practice, which was published in 2019. In this survey, 19,991 dentists were polled, and the astonishing result was that 48.64% of those who responded confirmed that they had been victims of embezzlement. It didn’t stop there. As can be seen from the graph above, almost half of the dentists who reported being embezzled disclosed that they had been victims more than once, with 9% of respondents confirming that they had been victimized four or more times. READ MORE Something to Talk About… I’ll confess to being a news junkie. I’ve always been interested in what is going on in the world. Lately, my interest has faded. The COVID numbers, which people watch in the way they would look at baseball scores in other times, and the decidedly nasty turn that politics has taken, have made the news far less appealing for me than it once was. However, I saw an ad a few days ago that gave me pause. The essence of the ad was that if the impact of the virus was that you were stuck at home, that meant that you have a home. If you are bothered about wearing a mask when buying groceries, that means you have money for food. The message was that a bit of adversity should not make us oblivious to the blessings that we have. As I write this, two of our valued team members, Scott Clifford (profiled in the left column) and Rose Clifford, are on evacuation alert due to wildfires near their home in Northern California. This is the second time for Scott and Rose in the past two years – the 2018 Camp Fire came very close to them, and Scott’s parents lost their home in that fire. Unquestionably, the virus has impacted both dentists and those who provide goods or services to dentists adversely. I know that Thanksgiving isn’t until next month, but as the ad suggested, let’s be grateful for what we have and give some thought to those less fortunate. Sincerely, David Harris We are Prosperident, Dentistry’s Embezzlement Experts 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com

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September 2020 Next Webinar Sept 16! This month, we have a special treat for you. We have invited our audience members to submit questions, and if we use yours on-air, you win a prize. David, Wendy, and Amber will answer your questions on Wednesday, September 16, at 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 pm Pacific. To register, click HERE. Do you have a question you want us to answer? Click HERE to submit it. If you want to catch up on our previous webinars (we had some great topics like Forensic Hiring and Steal and Conceal; What Serial Embezzlers Can Teach Us), you can access them at THIS LINK. PACE CE credit is available. We look forward to having you back in our audience! Dental Podcast Hear dental industry leader Interview David Harris in a wide-ranging and thought-provoking discussion. Click HERE to play the episode. Did you miss a previous newsletter? We archive them HERE. Profiles of the Embezzler – the Narcissistic Sociopath, the Hero and the Sugar Momma These are some of the common profiles of embezzlers. Many thieves display sociopathic characteristics, and also markers of a narcissist. Psychological literature recognizes this combination as a narcissistic sociopath. The accepted traits of an antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy) include: Superficial charm and intelligence. Unreliability. Untruthfulness. Lack of remorse. Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior. Delusions of invincibility. Failure to learn by experience. Failure to follow any life plan. READ MORE Something to Talk About… It’s a bittersweet moment in my life as I pack my son off this week to begin his next chapter. He is off to college 1,200 miles away to study math and computer science, and play basketball. I can barely remember what it was like not to have Ethan around. From the impish, perpetually giggling four-year-old who endlessly made me chase him around the house to the gigantic teenager, chronically leaving his size 16 sneakers where everyone would trip on them, he has always been there. I feel badly for his generation. The COVID restrictions have meant that some of the important life events, like high school graduation and a prom, have been skipped over or radically altered. The college experience is going to be quite different from the carefree one with which we were blessed. We adults have sufficient perspective to recognize that eventually, the disruption will pass, but I am not sure that teenagers can contextualize as easily. In the way that the parents of baby boomers were forever altered by their experience coming of age in WW2, this group will always be the “COVID Generation”. Ethan is handling it well and is excited about upcoming challenges. I hope that, if someone in your family is entering a new phase, that it goes equally well for them. Sincerely, David Harris We are Prosperident, Dentistry’s Embezzlement Experts 888-398-2327 www.dentalembezzlement.com