There have been a lot of articles written that give dentists vague encouragement to allocate duties between team members as a way of lowering embezzlement risk. However, what most of these articles are lacking is any practical advice on how do do this. This lack of clear direction leaves a dentist in a
Introducing SOFIA consulting services For when following your instincts isn’t good enough “Trust your gut.” We have all heard, followed, and probably given that advice. And, in situations where a problem is not solvable quantitatively, making decisions by intuition is the only way. Traditionally, dentists
A friend who is a dental CPA and practice management speaker asked us the other day what reports from practice management software should be reviewed by a practice owner. Here is our answer: Using PMS Reports to Monitor Your Practice Obviously, there is no report called “Is embezzlement
Unless you live in a cave, you have probably heard a lot about Artificial Intelligence lately. AI can drive cars, filter spam from your inbox (Yay!), and tailor the ads you see when browsing to suit your preferences. Applications that seem to be straight from science fiction are on the horizon.
Here is a conversation between an anonymous person and an attorney at justanswer.com. Note how the thief confesses to under-reporting the amount stolen to her dentist. I have embezzled over $30,000 from a dental practice that I worked in. I want to repay it. I have
We live in a society that is becoming increasingly “cashless.” The convenience of using debit and credit cards for transactions started the trend.
We recently were asked this question by a dentist and thought that discussion of psychological testing for dishonesty is something that we should address.
Both insurance companies and dental practices have long appreciated the convenience of electronic funds transfers as a method of payment.
The chorus in the financial press is growing that a storm of recession is on the horizon. Inflation has been described as “too much money chasing too few goods.”
Should I call the police if I think I have been embezzled? I have recently been involved in a couple of Facebook discussions that had a common element that I wanted to share with you.
Let’s think about the control systems in place in your practice. Everything from the “balancing” done by staff at the end of each day to what you as a practice owner review to how the burglar alarm in your practice operates.
Dental practice financial management requires a practice owner to have some involvement in the financial operations of their practice.
A common theme at conferences and in dental media lately is a shortage of people to hire ,and hiring properly has become a high challenge.
Sooner or later, every practice owner receives this unwelcome news. Your office manager quits suddenly. He or she is the key to the smooth functioning of your office.
Our CEO once said that embezzlers will happily fill gaps in a practice’s policies to their advantage. So what are these policy vacuums, and how do embezzlers exploit them?
We have noticed an interesting phenomenon in dentistry. When you look at all types of business in aggregate, “whistleblowers” are responsible for detecting 43% of embezzlement.
Some insurance companies make payments to practices by creating virtual credit cards with credit balances and then providing the card numbers.
Embezzlement protection involves a few big steps and a lot of small items, and they can seem daunting for a new practice owner. For this post, let’s address the big items.
Is there a brand of practice management software that is better at protecting a doctor against embezzlement? What is the most secure software?
Embezzlement has been around since the beginning of recorded history.
Like every private investigator, I consider myself an armchair psychologist. From my observation, many Greedy thieves display sociopathic characteristics and also markers of a narcissist.
While most of this website is oriented towards owners of dental practices, we would be remiss if we didn’t address the topic of associate dentists.
Delegation is essential to the financial well-being of a practice. The existence of well-trained clinical and administrative staff allows a practice’s doctors to focus on their unique (and high value) competencies. The concept of clinical delegation is well-understood by dentists and is something first encountered in dental school.
(Editor’s note — the concepts for this article were first presented in a webinar presented by the authors in May 2020. When someone wants to embezzle from you, their approach is predictable. Thieves begin by asking themselves whether the reconciliation process used in your practice is thorough and complete.
The American Dental Association’s Council on Dental Practice recently released the results of a survey completed last year on embezzlement.
Thorough month-end reconciliations are critical to uncover revenue anomalies, errors, and embezzlement.
The American Dental Association’s Council on Dental Practice recently released the results of a survey completed last year that show that dental practice embezzlement is increasing.
Deleted transactions are overlooked and ignored to our detriment. One must purposely seek to find these hidden gems to uncover the dark stories they tell.
Everyone knows that daily balancing is a key safeguard for your practice’s finances, but there is very little information available to a dentist on how to do it properly.
A dentist in a Facebook forum states that embezzlement cannot be happening in his or her practice because they “check their practice management software daysheet every single day.”
Embezzlement in orthodontic practices takes place with more frequency than in general dental practices.
It continues to amaze us that the people who we refer to as “serial embezzlers” continue to find jobs in dental practices.
No — you can check criminal records. California is one of 13 “Ban the Box” states.
The following is an excerpt from David Harris’ upcoming book on protecting yourself from embezzlement. Stay tuned for the book release.
One of the most frequent comments we hear once the identity of an embezzler is confirmed is that he or she is “the last person I could imagine stealing”.
We hear this a lot from people discussing embezzlement with us. They say that they always check that their day-end report balances to their deposit.
Reference Check Essentials: Helping You Master Your Hiring Process
My accountants just did my year-end three months ago. How could they possibly miss the embezzlement that Prosperident found?
“I live in a small town…” I’m not referring to the catchy John Mellencamp tune of the 1980s (although I did like the song).
I have a question as I have a client that recently hired somebody and shortly after she started he got notice that her wages are garnisheed to pay off $3,200.00.
We all know that data is important, and we need to back it up. Whether a hard disk stops working, or your network has been invaded by “ransomware,” ensuring that you are doing proper backups can definitely save your bacon.
Over the past week, I’ve encountered a couple of similar situations, which leads me to believe that this scenario is worthy of my writing about it.
As dentists, we have invested enormous time and resources obtaining our education, growing our practices, and pursuing other professional endeavors.
Many dentists believe that if the practice management software day-end report balances to their bank deposit, embezzlement is not happening in their practice.
I was discussing embezzlement with my friend Rick Willeford a few months ago. Rick is a CPA and engineer who founded DentaMetrix, a company that helps dentists and consultants make sense of their data.
Here are ten steps that take very little time but can make your practice much safer from embezzlement.
The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary describes trust as “ assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”
Will I get caught if I charged a stolen credit card?
I’ll devote this column to addressing some of the misconceptions about embezzlement that just won’t seem to go away.
There are a lot of “urban myths” about embezzlement that will not disappear. As a result, embezzlement is flourishing in dentistry.
Building a successful orthodontic practice is no small feat. It takes unwavering commitment, good marketing skills, smart business sense, and a dedicated support staff.
As investigators, one thing we encounter every time we speak to a group of orthodontists is that, in the area of embezzlement, they consistently underestimate the capabilities of their opponents.
The Prosperident team does an amazing job of uncovering and assisting you in dealing with the legal issues around embezzlement. You now have this done, are feeling violated, and are not sure how to recover. Now what?
Houdini was a master illusionist. Since many of his stunts were performed in full view of his audience, he relied on two key elements to perform the impossible.
I’ve often said that our embezzlers fall neatly into two categories, which I labeled the “Needy” and the “Greedy.” Let’s take you inside the mind of the embezzler.
Something that surprises victims is the painful slowness with which the justice system operates.
When an embezzler thinks that he or she is about to be discovered (and possibly go to jail, have their friends read about them in the newspaper, have their spouse find out about their illegal activities, etc.), their thoughts turn to self-preservation.
I have seen a few people advocate dentists setting up a plan to test honesty of their front desk staff.
Reports suggest that more than half of dentists will eventually be victims of embezzlement. Dental practitioners can benefit from increasing their knowledge about embezzlement and how to deal with it effectively.
Occasionally, a dentist calls us to say that he or she found an employee stealing who was fired or quit and that, because the suspect quit, the dentist believes that the “door is closed” on this matter, and no further action is required.
If someone is embezzling from you, they are constantly looking for signs that they are about to get caught.
Something I often get asked is whether more embezzlement takes place when the economy is in trouble.
Is entitlement a factor for embezzlement with certain demographics?
People come to my lectures looking for many things — some want CE credit; others with embezzlement concerns want information, and there are probably some seeking entertainment.
I get asked this question a lot when I am speaking to groups of dentists, so I decided to share the answer, and the reasons behind it, with you.
Finding a good personality fit and ensuring that employees properly project your office’s personality are topics I will leave to others.