Prosperident Pulse Archive — March 2016 to August 2016

• What Houdini and Embezzlers  Have In Common
• Examiner Profile -- Luci Berardi BSc CFE
  
• Upcoming speaking dates

Mar 3	San Diego Dental Society, San Diego CA
Mar 3	Dr. Ask Vasanthan Study Club, Sacramento CA
Mar 4	American Academy of Dental Practice Admin, Long Beach CA
Mar 4	Eastern Panhandle Dental Association, Martinsburg WV
Mar 5	Alabama Association of Oral Surgeons, Birmingham AL
Mar 7	Spartanburg Dental Society, Spartanburg SC
Mar 18	Hinman Meeting, Atlanta GA
Mar 23	Oral and Dental Implant Surgery, Pittsfield MA
Mar 25	Four study clubs, Plantation FL
Apr 5	North Shore Implants & Oral Surgery, Huntington NY
Apr 26	Will County Dental Society, Joliette IL
Apr 29	Port Huron Study Club, Port Huron MI
May 5	Ontario Dental Association, Toronto ON
May 13	Eastside Dental Study Club, Cincinnati OH
May 29	Journees Dentiare Internationale du Quebec, Montreal QC
Oct 15	Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA
Nov 10	Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV

 

For more information, or to book a fantastic speaker for your society or study club, please click here.

Examiner Profile

Luci Berardi, BSc, CFE

 

Senior Examiner Luci Berardi's two decades of managing large dental specialty practices, plus her Certified Fraud Examiner designation (which is the "gold standard" for fraud examiners), make Luci one of our "go-to" examiners for tough cases.

 

Luci is also actively involved in the American Association of Dental Office Managers, and serves as the President of AADOM's Denver chapter. 

 

In her spare time, Luci eats really healthy food.

 

What Houdini And Embezzlers Have In Common

 

Harry Houdini was probably the most famous magician of all time.  His daring escapes included the “Water Torture Cell” (where he was manacled and suspended upside down in an oversized aquarium), and the “Overboard Box Escape”, where he was locked in a wooden packing crate that was lowered into the water.

 

Although embezzlers in your office do not stand in the spotlight in the same way that Harry Houdini did, they rely om the same two things.  Like Houdini, they have clever props (often taking the form of adulterated reports on which the embezzler has worked their “magic”).  A busy dental office is an excellent place to introduce some distraction, and embezzlers become adept at encouraging you to see what they want you to see.

 

A Note From Our CEO

 

This week marks a significant milestone for Prosperident.  In the next seven days, we will be giving SIX embezzlement presentations in various parts of the country.

 

I'm pleased that we have been able to attract a talented team here -- these speaking engagements involve four different speakers from Prosperident.  The other three are excellent speakers, and I try hard to be as good as they are.

 

I'm also pleased that our long-held goal of educating dentists about the danger that embezzlement poses to their practices is producing results; dentists are more aware of the problem, and more interested in the solution, than they have ever been.

 

It is also shocking and sometimes saddening to grasp the enormity of the problem (embezzlement took well over a BILLION dollars out of dentists' pockets in 2015). I occasionally need to remind myself that awareness does not cause the problem -- it just facilitates keeping score.

 

If you a member of that large cohort of dentists who is an embezzlement victim, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation and how we could assist.  Please feel free to email us here and tell us about your situation. We will be happy to schedule a time to chat with you.

 

Thanks for reading.

David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF

Chief Executive Officer

• The "Hall of Shame"
  
• Upcoming speaking dates
• Wisdom from our CEO
  

May 6	Ontario Dental Association, Toronto ON
May 13	Eastside Dental Study Club, Cincinnati OH
May 29	Journees Dentiare Internationale du Quebec, Montreal QC
Oct 15	Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA
Oct 21	Business of Dentistry, Ottawa ON
Oct 28	Business of Dentistry, Montreal QC
Nov 10	Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV
Nov 18	Business of Dentistry, Mississauga ON
Nov 25	Business of Dentistry, Dartmouth NS
2017
Jan 26	topsOrtho topsFest, Newport Beach CA
26 Jan	Manitoba Dental Association, Winnipeg MB
Feb 3	Newport Harbor Academy of Dentistry, Newport Beach CA
April 7	UCSF Alumni, San Francisco CA

 

Tired of hearing the same speakers on the same topics?  Our most-requested presentation is called "How To Steal From A Dentist".  How's that for catchy?  To book us for your meeting or study club, click here or call us at 888-398-2327.

 

 

Prosperident's "Hall of Shame"

 

Want to see what happens to embezzlers?  Our Hall of Shame immortalizes some of the people who embezzle from dentists.

 

Click here to have a look.  And if you see anyone you recognize, give us a call.

A Note From Our CEO

 

 

Prosperident has been at the leading edge of investigating dental office embezzlement for many years.  We have built a business around knowing how embezzlers steal and conceal.

 

But for most of our quarter-century existence, we have been using this knowledge reactively -- we have been chasing, and catching, embezzlers after they have done their work.

 

We also have a bird's eye view on the financial and emotional devastation that embezzlement causes, and we have never stopped thinking about how our knowledge could be used so that that fewer dentists are victimized.

 

What always restrained us was our oft-stated belief that prevention of embezzlement is impossible; embezzlers are faced with a cornucopia of possibilities, and that blocking a few through controls would result in a would-be embezzler selecting another of their many options.

 

And then we had the flash of inspiration -- if we can't dissuade someone from trying, could we structure an office so that theft becomes riskier, and more likely to be caught?  We realized that we could, and fraudGUARD was born.

 

FraudGUARD begins with a thorough review of the embezzlement "hotspots" in an office.  Next, we teach the doctor how to efficiently monitor their practice. And for dessert, the most important part -- "compliance auditing". This is where we test to determine whether your staff are following your rules.  I don't think it would surprise you to learn that if staff won't follow your basic policies, it is a pretty safe bet that they will also ignore the policy called "don't steal from me". 

 

Want to find out more?  Give us a call at 888-398-2327 and we will be happy to help.  Or click here.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF

Chief Executive Officer

• Podcasts
• The "Hall of Shame"
  
• Upcoming Speaking Dates
• Our CEO's Rant
  

Jun 10	speaking and Consulting Network, Santa Fe NM
Jun 17	New Brunswick Dental Society, Fredericton NB
Jul 12	All Star Dental Academy Webinar
Aug 4	Alabama AGD, Destin FL
Sep 9	Seattle Study Club, Houston TX
Oct 15	Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA
Oct 21	Argyle Group, Ottawa ON
Oct 28	Spectrum Day, Toronto ON
Nov 4	PEAK Education, Novi MI
Nov 10	Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV
Nov 16	Harbor Dental Society, Lakeside CA
2017
Jan 18	St Helens Shadow Study Club, Vancouver WA
Jan 26	topsOrtho topsFest, Newport Beach CA
26 Jan	Manitoba Dental Association, Winnipeg MB
Feb 3	Newport Harbor Academy of Dentistry, Newport Beach CA
Feb 24	Chicago Midwinter Meeting, Chicago IL
Mar 9	Greater Philadelphia Valley Forge Dental Society, Philadelphia PA
Mar 10	Pacific Dental Conference, Vancouver BC
April 7	UCSF Alumni, San Francisco CA

 

Tired of hearing the same speakers on the same topics? 

 

Our most-requested presentation is called "How To Steal From A Dentist".   

 

To book us for your meeting or study club, click here or call us at 888-398-2327.

 

 

Prosperident Podcasts

Our CEO has had the privilege of being interviewed by some of the most interesting people in dentistry.  Here are some of his favorites:

 

the hilarious Drs. Jason Lipscomb and Alan Mead-- here

Dr. Wes Blakeslee of AGD -- here

Dr. Anissa Holmes, social media goddess -- here

The urbane Dr. Mark Costes -- here

 

We've done lots more -- you can see the full collection in our Media Room here.

Prosperident Hall of Shame

Our Hall of Shame immortalizes some of the people who embezzle from dentists.

 

Click here to have a look.  And if you see anyone you recognize, give us a call.

A Note From Our CEO

 

 

 

I know that I have talked about these things before, but  they keep coming up in conversations with doctors, so this month I'll devote this column to addressing some of the misconceptions about embezzlement that just won't seem to go away.

 

Almost every dentist I speak with believes that embezzlement is limited to cash theft, and it hasn't occurred to them that embezzlers have found ways to steal checks payable to the doctor, credit card payments, and electronic funds transfers.  Because there are almost certainly some nascent embezzlers reading this column, I won't spell out here how it is done, but this is something that we see on a daily basis.  Practice owners need to know that any form of wealth transfer can be adulterated by an embezzler, and they don't have to be a Mensa member to do it.  A bit of research and a modicum of creativity will suffice.

 

 

Another misconception is that doctors believe that their recourse against a thieving employee diminishes when that employee is fired or quits.  I frequently encounter dentists who suspect a former employee of embezzlement, but believe that they have no ability to take action because the employee no longer works there, and others who believe that they must keep an otherwise unsatisfactory employee on the payroll until our investigation is complete.

 

Let me make this very simple.  Stealing is stealing, regardless of whether or not the person who did it is still (or ever was) an employee.  So yes, we can investigate the actions of an employee who is no longer working for you, and no, there is no reason to keep an employee you really don't want anyway while our investigation take place.

 

Have embezzlement concerns?  Want to make your practice better protected against embezzlement?  Give us a call at 888-398-2327 and we will be happy to help.  Or click here.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF

Chief Executive Officer

• Upcoming Webinar
• Guest Article --Laura Hatch
• The "Hall of Shame"
  
• Upcoming Speaking Dates
• A note form our CEO

Prosperident Hall of Shame

We have recently updated our Hall of Shame  so that it profiles over 100 embezzlers.  Are any of them working in your office?

Aug 4	Alabama AGD, Destin FL
Sep 9	Seattle Study Club, Houston TX
Sep 30	Calgary Specialists Study Club, Calgary AB
Oct 15	Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA
Oct 21	Argyle Group, Ottawa ON
Oct 22	Alberta Society of Dental Specialists, Edmonton, AB
Oct 28	Spectrum Day, Toronto ON
Nov 4	PEAK Education, Novi MI
Nov 10	Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV
Nov 16	Harbor Dental Society, Lakeside CA
2017
Jan 18	St Helens Shadow Study Club, Vancouver WA
Jan 26	topsOrtho topsFest, Newport Beach CA
26 Jan	Manitoba Dental Association, Winnipeg MB
Feb 3	Newport Harbor Academy of Dentistry, Newport Beach CA
Feb 24	Chicago Midwinter Meeting, Chicago IL
Mar 9	Greater Philadelphia Valley Forge Dental Society, Philadelphia PA
Mar 10	Pacific Dental Conference, Vancouver BC
April 7	UCSF Alumni, San Francisco CA

 

Our most-requested presentation is called "How To Steal From A Dentist".   

 

To book us for your meeting or study club, click here or call us at 888-398-2327.

 

Guest Article -- Laura Hatch

David Harris describes his friend Laura Hatch as a "bastion of common sense".  After building several successful offices with her dentist husband, Laura started her consulting firm with the interesting name "Front Office Rocks".

Laura can be found at: www.FrontOfficeRocks.com

 

Three Vital Keys to Finding and Training Good Employees

 

Is it time to bring on a new employee? I know a lot of office managers and dentists are frustrated with the entire hiring and training process. As an office manager myself, I get it. But I have good news: the process doesn’t need to be a negative one, if you go at it the right way. In my experience, there are three key aspects of hiring and training that will make the process less painful and far more effective.

 

First, step back and check your attitude about the process. If you go into the hiring game with the attitude that there are no good employees out there, then guess what? You won’t find any. 

 

A Note From Our CEO

 

 

I was discussing embezzlement with my friend Rick Willeford last month.  Rick is a CPA and engineer who founded DentaMetrix, a company that helps dentists and consultants make sense of their data. 

 

Rick was analogizing embezzlement to, believe it or not, bird feeders.  He told me that he was having trouble keeping squirrels away from his feeder.

 

When he tried to buy squirrel-proof bird feeders, Rick was told that they don't exist.  Rick asked the hardware store clerk why.  

 

"How much time per day do you spend thinking about this problem?" the clerk asked Rick.  Rick acknowledged that it was less than 10 minutes.  "Let's consider this from the squirrel's perspective", the clerk said.  "He want nothing more than to steal your birdseed.  In fact, he thinks of nothing but that birdseed all day.  Of course he is going to beat you!"

 

Many dentists assume that their considerable intellectual prowess and lengthy education should give them an advantage over embezzlers.  And yet we see less gifted thieves successfully embezzle for years, so the bird feeder parable is accurate.  Thanks for the perspective, Rick!

 

Have embezzlement concerns?  Want to improve your practice's protection against embezzlement?  Give us a call at 888-398-2327 and we will be happy to help.  Or click here.

 

David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF

Chief Executive Officer

 

• Tell Us Your Embezzlement Story
• The "Hall of Shame"
  
• Upcoming Speaking Dates
• A note form our CEO

Aug 4	Alabama AGD, Destin FL
Sep 9	Seattle Study Club, Houston TX
Sep 21	Canadian Dental Protective Association, Toronto ON
Sep 30	Calgary Specialists Study Club, Calgary AB
Oct 13	Sunset Study Club, Portland OR
Oct 15	Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, Palm Springs CA
Oct 21	Argyle Group, Ottawa ON
Oct 22	Alberta Society of Dental Specialists, Edmonton, AB
Oct 28	Spectrum Day, Toronto ON
Nov 4	PEAK Education, Novi MI
Nov 10	Carestream Global Oral Health Summit, Las Vegas NV
Nov 16	Harbor Dental Society, Lakeside CA
2017
Jan 18	St Helens Shadow Study Club, Vancouver WA
Jan 26	topsOrtho topsFest, Newport Beach CA
26 Jan	Manitoba Dental Association, Winnipeg MB
Feb 3	Newport Harbor Academy of Dentistry, Newport Beach CA
Feb 23	Ortho2 UGM Anaheim CA
Feb 24	Chicago Midwinter Meeting, Chicago IL
Mar 9	Greater Philadelphia Valley Forge Dental Society, Philadelphia PA
Mar 10	Pacific Dental Conference, Vancouver BC
April 7	UCSF Alumni, San Francisco CA

 

Our most-requested presentation is called "How To Steal From A Dentist".   

 

To book us for your meeting or study club, click here or call us at 888-398-2327.

Prosperident Hall of Shame

We have recently updated our Hall of Shame  so that it profiles over 150 embezzlers.  Are you curious whether one of them is working for you?

 

Dentists -- Tell Us Your Embezzlement Story

Have you been embezzled?  Tell us your story here, and receive a $500 discount on our FraudGUARD preventative product.

 

You can learn more about FraudGUARD here.

See Us In The Movies

Our CEO is normally pretty camera-shy. If I didn't think it would get me fired, I'd say that he has a great face for radio :-).

 

Until recently, he has NEVER allowed himself to be recorded while speaking. So here is your chance, for the first time ever, to see a clip of David presenting --  www.prosperident.com/team-member/david-harris/

A Note From Our CEO

 

 

Wishful thinking is something I encounter on a daily basis. 

 

Having your practice be embezzled is definitely an unpleasant experience, and it is understandable that dentists will either unrealistically wish that the problem will self-correct, or will cling to the belief that there is a "magic pill" that will somehow provide safety from the scourge of embezzlement.

 

I hear many justifications for dentists believing that they are embezzlement-proof. A common postulation is that paying your employees well protects you.  This assumes that financial need is the catalyst for embezzlement (often it isn't) and that the extra dollar or two per hour you pay above the going rate will somehow scratch that itch (it won't -- the typical embezzler steals between 2-4% of monthly collections).

 

Another popular, but misguided, belief is that refusing to take assigned insurance benefits deters embezzlement.  I have explained to many doctors that this is simply an internal policy, of which the insurance companies are unaware (and therefore would pay an "assignment" claim originating from that office if received).  Also, it is no harder to steal payments from patients than insurance payments.

 

I had a dentist ask me yesterday if having his spouse sharing front desk duties would stop embezzlement.  I mentioned that there are lots of ways for a front-desk person to steal without the involvement or notice of co-workers, and also that the loyalty of a spouse isn't always absolute, as many marriages end in divorce.  I don't think I made his day.

 

So what does work?  First, most dentists can do a much better job of screening job applicants (check out this article).  Second, many dentists have had success in adjusting how their offices function to eliminate embezzlement "hotspots" and to force would-be embezzlers to steal in ways that are more likely to be caught.  Our FraudGUARD product can help you do this. 

 

And finally, our Embezzlement Risk Assessment Questionnaire is an excellent tool for monitoring the behavior of your employees.  For the month of August, the questionnaire is available for half the regular price.

 

Enjoy the rest of your summer! 

 

 

David Harris CPA, CMA, MBA, CFE, CFF

Chief Executive Officer