Published Articles & Books

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Prosperident's investigators and practice-protection specialists are frequent contributors to the dental profession's leading publications. The articles below are authored or co-authored by members of the Prosperident team, including CEO David Harris, Forensic CPA, CFE, MBA, Amber Weber-Gonzales, Scott Clifford, Wendy Askins, Alyssa Kimmins, and Kathy Kirkby. Articles are listed most-recent first. Prosperident's written works have appeared in every major North American dental publication.

Written Articles
Article Publication Authors Year Read
The Final Check — Safeguarding A/R from Errors, Inefficiencies, and Embezzlement The third installment of the A/R Hurdles series — addresses critical components of A/R management, credits, refund controls, and the time allocation required to catch manipulation before it costs thousands. The Profitable Dentist David Harris, Amber Weber-Gonzales, Alyssa Kimmins & Kathy Kirkby 2025
Understanding a Serial Money Thief: Embezzlement's "Frequent Fliers" Why do embezzlers strike again after being caught? Drawing on real case experience, this article profiles repeat offenders and explains the warning signs dentists miss when hiring — and why background checks alone fall short. The Profitable Dentist David Harris 2025
The Cost of Poor AR Management: How to Protect Your Practice's Revenue Part two of the A/R Hurdles series — explores common billing-management failures, how uncollected receivables create both financial loss and embezzlement opportunity, and proven strategies for protecting your practice's cash flow. The Profitable Dentist David Harris 2025
What's Not in Your Wallet? Hidden AR Risks That Could Cost You Thousands Part one of the A/R Hurdles series — reveals how aging receivables become a hiding place for theft, the specific AR categories most vulnerable to manipulation, and the oversight structures that close those gaps. The Profitable Dentist David Harris & Amber Weber-Gonzales 2025
Protect Your Practice: Practical Steps to Divide Duties and Reduce Embezzlement Risks Goes beyond vague advice to provide concrete, actionable guidance on segregating duties in a dental office — including which tasks must never be combined and how to restructure workflows without disrupting operations. The Profitable Dentist David Harris 2025
Embezzlement in Dentistry: Discover the Simple Secret to Safeguarding Your Practice from Embezzlement Cuts through the complexity to reveal the single most effective principle for preventing embezzlement — and explains why most dental practices unknowingly violate it every day. The Profitable Dentist David Harris & Amber Weber-Gonzales 2024
The Silent Threat: Practice Embezzlement in Dentistry and Preventing It
In this Dental Tribune International interview, Harris shares insights on identifying and preventing employee theft, covering control systems, hiring best practices, software security, and what to do when embezzlement is suspected.
Dental Tribune International David Harris 2024
Now Is the Time to Assess Your Practice's Risk of Embezzlement
Published in the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association, this article makes the case for proactive embezzlement risk assessment and outlines why the current environment is particularly dangerous for practice owners.
Journal of the Michigan Dental Association David Harris 2024
Practical Approaches for Embezzlement Protection A comprehensive, practitioner-focused guide to layering embezzlement controls — covering technology, procedural safeguards, and the critical role of the dentist's own oversight behaviors. Dental Economics David Harris & Scott Clifford 2022
Strategies for Navigating the Dental Industry Labor Shortage Examines how the post-pandemic staffing crisis changed the risk calculus for dental practices — and why a desperate hiring environment is also a prime breeding ground for embezzlement. Dental Economics David Harris 2022
How to Identify and Minimize Employee Theft
Examines why DSOs are not immune to embezzlement, outlines key vulnerabilities unique to multi-site organizations, and provides a practical risk-management framework covering pre-employment screening, revenue-cycle oversight, and audit programs.
DSOPro David Harris & Christine Geary 2022
Post-Pandemic Fraud in Dental Practices Analyzes the surge in dental embezzlement during and after COVID-19 — including how operational disruptions, government relief programs, and remote monitoring created new vulnerabilities and emboldened opportunistic theft. Dentistry Today Amber Weber-Gonzales, David Harris & Wendy Askins 2021
Busting Embezzlement: Part 2 — A False Sense of Security Among Dentists Part two of a two-part series — challenges the common belief that trust, good systems, or software alone protect a practice, and identifies the specific misconceptions that leave dentists exposed. DentistryIQ David Harris, Sandy Baird & Jean Patterson 2020
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Ending the Employment Relationship A practical guide for dental practice owners navigating employee termination — covering what to do before, during, and after a dismissal to protect the practice from retaliation, data theft, and post-departure fraud. Oral Health Group Amber Weber-Gonzales & David Harris 2020
The COVID Crisis: Use Downtime to Prevent Chaos Written during the pandemic shutdown, this article guides practices through using forced downtime productively — strengthening financial controls, reviewing access permissions, and building the oversight infrastructure that survives disruption. Oral Health Group David Harris & Amber Weber-Gonzales 2020
Busting Embezzlement: Part 1 — The Problem Opens a two-part series by defining the true scale of dental embezzlement in North America — including how investigators uncover theft that practice owners never suspected and why the first instinct of most dentists is wrong. DentistryIQ David Harris, Sandy Baird & Jean Patterson 2019
Embezzlement — What Every Brilliant Clinician Should Know A foundational primer on dental embezzlement — covering the psychology of theft, the typical profile of an embezzler, and the overlooked vulnerabilities that make even the most well-run practices targets. Oral Health Group David Harris & Wendy Askins 2017
8 Myths About Embezzlement
Busts eight widely held misconceptions about dental embezzlement — from the belief that embezzlers only steal cash to the myth that reducing opportunity eliminates risk — and explains what dentists should actually watch for.
DrBicuspid.com David Harris 2015
Books & Book Chapters
Healers versus Stealers: How to Outsmart the Thief in Your Dental Practice
Author: David Harris Publisher: Telwell Talent Published: 2023 ISBN: 978-1-77941-015-3 Find on Amazon →
Dental Embezzlement: The Art of Theft and the Science of Control
Author: David Harris Publisher: Telwell Talent Published: 2019 ISBN: 978-0-228818-75-5 Find on Amazon →
Chapter 16: "Understanding Embezzlement" in Dental Practice Transition: A Practical Guide to Management
Chapter Author: David Harris Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Published: 2016
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