PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR NUMBERS…OR SOMEONE ELSE WILL

As the economy fluctuates, more and more practices are becoming victims and small and large amounts of employee embezzlement. We are not hiring more dishonest people, but we are seeing people who justify their needs against the needs of the practice and feel they will “pay it back” before it’s noticed. We need to be more vigilant than ever, to keep the practice safe and healthy for the doctor and all the other employees. Here are a few red flags that might need your attention:
• An employee never takes any time off…..not even vacation. While you may well have a very conscientious employee, you may also have an employee who is afraid to have anyone fill on for her.
• Lack of order and organization in daily reports and deposits. At the end of the day everything should balance and match. If things are often out of whack, with an “I was just too busy” explanation, be sure to communicate that isn’t acceptable. Follow up even more closely if it continues after a warning.
• You notice a large drop in practice production/collections but feel like you’re still doing the same amount of work. As a dentist, you have a good sense of what should be coming into the practice, don’t ignore your instincts when you feel something may be off.
• Petty cash is not balancing or your front office person is neglecting to keep the required petty cash register. If you give gift cards out to patients who send referrals, you may note they seem to be going out much faster than the referrals are coming in. These are both warnings that small amounts may be being used for non-office reasons.
• Patients complaining they are being overcharged or asked to pay twice. When this happens even once, it warrants a thorough investigation. It may just be sloppy record keeping……not a good thing in itself….or it might be a bit of financial sleight of hand.
• An employee who is constantly asking for salary advances may just be a poor budgeter….but could be supplementing in other ways as well. Just because they’re asking in some cases, doesn’t mean they’re not also “adjusting” in other cases.
Be sure your staff knows you keep a close eye on everything that goes on in the practice and then be sure to consistently monitor reports….especially end of day reports for odd adjustments or dollar discrepancies. If you don’t pay attention to the flow of money in the practice, you’re inviting someone else to do it for you…..or more accurately for themselves.