Contributing Writer Dental Practice Consulting: Embezzlement Tips
1. Make sure your deposit slip matches the cash/checks for the day. This is where you are most vulnerable.
2. Signs of embezzlement in end of day adjustment report are a. Patient refunds b. No cash payments c. Non-approved adjustments/write-offs.
3. Put refund checks in the mail yourself.
4. Lock down your credit card terminal with a code so only the practice owner can issue refunds (thanks Alex).
5. Take note of any employee working unusual hours, living beyond their means or who rarely takes vacations. They may also be unusually territorial or evasive when discussing practice finances.
6. All staff should have individual log-ins with user access limited to their specific job function.
7. Don't allow anyone to use petty cash as an ATM including the practice owner. Have some kind of written log/slip system to record cash in/out and use a safe/lock box of some sort with only those who need access having a key or the combination.
8. Direct deposit for insurance checks cuts off one embezzlement avenue.
9. Have one person open mail and a separate person enter the payments.
10. Install security cameras, not just to keep an eye on staff, but for their safety as well.
Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is a full-service dental practice management company offering customized dental office manuals. Frustrated? High overhead? Schedule a chat with Kevin at
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Dental Practice Consulting Analysis
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Our 25th Year | Grow Your Practice
There is the good, the bad and the ugly of dental practice management, but many dentists will still tell you the probability is your dental consulting will work if you and your consultant are on the same page. It stands to reason that if a dental consultant had little value, worth or benefit that consultant could not stand up to harsh economic realities for long. A veteran dental consultant is also a "personal coach" who shold bring management wisdom based on "in the trenches" experience along with systems and protocols to that have been successfully implemented in other practices. Top dental consultants talk and network with each other. They pay attention to what systems work and don't across many dental practices.
Systems
New Patient Phone Call
Insurance Processing
New Patient Experience and Patient Education
Financial Arrangements
Scheduling
Confirmation
Unscheduled Treatment
Reactivation
Daily and Weekly Checklists
General Policy Manual
Staff Accountability
What gets monitored, gets managed. It is as simple as that. The only way to monitor what gets done is with daily stats especially for your weak areas. For example, one employee should be specifically responsible for calls to patients who are unscheduled, overdue for re-care or need reactivation. Other staff can and should help in coordination with the accountable employee.
Leadership
What most practice owners are lack in knowledge is not how to book an appointment, but rather how to be an effective leader. The best systems in the world are useless if the staff do not comply. Good leaders know how to get staff to willingly follow through and comply.
Questions To Ask
Do you and/or your staff have to travel or does the consultant come to you?
Is the program mostly one on one consulting versus seminars or courses with multiple clients in attendance?There are advantages to both.
If the dental consulting is one on one who will actually deliver the consulting? I recommend knowing who your specific dental consultant will be prior to signing on the dotted line.
Is program based on a specific dental practice management system? You want to avoid cookie-cutter programs. Ensure the program will be tailor-made to fit your practice's specific needs.
The cost (including travel expenses and downtime) is certainly not the only factor, everything else being equal, it is still a major factor to consider. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little.
Top Dental Practice Mangement Consultant
My name is Kevin Tighe. Consultant. Coach. Mentor.
My mission is to advise, recommend and help implement proven systems to grow your practice .
Before joining the Cambridge team I was in charge of setting up workshops for large nonprofits throughout the United States and Canada. During that time, I was fortunate to receive mentoring from several world-class business consultants, including a dental practice management guru, which led to a position at Cambridge as their seminar organizer. In time, I began crisscrossing the country delivering seminars myself for the better part of a decade. Subsequently, I moved up to senior consultant and eventually partner and now sole owner.
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