Don’t be a victim of theft or dental fraud

David Harris, CEO of Prosperident, explains how he tackles dental fraud and what practices can to to avoid becoming a victim of embezzlement.

What services does Prosperident offer to dental practices?

We offer four services to dentists. The majority of our work involves investigation when practice owners either suspect, or have already discovered embezzlement in their practices.

In situations where we suspect embezzlement but is isn’t confirmed, our role is to determine whether theft is or was actually occurring. After we discover embezzlement, our role is to help the practice recover as much money as possible and to learn from the experience to prevent recurrence.

We have an offering called Office Protection System. This is where we assist owners of dental practices in setting up their systems in a way that lessens their vulnerability to embezzlement.

Third, we provide support to legal teams in cases involving dental practices. These include ‘buyer’s remorse’ matters where the purchaser of a practice believes that the seller misrepresented the financial condition of the practice. Also divorce files where one party believes that the profitability of the practice owned by the other was misstated.

Finally, we are speakers and typically speak to dental audiences 80 or more times each year.

What is the most common illegal activity that you uncover? And how high can losses get before discovery?

Employees stealing from the practices that employ them. This can include ‘disbursement fraud’ such as manipulation of payroll, or ‘skimming’ where payments from patients or third-party payers are misappropriated. While there are countless variations of how it is carried out and concealed, between the two types of embezzlement, skimming is by far the more prevalent.

Losses can certainly be significant. The North American experience is that the average amount stolen…