Internal Fraud in Doctors’ Offices—Only a Heartbeat Away
Few doctors are willing to accept the fact that internal fraud in doctors’ offices is on the increase. Unfortunately, crimes of this nature are real. Three examples of internal fraud in doctors’ offices:
- This practice’s officer manager was charged with embezzling more than $300,000 over a three-year period.
- After his bookkeeper was arrested for$200,000 embezzlement, this doctor said, “My wife and I have been devastated by having our retirement stolen from us by a trusted employee.”
- This former office manager for a physician pled guilty to embezzling $323,000.
No matter what you think—there is always the risk of internal fraud in doctors’ offices. Don’t make the local news by becoming the next internal fraud in doctors’ offices story. Internal fraud in doctors’ offices is preventable. Here’s how to reduce your risk:
1) Recognize the Threat: Acknowledge your practice may be vulnerable to internal fraud in doctors’ offices. The profile of an employee who commits these crimes generally holds a position of trust, has greatest opportunity, is least suspected, and has little or no supervisory oversight.
2) Hiring Practices: Prevention of internal fraud in doctors’ offices starts at the point of hire. Reduce your risk to internal fraud by conducting in-depth background and credit history checks.
3) Multiple Tasking: Minimize risk by not allowing a single employee to be able to affect every stage of a critical work process. For example, the employee who is responsible for accounts payable should not open mail or handle accounts receivable.
4) Supervisory Oversight: Proper oversight and monitoring help to ensure that adequate internal controls are in place and enforced.
These “four steps” will help and this book is loaded with strategies to increase your knowledge regarding ways to recognize and minimize internal fraud in doctors’ offices.
Learn to recognize the signs of internal fraud in doctors’ offices by picking up Business Fraud: From Trust to Betrayal today!