The ways to steal from a medical practice are as varied as the human imagination, noted a recent article from Medscape Today. However, the following three schemes are the ones that criminals most often get away with, according to experts. Take precautions to make sure your office is not a victim.
1. Fake vendors
Be sure that all checks you sign are for legitimate vendors, not fictitious companies set up by a fraudulent employee. Doctors should review and initial all vendors' invoices as a way of authorizing payment, MedCity News recommended. When doing so, be on the lookout for invoices without phone numbers or physician addresses, or that are made out for amounts with round numbers. Be especially alert to "check ambush," Medscape noted, which occurs when a staffer tries to pressure a doctor into hastily signing several checks just before leaving for the day.
2. Cash with wings
"Cash can walk, and sometimes it flies," Jeffrey B. Milburn, a principal with the Medical Group Management Association Health Care Consulting Group, told American Medical News. However, he noted that shouldn't discourage practices from accepting cash because "you will always have a few patients who don't want to pay any other way."
According to Medscape, stealing cash receipts is a common form of embezzlement. Embezzlers will frequently write off accounts, delete payments or delete a record of a "no-show" for a patient who was seen. To prevent this problem, set a policy of giving patients who pay with cash numbered receipts and be sure the amounts correlate with the appointments for each given day, amednews recommended.
3. Payroll schemes
Dishonest staffers in charge of payroll have been known to inflate their own (or friends') salaries or the number of hours worked, experts said. To catch such schemes, practices should periodically review each employee's year-to-date gross salary and check that it is reasonable, MedCity advised.
To learn more:
- read the article from Medscape Today (registration required)
- see the post from MedCity News
- read the article from American Medical News