In 1989, David Harris started investigating embezzlement in dental practices...
... And by 1990, computers took over and brought stealing a 'click' away.
Since them, the numbers have kept climbing.
From paying utility bills, to dipping in the 'gold jar', David has seen it all.
I was taken back by this conversation and couldn't wait for you guys to give it a listen.
Here's a bit more about David Harris:
Overcoming a troubled adolescence, David Harris has become the world’s leading expert on dental office embezzlement.
He is the CEO of Prosperident, the world’s largest dental embezzlement investigation firm. Prosperident’s team of specialized investigators is consulted on hundreds of frauds annually committed against both general dentists and dental specialists. David has had the distinct pleasure of hearing cell doors slam shut on many embezzlers.
David is a licensed private investigator with a graduate degree in applied mathematics and a CPA. David is “dual certified” in fraud investigation – he possesses both the Certified Fraud Examiner designation from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Certified in Financial Forensics designation from the American Institute of CPAs.
David is a Mensa member and belongs to several organizations for dental consultants and speakers.
David has been interviewed on the subject of embezzlement by many leading dental publications and organizations. He is also a prolific writer and authors or co-authors a dozen or more articles annually that appear in major dental publications.
David has lectured at several US and Canadian universities in the faculties of business, law and dentistry.
David has spoken at regional, national and international dental conferences.
He is a highly entertaining and engaging speaker who draws on a vast amount of experience in his field.
Here's more of what you're going to get in today's episode:
- 3 types of organizations that are most vulnerable for embezzlement
- What made the numbers in embezzlement climb higher than ever before
- Why embezzlement doesn't just mean stolen cash from your office
- The mental shift that happens during a buyout transition that can cause embezzlement to start happening in your practice
- The number 1 price of advice David would give to a new office that's just starting to hire team members
- Why most dentists don't enjoy the hiring process and what happens after a new hire joins that you NEED to avoid
- How to properly run a background check on new employees (and why you may not want to had t the process off to an online service)
- Why it doesn't mean that someone is "hirable" just because a background check comes back as clean
- What things won't appear on a typical background check that you need to be aware of
- Why you should never bother calling persona references
- The ONE kind of reference that's actually valuable
- Why you shouldn't ever call listed reference numbers on a resume
- A trick a potential new hire used that could negate your reference check process (truth is stranger than fiction)
- What questions to ask when you get former employers on the phone for a reference check
- The ONE question you CANT get wrong when asking a reference about a previous employee
- How to properly ask cross-references for dates of employment
- What to do if you're buying a new practice
- The legal impediments you can run into during a background check (and why you'll want to see legal advice during this process)
- The two pieces of advice David would give to someone taking over another practice
- How a dentist may embezzle another dentist
- How to protect yourself when buying into an existing practice
- Why, when information in an appraisal is present, it doesn't make it true
- Why most doctors don't want to pay COA's to do their due silliness
- What "concealment" is and where it usually happens
- What most practicing dentists misunderstand about embezzlement
- Which category of employee does more embezzlement: New hires or existing employees?
- The biggest mistake dental practices owners make (especially first-time owners)
- The way thieves act when they’re stealing from you
- The behavior of someone who’s embezzling from your office
- When most stealing is done from dental practices
- The biggest embezzlement David ever saw that resulted in over $600,000 in stolen funds
- Why dentists get stolen from frequently
- Why David would describe most dentists as perfectionists
- What an embezzler will promise you that enables them the ability to steal from your practice
Episode Bonus:
For most of us, the success of our practice represents our retirement, ability to pay the bills, quality of life, and our kids being able to go to college.
I personally want to avoid those things, and want that for you, as well.
For today’s bonus, I’ve collected some of the main points David made and put them into a nice little checklist you can keep around in your practice.
I’m putting a recurring calendar event to come up every quarter to review it in my own accounting practice, and highly advise you do the same.
If you haven’t started your practice yet, you’re going to be ahead of the game from day one if you download this resource - a huge advantage over those of who have been doing this for years and may have already been victim to theft without knowing.
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