Practice Management BY JOEY BERLIN
Keep an eye on the books
PHYSICIANS JADED AFTER EMBEZZLEMENT BY TRUSTED EMPLOYEES
A
fter the office manager at a North Texas obstetrics-gynecology practice had logged nearly two decades of service, she had become more than just the person who kept the office functioning, a physician there says.
“We as physicians are trusting people,” said the OB-Gyn, who asked not to be named. “We take care of people, and that includes our employees. Most days we spend more time at our office than we do with our own families, so our office staff becomes our family.” A little under two years ago, 17 years into her tenure, the office manager was diagnosed with breast cancer. The practice had taken care of her during her pregnancies years earlier, and members of her family were also patients. When she went through a nasty divorce five years previously, the physician says, the practice helped her through it. And after the office manager’s breast cancer di- agnosis, the practice handled her ensuing hysterectomy. According to the physician, in early 2015, just a few weeks after that surgery
— with the office manager on medical leave — the practice discovered she had been using the office credit card for a slew of items that “were clearly not medi- cally related. They were personal.” A review of the practice’s payroll revealed even more. “We had our accountant look into things,” the physician said. “And sure enough, there had been additional paychecks that she had distributed to her- self, bonuses that she had given to herself, personal loans that she had taken out without authorization, all because she could.” The physician says the embezzlement had been going on for about five years. “It’s the violation of trust that’s been the hardest thing,” the physician said.
“The money was hard, too; it was over $200,000. But even if we were to get that back, you never get back that violation of trust.” The billing and funds transfers of the modern medical world have become
more often electronic, making shady financial practices more traceable. But phy- sicians everywhere are still vulnerable to the whims of office staff who might embezzle or otherwise abuse their practice access. The cautionary tales of phy- sician victims point to the importance of taking steps to prevent embezzlement.
COMPETENT DOESN’T EQUAL HONEST The OB-Gyn said her practice discovered the embezzlement in February 2015. She says the practice gave the office manager the opportunity to own up to her misdeed and pay the money back, but she did not. The OB-Gyn says the practice turned the case over to the local district attorney’s office in August 2015. Ten months later, the physician said the case was still in the district attorney’s hands. “We decided not to pursue a civil case because, obviously, if she had money to
September 2016 TEXAS MEDICINE 55
“It’s the violation of trust that’s been the hardest thing.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64