The internist says he subsequently
found out the office manager was deep in credit card debt “and was trying to get money to help herself. But with her reimbursement forms, she bought new couches for herself, clothes for her kids, and even bought a new car.” The physician was one of two in
the practice who decided to press charges; most did not. He says the of- fice manager was prosecuted and re- ceived probation. “Everyone [in the practice] was
worried because she had a family, etc. They didn’t want [it to look like] they were hard-asses,” he said. “But I was thinking to myself when I went ahead and pressed charges, ‘This is not good. I don’t want someone else to have this issue.’” The internist says physicians can’t
get complacent about the office finan- cials, no matter how well they know the person handling them. “Even though you work with these
people every day, no matter how close you are to them, you have to be on the ball to be watching for financial dis- crepancies because it could be some- one you’ve worked with for a very long time or have a very trusting relation- ship with who may be taking money under the table,” he said. “I don’t want it to sound bad, because I don’t want people to think they can’t trust their managers. But it’s very important for physicians to look at their bottom line.” The OB-Gyn says the positive that
came out of her experience was her office’s increased business savvy. “We’ve gotten involved in the busi-
ness side of things much more than we ever were, which is a good thing,” she said. “This is not a good way to learn your lesson. We’ve gotten a lot more involved, which I think is good in the long run. But it makes you jaded. It makes you suspicious of everybody.” n
Joey Berlin is a reporter for Texas Medicine. You can reach him by phone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1393, or (512) 370-1393; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
joey.berlin@
texmed.org.
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September 2016 TEXAS MEDICINE 59
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