dental – Page 77 – Beyond the Bite

5 Ways to Reduce Embezzlement Risk

by Florida Dental AssociationJuly 23, 2015May 31, 2017Leave a comment

By Julian Dozier, CPA, ABV, CFF, CFE, Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A. CPAs

You work hard in your practice, enjoy spending time with your patients, and do your best to manage your office staff and bookkeeping. While you’d rather be spending time on the medical side of your practice, you understand the importance of being involved in the business side of your practice. No one wants to think their employees would steal from their company, but every organization faces the risk. So, do you have a sound system of internal controls in place to mitigate the risk?

Here are five simple steps you can take to reduce your risk of employee embezzlement:

1. Conduct background checks. Your employees may have access to your financial information, bank accounts, prescription pads and expensive medical supplies. Be sure to conduct background checks before hiring any employee, and make it your policy to update those checks at least every two years for financial personnel.

2. Segregation of duties. Financial tasks should be assigned so that no single employee is responsible for authorizing transactions, maintaining custody of assets and resources, recording transactions and reconciling accounts. While it’s best for all four of those functions to be segregated, be sure no single employee is responsible for more than two of them. As an example, if an employee can authorize payments to vendors, they should not be authorized to add vendors to the accounting system, print and sign checks, or reconcile the bank account.

3. Oversight is important. The perception of detection can be as important as any other internal control your practice puts in place. If employees know their work is being checked, and that the bank accounts are being reconciled and verified, they are less likely to embezzle.

4. Know your bank account. For assets like cash that — when there are poor internal controls — can be embezzled quickly and easily concealed, you need to do more. Receive each monthly bank statement directly (unopened) and review it for unusual or unexpected activity. Ask questions. Know where your practice spends its money and who is authorizing those transactions. Quickly spotting unauthorized bank activity is critical to minimizing your risk of embezzlement.

5. Get outside help. Find a local certified public accountant (CPA) to conduct periodic checkups at your practice. Your CPA can help you design internal controls, implement best practices and conduct random checks to see that your employees are following approved policies and procedures.

Julian Dozier is a CPA with the accounting firm Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A. He specializes in forensic audits and litigation support related to for-profit and governmental enterprises. His certifications and designations include Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF). For more information, please visit www.thf-cpa.com/what-we-do.

My Computer Has a Pop-up That Says it Has a Virus … What Do I Do Now?

by Florida Dental AssociationJuly 16, 2015May 31, 2017Leave a comment

By Larry Darnell, FDA Director of Information Systems

Every once in a while, you may get a pop-up on your screen claiming your computer has a virus and to remove it, you must call the number shown immediately. I have come across a number of people who will look at a pop-up like this on their computer and do one of two things:

Ignore it.
Do exactly as it says.

I am mystified that some may do as the pop-up says, but we have been conditioned to this type of behavior. The criminal element realizes that, so they craft malware. Malware, although technically not a virus, is software that pretends to be useful, but is in fact malicious — thus, the name. Most anti-virus programs are built to stop the bad viruses … not so much the malware.

Malware most often is installed because we choose to do it. It may come in the form of an extra toolbar on our browser, a coupon program or some other seemingly helpful software. We open the door and let it in, and then it takes over. I have known people to blindly call someone and give them access to their computer remotely and even their credit card information based on malware (or, as we call it “scareware” or “ransomware”)! I recommend you take the computer to a professional and get their opinion. If you opt to try and fix it yourself, a couple of programs that are helpful are Malwarebytes and HitmanPro; both can help eliminate your problem.

Please do not choose to ignore it. That will only make it worse, that much I can promise you.

4 Simple Ways to Give a Little Time and Make a Big Impact

by Florida Dental AssociationJuly 7, 2015May 31, 2017Leave a comment

By Dr. David L. Russell, Florida Dental Association Foundation President

On a daily basis, approximately 10,000 Florida dentists have a positive influence on the state’s health care, policies, education and people. In fact, it’s estimated that each of Florida’s dentists may donate as much as $30,000 in free care and treatment each year. Unfortunately, the public often is unaware of our profession’s generosity and policymakers don’t recognize the sacrifices we make to fill in the gaps in care for our patients.

In the early 1980s, the Florida Dental Association (FDA) Board of Trustees created an organization to lead a larger and more organized philanthropic effort for all individuals in the Sunshine State. Thirty-five years later, the FDA Foundation is the preeminent charitable organization for oral health in Florida. The Foundation organizes and supports philanthropic programs statewide that promote our profession and offer alternative opportunities for organized dentistry to speak on key issues while the FDA addresses them through advocacy.

Since its establishment, the FDA Foundation has sponsored a number of innovative programs and given professionals in our industry countless opportunities to volunteer their time. These include, but are not limited to, the Florida Mission of Mercy, Project: Dentists Care and Give Kids A Smile®. Additionally, the Foundation offers disaster grants and administers a scholarship program.

If you are interested in donating your time and expertise to treat those less fortunate in Florida, I suggest you look to one of the four programs shown below. Each offers dental professionals an opportunity to give back and make a big impact.

1. Florida Mission of Mercy
The Florida Mission of Mercy (FLA-MOM) event is a massive two-day dental clinic with a goal of treating as many as 3,000 patients. Approximately 500 dentists and hygienists, as well as 1,000 community service volunteers, donate their time and expertise to provide almost $2 million dollars in donated care. Starting in 2016, the FLA-MOM event will be held annually in a different location throughout the state.

2. Project: Dentists Care
Project: Dentists Care Inc. (PDC) consists of numerous organizations in Florida that offer a safety net of preventive and restorative dental care to those in greatest need. The Foundation provides grant funding to these organizations that provide oral health care to the underserved. Last year, PDC affiliates reported more than $11 million in donated dental care.

3. Donated Dental Services
Donated Dental Services (DDS) is a program jointly funded between the Foundation and Dental Lifeline Network Florida. DDS provides access to comprehensive dental care for people with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile and cannot afford treatment. Since its founding in 1997, 1,500 Floridians in need have received nearly $6 million in donated treatment through 400 generous Florida DDS volunteer dentists and 200 volunteer dental laboratories.

4. Give Kids A Smile®
Launched by the ADA and supported locally by the Foundation, Give Kids A Smile® (GKAS) is a month-long program that provides free, easily accessible dental services to local qualifying children. This program seeks to raise awareness of the epidemic of untreated dental disease, and to create public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care to solve this crisis.

These programs are funded by the FDA Foundation, which is largely funded by FDA-member dentists who make tax-deductible charitable contributions with their membership dues payments. We call these “sustaining membership” contributions and are critical to help us provide this important care.

I’d like to personally thank those of you who have contributed to the Foundation over the years through your sustaining membership dues. We understand you have choices about the organizations you support, and we appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us. We believe we are offering programs and services that address the causes you care about and reflect your values.

As you send in your membership dues, please be sure to include your $125 sustaining membership payment. Or, please take a moment to educate your office managers and accountants so that they include this payment when submitting on your behalf.

Thank you for your time and we hope you will continue to support the important work the Foundation is doing in Florida.

An Extra Mile Goes a Long Way — From Maryland to Florida!

by Florida Dental AssociationJuly 2, 2015May 31, 2017Leave a comment

By Dr. Sharon Colvin-Johnson

On June 12-13, I attended the Florida Dental Convention (FDC) for the first time. During the convention, I had the privilege to serve as a speaker host. My experience during the entire process — registering for FDC; inquiring about volunteering as a speaker host; acquiring the continuing education credit that I needed; and attending the most fun and exciting convention party on Friday — would not have run so smoothly if it wasn’t for the FDA’s Director of Member Relations, Ms. Kerry Gomez-Rios, and her navigational assistance.

Currently, I’m a member of the Maryland State Dental Association (MSDA), but I will be relocating to the Sarasota-Lakewood Ranch, Fla. area in July/August. The MSDA’s membership coordinator, Ms. Kim Dresser, put me in contact with Ms. Gomez-Rios — and I’ve had the best experience with a state dental association that I’ve ever had in my 31 years in organized dentistry! Ms. Gomez-Rios then directed me to those who will be instrumental in my transition to Florida. During FDC, she suggested meetings and events that would put me in contact with the key players in organized dentistry.

I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to connect with the FDA at this year’s convention. I’m especially thankful for Ms. Gomez-Rios and her “extra mile” efforts to help me to feel “at home” with the FDA.