Skimming

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I read this well done article, " Is Your Practice at Risk for Fraud " in Family

Practice Management last month and decided that I didn't have much for checks

and balances and so put a double check in on my co-pays - I had been giving them

to my billing person and she entered the data and made out the deposit which she

to my husband to enter into the practice books and deposit. I had not been

telling my husband how much cash to be expecting so I started giving him a list

of the cash and checks to be expecting. So the first one had $40 missing,

groan. I got behind on my billing and last week gave her three weeks at once -

$60 missing. This woman has worked for me for 12 years here and before that in

my group practice. She has been asking for her check early so I know she has

been short on money. I am a floored and very sad. I have no idea yet how much

she has been skimming but I think I know how to go about figuring it out. In

that patients haven't been complaining about being wrongly billed, I assume she

has been cooking the books somehow. I reckon it will take us some time to figure

that out - double groan. I have a call in to get some legal advise from the

state medical society. Fortunately she is away on vacation for a week to give

us some time to figure things out and think.

Any advise?

(My advise: times are tough - check out that article and eliminate the

temptation!)

Avery