Cliff's Notes

“Total Health & Beyond” / “Embezzlement” / Product Review – Quick Up”

Cliff’s Notes for December 18, 2011

Cliff Marsh, Henry Schein ……Cell: 201-321-7494……Fax: 201-262-2210…..E-mail: cliff.marsh@henryschein.com

http://www.cliffsnotesblog.me

http://www.youtube.com/cliffmarsh100

 

The  reason we do what we do, is so that we can to do what we want to do, when we want to do it!

It’s a tongue twister, but working as a team and making informed decisions, will get us there.

 

 

“The secret of successful managing is to keep the 5 guys that hate you away from the 4 guys who haven’t made up their minds.”

Casey Stengel, Manager NY Yankees

 

 

This Week’s Feature on the Cliff’s Notes Channel

 “Detecting Oral Cancer”

http://www.youtube.com/cliffmarsh100

 

In This Week’s Issue

• What’s New for 2012? Total Health & Beyond!
• Embezzlement, It Can’t Happen to You – NOT!
• Product Review – Quick Up (Implant secure hold for composite-based dentures)!
• Commentary for Sunday, December 18, 2011 – It’s Fetivus for the Rest of Us!

 

Total Health & Beyond!…………………………………………………………………

Henry Schein’s Total Health™ Beyond the Mouth program — This is an integrated wellness and education program that informs patients of the integral link between oral health and total health, and assists dental professionals in uncovering potential systemic health problems, including periodontal disease, oral cancer, sleep disorders, heart disease, and diabetes.

Developed in collaboration with the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health, an organization of health care leaders and health professionals dedicated to the relationship of oral health and whole body health, Henry Schein Dental’s Total Health Beyond the Mouth includes the Total Health Checklist, which, together with screening and diagnostics, assists dental professionals in uncovering health problems, assessing a patient’s oral health, and its impact on their total health.

After completing the checklist, patients are given the Total Health Brochure, a powerful educational tool about the integral relationship between oral health and total health, the significance of periodontal disease, and the close links between other health conditions and oral health. If any potential issues are uncovered through the dental team’s review of the checklist, the patient is provided with a laminated Total Health Patient Guide to prepare for a health discussion following treatment, including discussing further screening and treatment options.

Henry Schein’s Sleep Complete™ — Sleep apnea is a serious problem worldwide and one that is drawing more attention within the dental community. To address it, three leading companies are joining with Henry Schein to provide Sleep Complete, a new comprehensive solution for dentists to incorporate sleep medicine into their practices.

Providing all of the information and products necessary for the successful implementation of dental sleep medicine into the dental practice, the program was developed in collaboration with Nierman Practice Management, Modern Dental Laboratory USA, and Itamar Medical.

Henry Schein Dental’s Sleep Complete program provides tools to address all of the key components of dental sleep medicine —education, treatment, reimbursement, and monitoring.

Sleep Complete – Everything You Need:

No other sleep program provides everything a dentist needs in one complete package. Most dentists struggle with implementing sleep, not sure how to select an oral appliance, what the rules on home testing are, how to bill medical insurance, and how to market this new service. Sleep Complete includes training that prepares dentists and their teams to do all of the above and more.

With the best products on the market:

…Dental Writer from Nierman Practice Management

…WatchPAT Home Sleep Monitoring Device from Itamar Medical

…Moses and EMA Myerson Appliances from Modern Dental Laboratory USA

…Training from Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine,

    Dr. John Tucker

We’ve done all the product research, so you don’t have to! Our solution is comprehensive and complete. On January 1, 2012 this new frontier opens wide. Maybe it’s time to bring a wellness program into your practice; it puts your patients back in the chair.

For more information, click here and in the comments box enter

Code: cliffmarsh-fsc/nj35

We Do That!

http://www.henryschein.com/us-en/sites/wedothat/wellness.html

Seminar Schedule:

http://www.dentalwriter.com/Events_list.aspx?node=education

CE Webinar:

http://www.totalhealthlearning.com/

 

Embezzlement, It Can’t Happen to You – NOT!………………………………….

As a practice owner (also known as a “business owner”), a dentist will face a multitude of business related tasks, issues and challenges.  However, the rewards far exceed the drawbacks to business ownership.  But there will be challenges.

One of these potential challenges a dental practice owner faces is possible employee theft.  Depending on the source checked, estimates for the number of dentists who will experience theft at least once during their dental career range from thirty-five to fifty percent (35-50%).  Estimates of dollar loss range from $100 to $500,000+.  This loss due to employee dishonesty may take the form of out-right theft, fraud, or embezzlement. 

The good news:  with certain minimal protective measures, the majority of this theft is preventable.  The key is to understand where the potential exists for theft to occur and implementing the necessary strategies to prevent this loss.

Meet the Thieves

First on our list is “Jane the Eraser” (her name has been changed to protect the guilty). Jane simply withheld any cash payments that were made for services and then erased the patient’s account information after posting the payment (and giving the patient a receipt), thereby removing any record of the payment from the system. 

How was she caught?  She Quit!  During the first couple weeks after her departure, the doctor noticed that although there was no significant increase in production, there was a definite increase in receipts.  Upon further investigation, the doctor discovered that the computer records for several patients seen during Jane’s last week of employment no longer existed.  

Estimated loss- $50,000+ over a three year period.  The doctor recovered $25,000 from his office insurance plan.  Jane got three years probation and was ordered to pay $10,000 restitution.  

Meet “Doris the Duplicator”.  When hired, Doris had successfully lobbied against computerization, convincing the doctor that it was not as efficient as the old manual pegboard system.  In turn, Doris kept a duplicate set of patient ledgers.  Payments and receipts were recorded on the duplicate ledgers while charges were posted on the real ledgers. 

Over a period of eighteen months Doris stole an estimated $40,000.  She was caught when the doctor became suspicious and carefully personally tracked daily financial activity for a couple of days.  Doris was not prosecuted and accepted a job with a different local dental office.

 “Mary the Master” – Mary was one of the best we have ever seen.  She was involved in

1) Skimming, taking cash and not posting it,

2) Layering a technique involving the taking checks and withholding for posting later,

3) Had an excessive need for petty cash, going through about $100 per week. 

 Mary also set up a second business checking account in the dentists’ name (she was the only authorized signer) and subsequently diverted the office credit card deposits to that account. 

 Mary paid all office bills, using erasable ink and thereby allowing for the checks to be made out to her personally and then changing them back to legitimate venders after they cleared the bank.  The deposit slips never matched the bank deposits actually made and subsequently the checking account could never be balanced with the ledger.

 But Mary’s most effective technique was to turn off the statement generator for most patients’ accounts.  And this eventually led to her getting caught.  The two doctors noted that while each year their taxable income had increased over the prior year, according to the computer, their accounts receivable had spiraled out of control and was showing a balance of $500,000+. 

 Feeling there may have been an error in how information was being entered into the computer, they called in a software specialist who discovered the statement generator problem.  After resetting the statement generator, the computer promptly spit out 3000+ statements.  These statements were mailed and the phone lines to the office began to melt as patient after patient called in to complain that this balance had been paid.  Who handled all the calls and comforted the patients?  Mary the Office Manager, of course, who promised to post credits to clear up the balances.

 How was she caught?   At one of the many extravagant parties thrown by Mary, another employee, while retrieving her coat from a closet, saw shoeboxes full of checks made out to the doctors.   But not before, over a five-year period, Mary had embezzled $400,000.   Apparently Mary had some “dirt” on one of the partners, so Mary was never prosecuted and nothing was recovered. Subsequently, the partnership was dissolved.

 Understanding the Thief                

Why do dental staffs steal?  There are different reasons for different individuals.  For some it is the need for money.  For others, feeling they have not been treated fairly, it is revenge.  For many, feeling they are not compensated enough in light of how much the doctor “earns”, jealousy plays a major role.  And for some, just like gamblers who continue to “lose” but continue to bet, it is the “excitement.”

 Many staff that steal share certain characteristics.  Many have life-styles beyond their means.  Excessive debt and constant money problems accompany many.  Many are also the victims of excessive family problems.  These problems come from children, spouses or significant others, and “ex” spouses/significant others.  Many have excessive habits including alcohol, drugs, and gambling.

 What does an employee who is likely to steal from you look like?  They are intelligent and knowledgeable in office procedures.  They are personable and friendly.  They are tireless, willing to put uncompensated over-time and rarely take their allotted vacation time.  Basically, the perfect employee, except for a tiny character flaw-they are dishonest!

 Conclusion

Most theft, fraud, and embezzlement is avoidable if minimal safeguards are instituted.  However, the doctor must take an active role.  Those doctors who blindly trust their employees are the easiest targets and suffer the greatest losses.

 Many new dentists who acquire their dental practice by purchasing an existing practice face the same problem relative to implementing safeguards that older dentists in practice for many years face.  How to implement new procedures without creating the impression that the dentist does not trust the staff? 

 This one is the easiest answer.  Blame it on your accountant.  Tell your staff that your accountant has recommended certain changes be made in how things are done because the recommended changes represent better compliance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).  In this manner, these changes will barely be questioned, except perhaps for a staff person who is guilty of theft.

 For more information please feel free to contact me at any time. Above all, DO NOT accuse anyone of anything until you have consulted with legal & financial counsel. Should you or your advisors require speaking with a “Dental Practice Embezzlement & Fraud Specialist, there are several very good independent organizations in the area and I would be happy to forward several recommendations.

Product Review – Quick Up – Secure hold for composite-based dentures…………….

In many cases the hold of full dentures is unsatisfactory. The main reasons for this are bone atrophy, resorption processes and changes to the denture base, which is made up of both hard and soft tissue. Implants are used today in many cases for fixing full dentures. This is because small implant diameters and simplified and less time-consuming surgical procedures make this option very attractive. In most cases the existing denture can continue to be worn and only needs to be fitted with the corresponding attachments or secondary components for removable attachment to the implants or primary components.

 To that end, VOCO now offers with Quick Up a self-curing, gingiva-coloured composite for bonding in attachments or secondary components and their reattachment in composite-based dentures. Quick Up enables these procedures to be carried out both quickly and easily chairside, eliminating inaccuracies caused by the transfer to a model in the laboratory.

 Firm hold, comfortable and economical

Quick Up ensures a firm hold of attachments or secondary parts in the denture base and has high strength values. Unlike methods using a support made only of non-hardening silicone instead of a (metal) attachment, attachments or secondary components used with Quick Up not only provide a more stable hold and a higher level of comfort but are also an economical alternative to fixing dentures with silicone. This is because non-hardening silicones tend to discolour and undergo changes the longer they are worn and any rebasings required can never harden, thereby increasing both the frequency of treatments and expense for the patient.

 Complete set for immediate use

Quick Up is available singly and as part of a complete set. Apart from the self-curing luting composite, Quick Up, in the practical QuickMix syringe, the complete set contains the Quick Up Adhesive as bonding agent for the intensive bond between the denture base and luting composite. The set also includes Quick Up LC, a light-curing luting composite for correcting and filling ditchings as well as Fit Test C&B, a special silicone-based control and covering for the trial fitting and blocking out of primary components or implants before the final attachment. The complete set enables attachments or secondary components to be luted in a procedure that is both uncomplicated and timesaving and is completed in just a few worksteps.

Click here to Learn more about Quick Up
Implant Pick up Material

 

 Sunday, December 18, 2011………………………..……………………….

It’s Festivus for the Rest of Us!

4:44 Add to

The Story of Festivus

3:05 Add to

Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (Snoopy’s Christmas) (CC)

4:07 Add to

ADAM SANDLER – CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) SONG [PART 1]

Enjoy the rest of 2011!!

Cliff

Cliff Marsh

Henry Schein Dental

P.O. Box 663 / 45 Rt. 46 East, Suite 605

Pine Brook, NJ 07058

Cell: 201-321-7494

Fax: 201-262-2210

cliff.marsh@henryschein.com

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December 18, 2011 - Posted by Cliff's Notes Blog | Uncategorized