There are more ways to separate you from your money than you can imagine. Novel embezzlement strategies occur but are likely rare. Much more frequently, a trusted staff member will resort to one of the tried and true methods. These approaches can be countered. Even novel or complex schemes can be slowed. Understanding the common approaches to embezzlement helps guide your defenses. Ignorance is not bliss; it is impending financial misery.
Simple theft is extremely common in a medical practice. Small office supplies can disappear in surprisingly large quantities. From paper to staplers, the list is almost endless. The monetary cost of individual items is often not that consequential, but because these items typically are not missed, the slow trickle over years adds up to thousands of dollars lost.
Another small but important area of loss is the use of office equipment and supplies for personal reasons. Such behaviors are not necessarily a form of theft. If the office has a policy that staff can use the computers and printers to print color coupons, then no harm is done. If not, color toner, paper, printer use, computer use, not to mention the time spent, are actually being stolen from the practice. The direct cost per person is fairly small, but if this is multiplied by half the staff, there is real money flowing out the door. The time lost and impact on productivity is bad enough, and the cost can be high.
Making the workplace the home of personal projects insidiously destroys team morale. Failing to create an honorable work environment erodes your stature as a leader. Don’t fall for such simple traps. It is so easy to let a small matter pass without addressing it, but this is the first tiny pebble that ends in an avalanche.
Allowing even one staff member to use office systems against practice policy sends the message that ignoring practice policy is acceptable. Those who continue to follow the policy realize there are different rules for different people. It’s not just a few coupons here and some flyers there. It eats away at trust, teamwork, and morale.
The real measure of these losses is in the ethical behavior of the staff. It is bad enough that an individual steals from you, but the effect of this behavior on the staff as a whole is of far greater importance. Allowing small infractions creates an atmosphere nurturing more serious crime. We must build the walls and then defend them.
Have a detailed Employee Handbook. Review it. Enforce it. Be fair and equitable. There cannot be different rules for different employees. If you choose laxity, then you have chosen trouble.
At Smart Business Great Medicine, our motto is Trust, and Verify! This means having policies to verify that trust is well placed and reviewing possible signs that trust has been broken regularly.
We hope understanding the ways even small transgressions can devastate your practice will help you avoid them and their fallout. See our list of red flags for practice embezzlement that can alert you to possible problems.
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