There are many ways you can steal money from a medical practice, some more complex than others, but after years with a trusted employee, things get easier. “By definition, misappropriation is the act of dishonest appropriation of property by one or more persons to whom such property has been entrusted.” One way is to simply take money out of patients' cash co-payments, charging the patient but not processing the payment. “According to the 2011 Marquet Report on embezzlement, medical practices suffer from some of the most serious money mismanagement among service industries; this is even more true for smaller and more demanding operations.” This can be avoided by verifying the number of patients seen daily with the co-pay amount received or another way to discourage this is to post signs so each patient ensures they receive a receipt. Money can also be withdrawn by writing checks on behalf of the practice for invoices that were never submitted or for an invoice that was submitted, but the check is discarded and another check is made for the same amount but for something or someone else. Payroll management is another way to steal money from a practice by giving yourself raises, bonuses or simply overestimating hours worked. The way to avoid this is to simply distribute all bonuses over a specific time of the year and create a biometric employee attendance system that records the specific times everyone works. Your business credit card and credit card machine are another way to embezzle by using them for personal expenses and not for your practice or by processing refunds on the credit card machine. This can be avoided by verifying all credit card statements with actual purchase receipts and only allowing refunds from a case manager at the credit card terminal. Another way money is stolen is through the creation of fake companies or sellers. The employee can create a fake seller and send the money to that company or work with an employee of a real seller to steal the funds from the company. To avoid the creation of fake companies, the practice should implement a dual review and authorization process for new suppliers and conduct random checks on supplier files. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Cullom Eye and Laser Center was the victim of theft by their office manager Sherea Darnell, who worked for them from 2012 to 2016, during this time she took $514,000 from the practice. “Darnell used three of Dr. Cullom’s credit cards to make personal transactions for his own benefit.” She allegedly used credit cards to pay for her son's preschool tuition, cash advances and to purchase airline tickets for her and her family. Darnell also gained access to Dr. Cullom's accounts to pay off credit card balances without authorization. In this case, what I would do to try to minimize this from happening again is not give a credit card to any firm employee, but if I had to for some reason, I would set spending limits on the cards and monitor the paper statements every month. Also, if I were in fact to give a card to someone, I would make sure that the person using the card is not the same person who checks the statement and pays the bill. Penn Cardiology was also the victim of theft by their accountant Lovette M. Brown, who was accused of stealing.