Practice Management Alert

Separation of financial duties in the billing office is imperative for guarding against embezzlement and financial errors. Follow these expert tips provided by Maggie Mac, CMM, CPC, CMSCS, CCP, ICCE, an administrator at Bay Area Women's Care in Clearwater, Fla.; and Brenda Burton, president of MedExtend in Fayetteville, Ga:

-- Have every front-desk employee double-check their daily posted balance by having a fellow employee count all the cash and checks.

-- Make sure the employee who performs the daily close is different from all the people who post payments and the person who collects all the payments from the day.

-- Make sure the employee doing the daily close has no access to the money so she cannot change any of the entries and pocket the cash.

-- In small practices with few  billing staff, the office manager and/or physician should be involved in the daily finances to increase accountability. For example, the office manager and/or physician can review an end-of-day report to balance with the daily collected receipts.

-- Put controls on your practice management system so staff can log in and access only what is necessary for them to do their jobs.

-- Every computer should have a separate name and password, and staff should change passwords regularly.

-- Pay close attention to the day's voids and adjustments -- tampering with these is the easiest way to pocket a cash copay or other payment.