The Prosperident Exchange

She was trusted completely. She was there every day. And she was stealing — for years. In this deeply personal episode, Virginia orthodontist Dr. David Hughes describes in his own words how his office manager embezzled over $370,000 from his practice, right under his nose.

Dr. Hughes is joined by Prosperident CEO David Harris, senior investigator Wendy Askins, and forensic accountant Amber Weber-Gonzales for a frank and illuminating conversation about how the theft unfolded, how it was discovered, and what the investigation revealed. This is not a hypothetical — it is the real story of a trusted employee who exploited her access and her dentist's trust over an extended period.

Topics covered include:

• How the office manager gained and maintained the trust that made the theft possible
• The specific methods used to steal and hide $370,000 over time
• Warning signs that were present but not recognized
• How the embezzlement was ultimately discovered
• The forensic investigation process and what it uncovered
• The legal outcome and Dr. Hughes's path to recovery
• What Dr. Hughes would do differently — and what he wants other dentists to know

About the Prosperident team: David Harris is CEO and founder of Prosperident; Wendy Askins and Amber Weber-Gonzales are senior members of Prosperident's investigative team, bringing decades of combined experience in dental embezzlement forensics.

If you suspect embezzlement in your dental practice, call Prosperident before taking any action. Visit www.prosperident.com or schedule directly at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Dental Support Organizations have reshaped the landscape of dentistry — but are they a lifeline, a trap, or something more complex? In this candid episode, Prosperident's David Harris, Wendy Askins, and Amber Weber sit down with Emmet Scott, CEO of a 70-practice DSO and one of the most influential voices in the DSO industry, for an unvarnished look at what DSOs really mean for dental practice owners.

Emmet Scott brings rare insider perspective: as a DSO executive who has built and managed one of the larger group practices in the country, he understands both the extraordinary opportunities DSOs can offer and the very real risks they present to dentists who don't fully understand what they are signing up for.

Topics covered include:

• What DSOs actually are and the wide spectrum of DSO structures that exist
• The genuine advantages DSOs can offer independent dentists
• The contractual and financial pitfalls that can trap dentists for years
• How to evaluate a DSO affiliation offer before signing anything
• What happens to your autonomy — clinical and financial — inside a DSO
• Embezzlement and financial control in a DSO environment
• How to protect yourself whether you join a DSO or remain independent
• What the future of DSOs looks like and what it means for solo practice

About Emmet Scott: Emmet is the CEO of a 70-practice dental support organization and a recognized thought leader in the DSO space. He is known for his willingness to speak frankly about both the promise and the pitfalls of group dentistry.

To learn more about financial protection for dental practices in DSO and independent settings, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Embezzlement is not just a financial crime — it is a profound personal betrayal. In this deeply moving episode, dentist Dr. Mark Saladin recounts how someone he trusted stole $150,000 from his practice, and what the pursuit of justice meant to him personally and professionally.

What makes this episode extraordinary is its dual perspective. In addition to Dr. Saladin's account, this episode includes audio clips from his embezzler, Miranda Wolf, giving listeners a rare and unsettling glimpse into how an embezzler thinks, rationalizes, and ultimately responds when caught. Together, these two voices illuminate the full arc of a dental embezzlement case from both sides of the crime.

Topics covered include:

• How the theft was carried out and how long it went undetected
• The emotional journey of discovering you have been betrayed by a trusted employee
• Why Dr. Saladin chose to pursue justice rather than settle quietly
• Audio clips from embezzler Miranda Wolf — her mindset, rationalizations, and perspective
• What the investigation and legal process looked like from Dr. Saladin's viewpoint
• The psychological and financial recovery process after embezzlement
• What Dr. Saladin believes other dentists must know before it happens to them

This episode is essential listening for any dental practice owner who has wondered whether reporting embezzlement and pursuing legal consequences is worth the effort. Dr. Saladin's answer — and the contrast provided by his embezzler's own words — is both compelling and instructive.

To learn more about dental embezzlement investigation and how Prosperident can help, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Smart people make dumb mistakes — especially when they're highly trained clinicians running a business they were never taught how to manage. In this entertaining and insight-packed episode, David Harris sits down with Dr. Rich Madow, former practicing dentist, speaker, and co-founder of The Madow Group, to talk candidly about the most common — and costly — mistakes dental practice owners make.

Dr. Madow has spent decades studying what separates the most successful dental practices from the rest. His message is delivered with humor and honesty: even the smartest dentists regularly make preventable business mistakes that quietly erode their profitability, their team culture, and their personal satisfaction.

Topics covered include:

• Why dental school training leaves practitioners unprepared for business ownership
• The most common management mistakes dentists make — and why they keep repeating them
• How to stop being the bottleneck in your own practice
• The hidden costs of employee turnover and how to reduce it
• Production and collection mistakes that drain revenue without most owners noticing
• Why dentists avoid difficult conversations — and how to stop avoiding them
• How to get more enjoyment from your practice while working less hard

About Dr. Rich Madow: Dr. Madow is a former practicing dentist, nationally recognized speaker, and co-founder of The Madow Group — one of dentistry's most respected practice-building resources. He and his brother Dr. David Madow have helped thousands of dentists build more profitable and fulfilling practices. Visit www.madow.com to learn more.

To learn more about protecting your practice from embezzlement and financial risk, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Revenue doesn't just disappear in a single dramatic event — most of the time, it leaks out quietly through gaps in systems, habits, and oversight that busy practice owners never have time to examine. In this episode, David Harris welcomes legendary dental practice management consultant Linda Miles to identify the four most common and costly ways dental practices lose money they never know they're losing.

Linda Miles has spent over 50 years helping dental practices reach their potential. Her observation, honed across thousands of practices, is that the same four structural weaknesses appear again and again — and that fixing them can transform a practice's financial performance without adding a single new patient.

Topics covered include:

• The four specific "leaky holes" draining revenue from most dental practices
• How poor scheduling habits cost practices tens of thousands of dollars per year
• The production and collection gaps that most dentists never measure
• Why undiagnosed or unpresented treatment is one of the biggest hidden revenue losses
• How front desk systems and patient communication affect your bottom line
• Practical, immediate steps to plug each revenue leak
• How embezzlement interacts with and hides behind these systemic weaknesses

About Linda Miles: Linda Miles, CSP, CMC, is one of dentistry's most celebrated practice management consultants, speakers, and authors. With a career spanning more than five decades and thousands of dental teams trained, she is regarded as one of the founding voices of dental practice management as a discipline. Visit www.lindamiles.com for more information.

To learn more about protecting your dental practice's revenue from theft and embezzlement, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Few cautionary tales in dentistry are as powerful — or as instructive — as Dr. Roy Shelburne's. A respected dentist, Dr. Shelburne spent 19 months in federal prison for health care fraud. Today, he has turned that devastating experience into a mission: helping other practitioners understand the legal and regulatory risks that can destroy a career, a practice, and a life.

In this extraordinary episode, Dr. Shelburne sits down with David Harris to share, without holding anything back, what happened, what he missed, what he wishes he had known, and what every dentist in America needs to understand about the laws that govern their practice.

Topics covered include:

• How Dr. Shelburne's situation developed and what the government alleged
• The health care fraud statutes that most dentists are unaware of
• How billing errors — even unintentional ones — can trigger federal scrutiny
• The investigation process and what it is like to be the target of a federal probe
• What 19 months in federal prison taught Dr. Shelburne about life and priorities
• The compliance systems every dental practice must have in place
• Red flags that signal a practice is at risk — and what to do about them
• Dr. Shelburne's message for dentists who believe "it can't happen to me"

This episode is sponsored in part by CareCredit. Prosperident thanks CareCredit for their support of Dr. Shelburne's appearance.

About Dr. Roy Shelburne: Dr. Shelburne is a former practicing dentist, federal prison survivor, and now a speaker and consultant who helps healthcare professionals navigate the complex legal and regulatory environment they operate in. Visit www.royshelburne.com to learn more about his work.

To learn more about protecting your practice from financial and legal risk, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

This episode is a special cross-post from the DSO Secrets Podcast, hosted by Ken Kaufman. Ken sits down with Prosperident's David Harris, Wendy Askins, and Amber Weber to tackle one of the most consequential challenges facing Dental Support Organizations today: how do you hire staff across multiple locations without importing a theft or embezzlement problem?

For DSOs, the hiring stakes are particularly high. A single bad hire who understands how to exploit the looser oversight that can come with multi-location management can cause losses far exceeding what a solo practice would experience. The Prosperident team draws on their investigations across hundreds of dental organizations to explain exactly where the risk concentrates and what to do about it.

Topics covered include:

• Why DSOs face unique and amplified hiring risks compared to solo practices
• The employee profiles most associated with embezzlement in group dental settings
• How to conduct background checks that actually surface relevant history
• The questions most hiring managers don't ask — but should
• How reference checking has changed and how to get real information from former employers
• The internal controls DSOs must implement to deter theft at scale
• What to do when you suspect a recent hire is already stealing

About Ken Kaufman and DSO Secrets: Ken Kaufman is the host of the DSO Secrets Podcast, a leading resource for dental support organization executives and operators. The show covers finance, operations, strategy, and the human side of running a multi-location dental business.

To learn more about Prosperident's work with DSOs and solo practices, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

If you only have an hour to understand dental embezzlement — what it is, how it happens, and what to do about it — this is the episode. Prosperident's David Harris, Wendy Askins, and Amber Weber, joined by special guests, deliver a concentrated masterclass on the most important things every dental practice owner needs to know about embezzlement.

Drawing on decades of combined investigative experience across hundreds of dental embezzlement cases, the team cuts through the noise to give you the highest-value insights: the warning signs, the prevention strategies, the common myths, and the steps you should take right now to reduce your practice's vulnerability.

Topics covered include:

• What dental embezzlement actually is and how common it really is
• The profile of a typical dental embezzler — and why it defies most people's assumptions
• The most frequently used theft methods in dental practices
• Why embezzlement typically goes undetected for 18 months or longer
• The warning signs hiding in plain sight in most practices
• The internal controls that make the biggest difference in deterring theft
• What to do — and what NOT to do — if you suspect embezzlement
• The investigation process and what to realistically expect
• How to recover, both financially and emotionally, after embezzlement is confirmed

Whether you are new to thinking about practice financial security or you are revisiting the topic, this episode is designed to be the most efficient and practical embezzlement education available in podcast form.

To learn more or to speak with a Prosperident investigator about your practice, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Dental practices hold an enormous amount of sensitive data — patient records, financial information, insurance details — making them high-value targets for cybercriminals. In this eye-opening episode, Prosperident's David Harris, Wendy Askins, and Amber Weber welcome Gary Salman, CEO of Black Talon Security, for an urgent and practical discussion on two of the most dangerous threats facing dental practices today: cybersecurity breaches and ransomware attacks.

Gary Salman has spent his career protecting healthcare organizations from digital threats, and his message is clear: dental practices are being targeted specifically because they are perceived as easy victims — often running outdated software, lacking dedicated IT security resources, and underestimating the value of the data they hold.

Topics covered include:

• Why dental practices are disproportionately targeted by cybercriminals
• How ransomware attacks work and what happens when a practice is hit
• The real cost of a ransomware attack — far beyond the ransom itself
• HIPAA's cybersecurity requirements and what compliance actually looks like
• The most common entry points attackers use to infiltrate dental practice systems
• How to assess your practice's current cybersecurity posture
• The essential security measures every dental practice should have in place
• What to do immediately if you suspect you've been attacked
• The intersection of cybersecurity and internal financial theft

About Gary Salman: Gary Salman is the CEO of Black Talon Security, a cybersecurity firm specializing in the protection of dental and healthcare organizations. With deep expertise in threat intelligence, network security, and incident response, Gary is one of dentistry's most trusted voices on digital security.

To learn more about protecting your practice from both cyber threats and embezzlement, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.

Most dental practice owners focus their security concerns on employees — and rightly so, given how common internal theft is. But the threats to your practice don't stop at the front door. In this episode, Prosperident's Amber Weber, David Harris, and Wendy Askins turn their investigative lens outward, examining the external threats that can cause serious financial and operational damage to a dental practice.

From physical break-ins to sophisticated medication scams to identity theft schemes targeting practices and their patients, this episode covers the full landscape of non-employee threats that practice owners need to understand and prepare for.

Topics covered include:

• Burglary and physical security vulnerabilities in dental practices
• How dental offices are targeted for controlled substance theft
• Medication scams and diversion schemes affecting dental practices
• Identity theft targeting both practices and patients
• Vendor fraud and external billing scams
• How criminals research and select dental practices as targets
• Physical and procedural security measures that deter external threats
• How external and internal threats sometimes work together
• Insurance considerations for external theft and loss

While embezzlement by employees remains the most financially devastating threat most practices face, this episode is a timely reminder that protection requires a 360-degree view of risk. A secure practice is one that is vigilant about threats from every direction.

To learn more about comprehensive practice protection, visit www.prosperident.com or schedule a consultation at www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid.