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What are the most common legal issues a dental practice might face?
How can dentists protect themselves from insurance audits? Board investigations? Or criminal charges?
Justin Withrow is Partner at Flannery Georgalis, LLC, where he specializes in representing dentists in regulatory investigations, insurance audits, professional licensing matters and complex business litigation.
Matt Odgers serves as Dental Attorney at Odgers Law Group, a firm with expertise in representing buyers and sellers in the purchase or sale of a dental practice.
On this episode of The Dental Board Room, Justin and Matt join host Wes Read to explain how a dental practice should approach sensitive legal matters.
Justin describes how a practice gets selected for an insurance audit, challenging dentists to put systems in place and conduct internal compliance checks to prepare for such an audit.
Matt and Wes ask what triggers a state board investigation, and Justin offers advice on reaching out to malpractice and securing legal counsel for your dental practice.
Listen in for insight on why a practice might find itself under criminal investigation and learn how the right attorney can help you navigate these challenging legal matters.
[1:56] Justin’s background representing dentists with sensitive legal matters
[4:54] How a dental practice gets selected for an insurance audit
[8:03] Examples of statistical outliers that might trigger an insurance audit
[10:44] Variations in provider agreements among private insurance companies
[12:14] How often private insurance companies turn over the findings of an audit to a state board for criminal action
[13:41] 4 potential outcomes of an insurance audit and why it’s crucial to respect the process and respond in a timely manner
[18:52] The typical terms built into a contract between an insurer and provider (and how to terminate such an agreement)
[21:08] Building systems into your dental practice to prepare for an insurance audit
[22:39] How to properly document services provided and withstand the scrutiny of an insurance audit
[24:51] The benefit of having Justin’s firm conduct a compliance check for your practice
[27:20] What triggers a state board investigation of a dental practice
[30:03] Why a practice should take a state board investigation seriously from Day One
[35:05] When Justin suggests reaching out to your malpractice provider
[38:45] The quality of legal advice from on-panel providers for an insurance company
[42:20] Justin’s advice on how to secure legal counsel for a board investigation
[43:59] What partner dentists in a DSO can do to protect themselves from a board investigation
[47:16] Why a dental practice might find itself under criminal investigation
[51:35] The challenge of rebuilding a practice after a search warrant is executed
[53:17] Why Justin suggests consulting a lawyer before you answer any questions in a criminal investigation
[56:01] Case studies of 2 dentists Justin represented in criminal investigations
Dentist, Dental Practice and DSO Representation at Flannery Georgalis
Wes knows what's best for dental practices. He's been doing this for a long time and he sees lots of practices. He can tell me how our practice is doing, and what we can do to increase our productivity. With past CPA's, there were no ideas. It was all coming from me, saying "I think I can do better, but I don't know how." I come in to meet with Wes and he says "You CAN do better, and I know how."
PracticeCFO is in hundreds of dental offices around the country. They know what numbers should look like. They know what percentages of payroll, rent and supplies should be, and they will hold you accountable to those numbers, which will really help you stick to your plan and your path of growth and savings. That is invaluable
Whenever something comes up, whether it's building or practice related and we weren't sure where the numbers would go, PracticeCFO has been instrumental in helping us figure that out. I can't say enough of how important that is - that it goes beyond that initial partnership. They make sure this business marriage works.
When I go home from work, I don't spend a whole lot of time stressing about what my books look like, or how much I owe in taxes. By using PracticeCFO, the burden of keeping track of a lot of the big financial numbers and metrics are taken off my plate.
PracticeCFO helped me develop a plan for the future. I have colleagues that work with other accountants that don't have a plan - they just look at the numbers of the practice and that's it. There's no plan for 10, 20 years from now. But with PracticeCFO, you get that. PracticeCFO makes you feel like you're they're only client.
(In reference to his practice sale) What could've been super stressful, wasn't! When picking John and Wes, it was from word of mouth recommendations and other people's experiences from the past that really did it for me. And it turns out that those recommendations were right on the line.
Wes knows the business side of dentistry. His comprehensive plan will organize your personal and professional finances so you can focus on taking care of patients. Massive ROI.
I can’t say enough good things about everyone at PracticeCFO. Everyone on the team is professional, organized, knowledgeable, helpful and kind. They also respond to emails and phone calls immediately and are always happy to help. They have helped me navigate year-to-year as a business owner. PracticeCFO gives me peace of mind that my business is in good hands.
I love Practice CFO! They have helped me obtain a practice and maintain a practice. They are incredible people who are on top of everything and make owning and running the business portion of a practice easy. They couldn’t be better for my business and my sanity. They have every detail of the business and taxes taken care of where all I have to do is show up and follow their easy steps to success!
Practice CFO has the best tools I’ve seen for personal tax and financial planning in addition to top-tier corporate tax and accounting services. I have been very pleased with the level of quality service. They manage my monthly bookkeeping and accounts payable. It is a great system and saves me a ton of time, and it allows us to have monthly financial statements within a week of month end.
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