The COVID-19 pandemic has put enormous pressure on medical practices and healthcare workers. The last thing they need right now is to worry about financial losses and other negative repercussions of occupational fraud. So that physicians and their employees can focus on patient care, they should take a little time now to ensure strong internal controls are in place. Elements of embezzlement According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, embezzlement is the most common form of occupational fraud in medical practices. For example, crooked employees might: Steal receipts or cash on hand, Alter or forge checks, Submit fictitious invoices, Pay personal expenses with practice funds, or Cheat on their expense reimbursement requests. Unfortunately, the complexity of medical practice paperwork discourages many physicians from involvement in the administrative...