Roy Shelburne, DDS

Speaker, Writer, and Consultant specializing in record keeping and practice protection

Contact: rshelburne@dentalconsultantconnection.com

Most healthcare professionals live in fear of litigation but few worry about going to prison. Dr. Shelburne became aware that he was a target of an investigation when the FBI broke down the back door of his office and confiscated all his business and dental records. Over the course of the next 3 years no aspect of his life was left unexamined. Roy was found guilty of healthcare fraud, racketeering, money laundering in March of 2008. He was sentenced to 24 months in Federal Prison and was ordered to pay fines and restitution. Roy is presently serving a 3-year period of supervised probation.

During the investigation, as well as in the preparation for and during the trial, it became apparent that his records, billing, and coding systems were faulty. The Court stated that this decision was to send a message to the healthcare community and Dr. Shelburne has taken that statement literally. Dr. Shelburne has now focused his efforts toward the education of others to prevent the same from happening to them. His message is that it is possible to implement systems that can form a defensive approach. If you choose to ignore the possible deficiencies in your systems, you could be placing your practice at risk.