Fraud, Documentation, and the Notes That Can Haunt You: A Dentist's Guide to Staying Out of Trouble (Part 1) — with Evan Sampson, JD

Episode Description Most dentists think of compliance as a background concern—something administrative, abstract, or handled by "the office." In reality, it's one of the highest-risk, most overlooked areas of modern dental practice. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Dr. Melissa Seibert sits down with Evan Sampson, a healthcare attorney with over a decade of experience advising dentists and healthcare organizations on fraud, waste, abuse, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation. Evan has served as General Counsel to a major dental support organization and held senior compliance leadership roles within the largest municipal hospital system in the United States. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on what compliance actually looks like in day-to-day dentistry—and why well-intentioned clinicians often put themselves at risk without realizing it. This conversation reframes clinical notes as legal evidence, not just charting formalities. Together, Dr. Seibert and Evan explore how common documentation habits—templated notes, vague progress entries, auto-populated language, and inconsistent coding—can quietly become liabilities during audits, payer disputes, or board complaints. You'll hear a candid breakdown of: What fraud, waste, and abuse actually look like in everyday dental practice (and why most of it is inadvertent) Why documentation and coding errors are among the most common sources of exposure for dentists The legal risks of upcoding, unbundling, and inaccurate procedure representation Why surgical vs. simple extraction coding is so frequently audited How "write it once and forget it" charting can come back years later—with real consequences The mindset shift dentists need: writing notes as if they will be read aloud in a courtroom Why the cover-up—or "fixing" notes improperly—is often worse than the original mistake How compliance, when done well, can actually reveal missed revenue and operational inefficiencies This episode isn't about fear-mongering. It's about clarity, ownership, and professional maturity. If you're a dentist who cares deeply about doing the right thing—clinically and ethically—this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about notes, coding, and responsibility. And this is just the foundation. Part 2 will go even deeper into consent, adverse events, and proactive strategies to protect yourself, your license, and your future. If you've ever thought: "I didn't know that could be a problem." "That's how we've always charted." "The front desk handles the coding." This episode is required listening.