This week it is my pleasure to speak with Duane Tinker and he has a very interesting background! Duane worked in the Texas law enforcement industry then transitioned to a dental office investigator. His challenge with transitioning to this role was learning the dental industry so he could do his job well. He dealt with areas such as investigating clinical complaints against practices, fraud, and people working outside the scope of their licensure.

Through this role, Duane met many dentists and realized they were great people—some just didn’t know, what they didn’t know. Drawing on his law enforcement experience, Duane recognized the value his experiences could have when shared with dental professionals, in a meaningful way, to prevent them from getting into situations such as the ones he was being assigned to investigate.

This realization was the catalyst for opening his own business to help stand in the gap for dentists and help dentists prevent situations that could bring about legal action against them. Duane’s perspectives are very important for all dentists to hear so be sure to listen to this episode. After all, you may not know what you don’t know.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Tips for dealing with an investigator if you are faced with this situation.
Make sure you have an attorney on your speed dial. Know which one to use and which ones to avoid. Make sure the attorney is someone you know and trust.
Lying to an investigator is obstruction of justice so make sure you are protecting yourself and preserving your rights by not commenting initially to an investigator.
Electronic records would need to be printed for an investigator working under a subpoena.
Duane realized how many great people are in dentistry and that he wanted to work with dental professionals to help them understand which dangers can occur in their practices they may not be aware of.
How Duane’s company, Dental Compliance Specialists, can help dental practices.
The importance of having your paperwork and compliance information in order.
That details matter. For example, having expired medications could result in disciplinary action.
Duane’s office is in place to help the good dentists out there prevent situations from getting out of control.

Resources mentioned in this episode:Dental Compliance Specialists

Speak with the Tooth Cop

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Talking with the Tooth Cop Podcast

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Dr. Russell Kirk

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EPISODE CREDITS:

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