Dear Dangerously in Love with Finance,
I’m a physician who owns a medical spa. I know how to read people. It is literally my job. I can spot when a patient is lying about their symptoms. I can tell when someone is minimizing pain. I have built my medical practice on observation and trust.
I keep reading all these holiday fraud prevention tips like verify payment methods, watch for patterns, basically assume the worst. It just feels harsh. It makes me feel like I am supposed to treat every client like a potential criminal.
When a client seems legitimate, and they usually do, it feels paranoid to make them jump through verification hoops. My team thinks I am too trusting. I read the stories about chargebacks and stolen cards, but my business has always been built on relationships, not suspicion.
How do I reconcile the person I am as a doctor with what it apparently takes to run a secure business? At what point does trusting my instincts become a liability instead of a strength?
Signed,
Confused but Competent
Dear Confused but Competent,
You’re not paranoid. You’re just confusing two different jobs.
Reading a patient works because you’re in the room. You have context. You know their history. You can ask follow-up questions. A liar usually breaks under actual scrutiny.
Online fraud isn’t about reading someone. It’s about reading a pattern you can’t see. A stolen card doesn’t have a face. An account takeover doesn’t get nervous when you ask questions. A fake email address doesn’t hesitate.
Your clinical judgment is still good. But it’s solving the wrong problem.
You’re not asking your clients to prove themselves. You’re asking your payment system to do its job. Address verification. CVV checks. IP patterns. These aren’t suspicion. They’re accounting.
Your team isn’t right because they’re cynical. They’re right because November fraud turns into January chargebacks. That’s just math.
🍃 Mindful Thoughts
Fraud prevention doesn’t sound very “wellness,” but for medical spa owners it’s a financial management reality. The holiday season brings in gift cards, memberships, and new clients. It also brings a rise in chargebacks, stolen credit cards, and payment disputes.
Many physicians and medical spa owners pride themselves on reading people, not transactions. Yet when fraud happens online or through your payment system, instincts are no match for data and controls.
You can still build your business on trust and relationships. Nothing changes there. But you also need to let your systems do their job. That’s not cynicism. That’s just running a business.
Your clinical eye got you here. Your financial controls keep you here.
Lots of Love, Coffee and Chocolate,
Dangerously in Love with Finance and the HBoF Family
If you’re ready to stop relying on clinical intuition to catch financial threats and want a partner who can implement the safeguards your practice needs without sacrificing the patient trust you’ve built,
the first step is a simple conversation.
Book a confidential call with us today.
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