FYI

Dental practices invest significant time and resources protecting patient information, maintaining HIPAA compliance and safeguarding their financial health. Yet many practices continue to receive insurance payments by paper check, a payment method that has become one of the weakest links in a practice's financial security.

According to Federal Reserve Bank Services, 63% percent of financial institutions reported check fraud attempts in 2025. Check fraud accounted for about $21 billion in losses during 2023.
 

Types of check fraud

Common types of check fraud include:

• Lost or stolen checks
• Altered checks
• Check washing
• Internal misuse by someone with access to checks

Why are paper checks prone to fraud?

Because they’re physical items, paper checks have unique weaknesses:
 

• Checks are easy to identify and intercept.
• Many individuals from institutions ranging from the U.S. Postal Service to banks handle checks, making it hard to resolve issues.
• It takes longer to notice an issue and resolve it.

Even when losses are ultimately recovered, resolving check fraud can consume valuable staff time that would be better spent serving patients and the practice.
 

Why dental practices are particularly vulnerable

Insurance reimbursement checks often represent thousands of dollars in revenue. If a check is stolen or altered, your practice may face:

• Delayed reimbursement
• Cash flow interruptions
• Time-consuming fraud investigations
• Administrative work with banks and insurance carriers
• Potential disruption to daily operations

Once the paper check is in the mail, there is no liability for any vendor, including Delta Dental, to reissue payments cashed by a fraudster. Delta Dental will cooperate with investigations, but providers are accountable to work with the police authorities to recover the payment lost.
 

EFT: a secure digital alternative

As check fraud continues to increase nationwide, electronic funds transfer (EFT) has evolved from a convenience into a critical fraud prevention strategy. By eliminating paper checks, dental practices can better protect insurance reimbursements while improving operational efficiency.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and banking organizations encourage businesses to use electronic payment methods whenever possible to reduce exposure to check fraud. With Delta Dental, EFT is quickly becoming the standard method of payment.

Removing paper from the payment process dramatically reduces opportunities for fraud. Instead of traveling through the postal system, EFT payments are deposited directly into your designated bank account using secure electronic banking networks.
 

How Delta Dental helps keep your payments secure

Delta Dental is committed to continuously improving the safety, security and speed of provider payments. Here’s how we’re doing that:

• Bank account details are validated with fraud detection as part of enrollment.
• Through Provider Tools, you control who sees your banking information.
• Only Delta Dental, the office and the bank process EFT payments, cutting out middlemen.
• Our security practices follow modern cybersecurity standards for fraud detection and payment traceability.

Visit our webpage to learn more about EFT and how to enroll.