Clinic employee confesses to theft

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A health clinic employee has confessed to stealing patients' payments and then deleting appointments or destroying receipts to cover her trail. <br/><br/>Nicole Marie Nichols,

Saturday, June 11th 2005, 11:41 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A health clinic employee has confessed to stealing patients' payments and then deleting appointments or destroying receipts to cover her trail.

Nicole Marie Nichols, 33, admitted to committing the thefts during her 8-year employment with Mercy Health Clinic, according to a police report.

She was charged Friday in Oklahoma County District Court with two counts of embezzlement and one count each of making false entry in corporate records and unlawfully using a computer network for the purpose of obtaining money.

An audit that Mercy Health Network performed found numerous payment records from patients could not be found and doctors at the Bethany clinic were missing a substantial amount of money from missing co-payments and insurance and Medicare payments.

The total amount missing at the time of the audit was more than $130,000, according to a report at the Bethany Police Department. Most of the money has been reclaimed through refiled insurance claims.

The amount not reclaimed is more than $53,000, including lost revenue from insurance and Medicare loss, according to the report.

Derek Mountford, director of Mercy Health Network, told investigators he estimates about $31,000 in cash is still missing, according to the report. Mountford said securing an accurate estimate is difficult because the amount of cash stolen depends on whether the patient had a $30 co-pay or a $100 self-pay.

Nichols told investigators she didn't know how much money she stole during her employment, and she only took what she needed to pay for food, bills and day care, according to the report.