THE EDITOR'S CORNER
Fireproof filing cabinets are a unique form of insurance and should be standard equipment in every orthodontic office. A reason for any insurance is to safeguard against a loss that one does not want to or cannot afford to sustain.
Where would you be tomorrow if a fire destroyed your office and all of your records? You would be learning the difference between a misfortune and a disaster. You would be out of practice temporarily and you would have lost all your treatment records. You are faced with finding a place to continue your practice and with reconstituting your treatment plans and treatment records as you begin to see patients again. That's a misfortune. But, you can recover from it.
You would also have lost your financial records--fees, fee arrangements, amounts paid, accounts receivable. That's a disaster. You have no good way of reconstituting your financial records. In the case of the treatment records, that is a loss that you would not like to take. In the case of the financial records, that is a loss that you cannot afford to take. You can be insured against both by installing fireproof files.
Fireproof files are expensive when compared to other files, but will turn out to be cheap if you should ever need them and well worth their considerable weight in peace of mind. It also pays to spend a little more and get files with the highest rating for fire resistance. There are two kinds of fireproof cabinets on the market. One is designed to hold treatment records. The other is similar to conventional letter filing cabinets and is available in one to five drawer units. These can be used to hold treatment records, financial records or anything else that is irreplaceable or difficult to replace.
These are not meant to be a safe and I would not store valuables in them. However, there are many things of no intrinsic value which can be protected in this way. In addition to your financial records, these include your office lease, pension plan, profit-sharing plan, partnership agreement, corporate books and papers; office administrative material such as your office Bible and form letters; anything that you or someone in your office has put a good deal of work into such as a paper you are preparing, Board cases, slides, photographs and negatives; important correspondence; office records such as practice control information on consultations, starts, income history, referrals; insurance information including an inventory by listing and photographs; tax records; papers that would be difficult to replace.
Since these cabinets are not intended to be safes, they should be left unlocked. In the event of a burglary, the thief will quickly see that the cabinets contain nothing of value to him. He will usually leave them undisturbed and concentrate on your office machines. However, if he has to go to the trouble of breaking into these files, he may damage or destroy your records out of anger. Things that have intrinsic value should be stored in a bank safety deposit box.
Fireproof files weigh a great deal and it is a good idea to buy them equipped with wheels or casters so that they can easily be moved in the event that you want to change your furniture arrangement or for cleaning.
It is also important to have one of these fireproof filing cabinets in your home to protect things that you usually have at home which would be an inconvenience or a misfortune to lose in a fire. These include cash and travelers checks; birth certificates, marriage certificate, service records from the armed forces; insurance papers including policies, records of various coverages, agents, supporting papers in the form of bills, appraisals, inventories and photographs; bank records; investment records, past and current; tax records, past and current, including papers supporting deductions; house records including deed, title, mortgage, survey, papers substantiating improvements or additions; automobile records on purchase, title, registration and licensure; wills; notes; personal memorabilia. You might also want to include a backup for your office financial records. These are so crucial that you might want to store a copy of the financial ledger and update it frequently by replacement with a copy of the current ledger.
Too much cash, negotiable securities, jewelry and other valuables should not be stored in the home fireproof filing cabinet. They should be stored in a bank safety deposit box and the filing cabinet should be left unlocked wherever practicable. It may have to be locked to protect the safety and privacy of the papers it contains from servants, children and other relatives, and visitors.
