Nevada dental examiners under fire from audit

Nevada’s Board of Dental Examiners came under fire Tuesday from legislative auditors who, among other things, say the examiners broke state law in settlements with dentists and overpaid their outside legal counsel.

Specifically, auditors said the board made a deal with several practitioners under which they donated $140,000 to charitable dental operations serving veterans and children. But, they said, those contributions were illegal under statute and the donations weren’t even recorded in the board’s books because the checks were written directly to the charities.

Director Debra Shaffer-Kugel said those donations were the best way for those dentists to pay back the economic benefits they received from allowing unlicensed practitioners including hygenists to treat patients in violation of state law. They said the other options were to try to calculate exactly how much economic benefit each dentist received — which the dentists involved said would be a monumental task — contribute back in the form of community service — which they also said would be onerous or to contribute to the organizations providing dental services to the poor and underserved.

Audit Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, questioned whether those patients who were treated by unlicensed employees were ever notified. He was told no but Kugel said that would be a great way to cure the problem in the future. Her legal counsel John Hunt agreed saying any patient who asked could then be paid back.

She said in the future, part of every stipulated agreement will be requiring the provider notify all patients so if they ask for reimbursement, they will get it.

Auditors also said the board had a contract for outside legal counsel “not to exceed $175,000 per year.” But they said payments exceeded $300,000 both in 2014 and 2016. They recommended hiring an in house general counsel instead, saying that could save the board $100,000 a year.

Auditors said the board doesn’t have a way of determining the actual cost of investigations when complaints are filed against dentists — particularly the cost of monitoring to ensure they are correcting whatever caused the complaints. Kugel said they are now itemizing those monitoring costs at $50 an hour.

Kieckhefer said the state may have to change the statute.