LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada is under increased hospice oversight as state and federal officials investigate concerns about fraud and patient care standards.
The Silver State previously put a pause on new hospice licenses while regulators investigate. And with more than 300 licensed hospice providers in Clark County, advocates say patients have a lot of options when deciding the best fit for their loved one.
As I've continued to look into hospice care and concerns in Southern Nevada, one issue kept coming up: How do you navigate those decisions? To get a better idea, I spoke to a local family about their experience with hospice care:
Mikiya Davis found herself navigating hospice care for the first time when her mother, Deborah Johnson, suffered a stroke, and Davis moved her from California to Las Vegas to care for her herself.
Davis says she eventually realized how much the quality of care, staffing, and support can vary depending on the provider.
"I didn't know my rights. It was my first time on hospice, and If you don't know, you just don't know," she said.
Without naming the hospices involved, Davis tells me she saw major differences between the provider she started with and the one she transferred to after just a few weeks.
"They didn't have many nurses. They didn't have many CNAs," Davis said. "My mom would miss baths; she would miss a lot of things. Her medication was late or things like that. It was my first time ever taking care of someone on hospice, so I didn't have anything to compare it to until I was with a new company, and I could tell the difference."
Davis says one of the biggest lessons was learning what services families should ask about from the beginning — including the right medical equipment and supplies for a person's hospice situation and the in-home support they can provide.
"The bedding — I didn't have a bed. My mom was sleeping on the couch when I first got her," Davis said. "They were able to give me a hospital bed, a chair for the shower. My mother was bigger than me, so I would have to lift her, feed her, change her, and it was hard on me."
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Davis says her experience raised questions about oversight and accountability.
"I would sign off for hours that were not complete," she said. "I would do that, and I'm ashamed to say that because they weren't, but I knew that they didn't have the resources."
While the company that Davis was first working with acknowledged that every hospice can make mistakes, they denied these allegations and said they do not ask patients or families to sign time sheets.
As part of our reporting, I reviewed Nevada's ongoing hospice oversight concerns, including the state's pause on new hospice licenses to identify potential fraud and ensure quality of care.
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Because of that, hospice administrators, clinicians and healthcare advocates have been meeting monthly, pushing for stronger oversight and more transparency. They say stories like Davis's show why families should research providers carefully and ask questions before making end-of-life decisions for loved ones.
"I didn't know my mom had a right to have a medical bed and her insurance pay for it," Davis said. "You just have to ask, but how do you know to ask questions that you don't know?"
I reached out to the Nevada Health Authority for this report, and officials told me that anyone who suspects Medicaid fraud should report it to the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.
If you've experienced similar issues in your pursuit of hospice care, I want to hear from you. Send an email to abel.garcia@ktnv.com or send me a message using the link below.
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