Top 4 Imperative Reasons Why Healthcare Organizations Can’t Skip Background Checks

The workers in the healthcare department serve as the saviors of human beings in their most difficult times. However, one wrong selection of such workers could turn the symbols of angels l into evil not only for patients but also for the healthcare organization.

The fear of interacting with criminal minds is not limited to financial institutions; even healthcare sectors are subject to conducting thorough healthcare background checks to avoid hiring a sanctioned individual. Partnering with or hiring a sanctioned person can cause your Medicare center hefty fines and reputational harm in the long run. With excluded persons in place, patient well-being also comes at risk, as the individual might abuse patients, neglect them, or commit other types of patient abuse.  

To avoid such problems, organizations must conduct thorough healthcare background checks, as regulatory bodies stress healthcare sanction screening against employees while onboarding them. The checks and screening are considered the best caution strategy for this industry due to the sensitive nature of the job.

This blog we will examine the understanding of healthcare sanction screening, its importance, and what databases are searched for background checks. 

 Understanding the Healthcare sanctions background check

We all know how sensitive the healthcare department is. Therefore, whenever a healthcare department plans to hire new employees, either nurses, surgeons, or other medical staff, they search against various sanctioned lists provided by the government or other regulatory bodies, including the FACIS, OFAC, State-specific debarment, or exclusion lists, SAM, OIG, DHHS, LEIE and so on. Through background checks, businesses can identify individuals with an excluded list from working in the healthcare department due to their criminal background.

Different regulatory bodies sanction the excluded because these individuals threaten patient safety and the healthcare system. 

 4 Reasons Healthcare Organizations Must Conduct Background Checks

Obviously, the safety of patients and the organization’s reputation are the most common reasons for conducting screening processes against employees and patients. However, various regulatory bodies oblige the industry to follow a compliance program to maintain the integrity of the healthcare system. Here are some top reasons why healthcare sectors must thoroughly conduct sanction list screening. 

• Ensuring Patient safety

The ultimate goal behind the comprehensive sanction screening of healthcare employees is to provide safety to vulnerable individuals and the safety of patients.  Suppose an organization has already been convicted or contained in an excluded list of individuals in their medical staff. In that case, they can abuse the patient, steal the drugs, show neglect in patient care, and engage in other criminal activities due to their past behavior and habits. Therefore, applying background checks before onboarding them can give your patients an extra layer of safety.

• Regulatory compliance

Complying with rules and regulations set by the government and other regulatory bodies for the healthcare sector isn’t optional; they are obliged to follow this compliance program for the safety of the patients and the integrity of the overall system. The regulatory bodies recommend conducting a monthly screening process to stay compliant and updated with the excluded lists and avoid any fines or penalties. 

• Maintaining the Organization’s reputation

Maintaining the organization’s reputation highly depends on who is included in your workforce, and the reputation of employees directly impacts the organization’s image. The scenario is strictly applied in the healthcare sector. So, the proper screening complies with the regulatory bodies’ regulations, which means your medical staff members are free from any human rights abuse and crime that can harm the patients in any way.  

• Avoid legal and financial Penalties.

Failing to comply with the legal compliance program can cause you to pay a 10,000 dollars fine, and the fine isn’t a one-time penalty; this could be charged for each service provided by the excluded list’s person under your organization’s name. If the number of services increases, the fine will also multiply.  This could be avoided through comprehensive screening of all your medical staff members, including nurses, medical staff, vendors, and anyone involved in patient care. 

What is the best time to conduct healthcare sanction screening for Healthcare organizations?  

Screening all your staff members must be conducted monthly, quarterly, and yearly to comply with the rules and regulations. However, there are three stages in which your organization must conduct background checks. 

• When you plan to hire a new employee, the screening against such an individual is mandatory.
• Another background check should also be conducted before the hiring date, as sometimes there could be some gap between his time committed to a crime and his name’s inclusion in the sanctioned list.  
• Randomly conduct sanction screening on your existing employees.

After thoroughly understanding the very bit of healthcare background checks and sanctions, the question arises: how does the healthcare industry conduct the screening process with less favorable results? The answer is having a screening tool that complies with the specific regulatory bodies.