Criminal Background Checks

Background check practices in the education industry have received a fair amount of attention in recent years. While health sciences programs conduct background checks on students entering clinical rotations, it’s also important to have a background check program in place for faculty and staff. Whether you plan on updating your institution’s background check policy or are starting from scratch, here are a few items to consider when revising your policy.

I have to admit that this is one of my least favorite topics to write about, but it’s why we are committed to protecting patients from harm through thorough and comprehensive background screening at PreCheck. Although we are only in the second week of February, I read enough stories about bad doctors in the news across the country that I decided to write this article. While the majority of physicians care about their patients, the following four cases prove that some are capable of engaging in some pretty serious criminal behavior.

At first glance, it’s easy to see how FBI background checks could be beneficial in employment background screening. A federal database with fingerprint records might seem like a highly accurate criminal search, but there are many flaws with this type of background check. In fact, I wrote an article in July 2014 explaining why FBI background checks are not enough for healthcare employers.

At PreCheck, we’re passionate about patient care in everything that we do as a background check services provider. While most employers see the value of background checks as a safety mechanism, I thought I would review some of the key benefits an effective background screening process can offer healthcare employers.

There’s been no shortage of stories regarding home healthcare background screening practices in recent years. In fact, here are three noteworthy developments from 2014 alone. As we approach 2015, now may be an opportune time to review your organization’s background screening policies.

I recently discussed how physician criminal cases are often underreported, so having a physician background screening policy in medical staff services can help support better patient care. This week, I would like to focus on the subject of continual or ongoing background screening. Background checks represent a snapshot in time, and what will show up five, two or even a year from now on an applicant’s criminal background history may be different.

It’s that time of the year again and I don’t necessarily mean it due to the upcoming holiday season. On October 31^st, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released its Work Plan for the fiscal year 2015, which summarizes new and ongoing reviews and activities the Office of Inspector General (OIG) will pursue in the coming year and beyond. As a healthcare background screening firm, I thought I would highlight four key areas from the 2015 Work Plan that contain background check-related implications for healthcare organizations.

According to a recent July 2014 article published in The Boston Globe, Massachusetts courts routinely fail to report physicians facing criminal charges to the board that oversees physician discipline. The audit findings are extremely alarming for medical staff services departments and healthcare organizations.

We recently discussed how often hospitals should run background checks on employees, but what about healthcare organizations in general? Even for non-hospital care organizations, patient care is still a concern. In fact, in its most recent work plan, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated it would continue to focus on the safety of long-term healthcare facilities in 2014 and beyond.

An authorization and disclosure form, also referred to as a “release form”, is a required document for any facility requesting to have a background check performed for employment purposes.  This applies to potential new hires, students, volunteers, internal transfers, or existing employees.  This is typically a hard copy form that the employee signs and submits to the employer before any investigations can be conducted in accordance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.