Employment Background Checks

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.

According to a January 2014 article by Staffing Industry Analysts, a global advisor on contingent workforces, the percent of total U.S.

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.

Background checks are a fundamental practice for hospitals to ensure safety amongst patients and staff alike. A highly regulated industry like healthcare is urged to apply more stringent policies due to the fact that lives are at risk every day and patient-sensitive information can be easily accessed.

FBI fingerprint background checks have gained popularity. When it comes to state legislation regarding background screening requirements for healthcare organizations like home health agencies, for example, FBI background checks are one of the most commonly required types of searches. If legislators are consistently requiring them, they must be a comprehensive background check, right?

Are nursing homes a target for criminals? Unfortunately, that’s what it seems. An investigation published last year by USA TODAY yields alarming results; thousands of nursing home residents have had their savings stolen from their trust accounts by business managers, bookkeepers and other staff working at the facility. Considering long-term care providers are trusted to provide a safe environment for our elderly family and friends, how is this possible?

According to a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), around 22% of Medicare beneficiaries admitted to nursing homes experienced preventable injuries. In fact, in the 2014 OIG Work Plan, the OIG declared it will place a key focus on the quality and care of nursing homes and how often beneficiaries are harmed during their stay.

As Product Manager for PreCheck’s healthcare license management system, LicenseManager Pro, I’ve taken the National Association Medical Staff Services’ (NAMSS) Certified Provider Credentialing Specialist (CPCS) training course and am familiar with some of the challenges facing medical staff services managers. While the goals may be quite similar, these are some notable differences between background screening and the credentialing process for medical staff services.

With the ongoing regulatory scrutiny and media coverage criticizing how employment background checks can keep ex-offenders from getting jobs, it’s almost easy these days to overlook the most basic of notions—that background checks provide an essential benefit to employers, co-workers, customers, and patients. As the title of a recent conference hosted at the U.S.