医疗保健提供者必须遵守旨在保护患者和公众的政府和其他组织的要求。这些组织的例子包括 卫生和公共服务部监察长办公室 (OIG)、 医疗保健组织认证联合委员会 (JCAHO) 和 国家质量保证委员会 (NCQA)。

他们的要求包括验证专业人员的资格、调查参与联邦计划的员工以及寻找潜在的犯罪历史。除了满足这些合规要求之外，医疗保健组织进行额外的雇佣前和持续的背景调查 以帮助防止潜在的诉讼并减少责任是谨慎的 。

全面的筛选计划有助于证明尽职调查，并可能使雇主免受一系列潜在问题的影响。例如，针对有犯罪活动历史的员工进行筛查的雇主可能会受到某些保护，以免被指控为疏忽雇用或留用。

实施以下四阶段背景筛查方法的医疗保健组织可以获得更好的筛查结果、更高效的流程和更快的招聘周期。

第一阶段：淘汰不符合基本标准的候选人
应对包括入门级职位在内的所有员工进行基本筛选，以快速、经济高效地淘汰不合格或不合格的候选人。

开始第一阶段的一种方法是确定个人是否已被总务管理局 (GSA)排除在接受政府资金或参与政府合同之外 。检查申请人的社会安全号码 (SSN) 以确认该号码在有效范围内也很重要 。这些基本的背景调查是后期更全面检查的基础，建议在第一阶段进行。

第二阶段：扩大筛选范围并了解有关候选人的更多信息
在第一阶段完成基本筛选后，雇主应使用其他有针对性的搜索来扩大他们可用的信息。

一些补充可能包括确认 任何雇员的 专业资格和检查任何纪律处分，包括排除、禁止、试用和谴责信。此外，一定要检查 民事判决、 联邦或州定罪、联邦或州机构的行动、排除和其他裁定的行动。

第三阶段：进行
涉及医疗信息的药物和健康筛查筛查应在有条件的工作邀请延期后进行，以确保符合 美国残疾人法案 (ADA)。

对于实施无毒品工作场所计划的雇主， 建议对所有员工进行雇佣前 药物测试。为了从专业索赔人那里获得额外的保护，雇主可以 在做出最终雇用决定之前搜索 工人的赔偿报告。

第四阶段：使用持续筛选 
一旦员工被录用，筛选就不应结束。考虑定期对员工进行重新筛选，这对您的组织有意义。

这可以通过实施随机药物测试来支持无毒工作场所计划，或通过获取当前机动车辆记录更新驾驶历史信息来实现 。此外，还可以执行刑事搜查以查看可能发生的任何更改。

应用四阶段方法
与背景筛查合作伙伴合作非常重要，该合作伙伴对医疗保健行业的独特要求经验丰富，并且有能力帮助识别和弥补组织筛查政策中可能存在的差距。HireRight 可以帮助医疗保健组织 根据个别公司的需求或特定的工作类别要求加强他们的 筛查计划。

Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

Their requirements include verifying the credentials of professionals, investigating employees participating in federal programs, and searching for potential criminal histories. In addition to meeting these compliance requirements, it’s prudent that healthcare organizations conduct additional pre-employment and ongoing background checks to help protect against potential litigation and reduce liability.

A comprehensive screening program helps to demonstrate due diligence and may insulate an employer from a host of potential problems. For example, employers who screen their workforce for a history of criminal activity may be afforded certain protections from accusations of negligent hiring or retention.

Health care organizations that implement the following four-stage approach to background screening can experience better screening results, more efficient processes and faster hiring cycles.

Stage One: Eliminate Candidates Who Do Not Meet Basic Criteria
Basic screening should be conducted on all employees, including those in entry-level positions, to quickly and cost-effectively eliminate unqualified or ineligible candidates.

A way to begin stage one would be to determine if an individual has been excluded from receiving government funds or participating in government contracts by the General Services Administration (GSA). It is also important to examine an applicant’s Social Security Number (SSN) to confirm the number is in a valid range. These basic background checks serve as the foundation for more comprehensive checks in later stages and are recommended for stage one.

Stage Two: Expand Screening and Learn More about a Candidate
After basic screening is completed in stage one, an employer should broaden the information they have available using additional targeted searches.

Some of the additions may include a confirmation of the professional credentials of any hire and a check for any disciplinary actions including exclusions, debarments, probation, and letters of reprimand. Also, be sure to check for civil judgments, federal or state convictions, actions by federal or state agencies, exclusions and other adjudicated actions.

Stage Three: Perform Drug and Health Screening
Screens involving medical information should be conducted after a conditional job offer has been extended to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

For employers with Drug-Free Workplace programs, a pre-employment drug test is recommended on all employees. For an extra level of protection from professional claimants, employers can search workers’ compensation reports before making a final hiring decision.

Stage Four: Use Ongoing Screening 
Once an employee is hired, screening shouldn’t end. Consider re-screening employees on a regular interval that makes sense for your organization.

This can be done by implementing a random drug test to support Drug-Free Workplace programs, or updating driving history information by obtaining a current motor vehicle record. Additionally, a criminal search can be performed to review any changes that may have taken place.

Applying the Four Stage Approach
It is important to work with a background screening partner who is experienced with the unique requirements of the health care industry and who has the ability to help identify and close the gaps that may exist in an organization’s screening policies. HireRight can help health care organizations enhance their screening programs based upon individual company needs or specific job category requirements.