The Importance of Background Checks in the Healthcare Industry

If you’re the owner of a medical practice, you probably have an occasional nightmare of compliance violations and liability lawsuits. Protecting your business is important so it’s only natural to worry about the Department of Labor (DOL) showing up to administer and enforce its 180+ federal laws.

But, as far as protecting your business is concerned, patient protection, compliance and the DOL aren’t the only components you need to worry about. You need to start (if you haven’t already) concerning yourself with your very own personnel: the people YOU hire. We’re talking about the office manager, accountant, nurses, doctors, technicians and more; what you don’t know about them can absolutely hurt your practice!

Here’s a statistic that may alarm you: the Society for Human Resource Management reports that 50 percent of all resumes and applications contain false or overstated information. As a medical practice, how can this affect you?

Well, let’s start with education. Education is a lot more important in the healthcare industry than it is in some other industries. A nurse or doctor lying about their education most likely means that they are inexperienced and unqualified to be treating your patients! This situation could easily present itself with a damaging lawsuit regarding negligent hiring if anything were to go wrong at your practice.

A candidate or employee’s alcohol and drug history is another especially important aspect you should concern yourself with as the practice owner– especially if the person is treating or interacting with patients.

What about office managers, accountants, and others within your office? Should you be that concerned with them? In short, yes. The U.S. Department of Commerce found that employee theft is the cause of 33 percent of all business failures. As a business that likely has access to expensive equipment, various medications, prescriptions and more, the likelihood of theft within your workplace is greater than ever.

It is for the aforementioned reasons that all businesses (whether you’re in the healthcare industry or not) should always conduct a background check before hiring a new employee. It’s a quick, inexpensive step that could potentially save your practice. Extensive background checks will uncover criminal history, education confirmations, credentials, licensing, drug and alcohol history, credit reports, motor vehicle records, reference checks, court records, and much more.

For the sake of your patients, but also for the sake of your practice, you need to conduct background checks! If you’re currently working with a PEO or outsourcing to a Company that provides HR and administrative functions, be sure to take advantage of background screening services. If you’re currently in need of a background screening service company to support your practice, contact our team. Employer Solutions Plus works with numerous companies within the industry and we’re happy to point you in the right direction!

For additional resources specific to the healthcare industry, visit our HR Solutions for the Healthcare Industry section.