Medical Background Checks

What Background Checks Are Needed for the Healthcare Industry?

It's vital to ensure that you have the correct information when hiring any new employee within the healthcare industry. Background checks are necessary for the healthcare industry for a wide range of reasons, including patient safety. 

You will need to check applicants' criminal backgrounds and other crucial areas of their records. It's essential to be aware that certain occupations within the healthcare sector require background checks, including:

• Doctors and managers of nursing departments
• Administrators
• Employees who will have access to financial records

How Far Back Will a Typical Background Check for Healthcare Workers Go?

The answer to this question depends on a couple of factors, including how you're looking for the records, as well as the type of records. Also, it will depend on the actions taken by the individual applicant. Certain criminal records are often expunged, but this is usually only the case for misdemeanor charges. 

Many felony charges typically cannot be removed unless the case is reopened, resulting in an innocent verdict. Expungement is not possible if a felony charge is for a violent offense, a crime involving minors, or a sexual offense. However, nonviolent felonies can be expunged under some circumstances. 

Expunged records will still show up on a private background check for one year on regulated private companies that offer background check services. This varies from one background check to another. In some cases, the records will be removed sooner. 

While unregulated background check providers may keep records of past crimes for longer than a year, they're not considered to be reliable. In fact, it's commonplace for unregulated platforms to post inaccurate or misleading information about an individual, which means that business owners in the healthcare industry should not use them.

What About Other Types of Background Checks?

There are other types of background checks that you need to be aware of, including credit reports. However, the guidelines that determine how far back these records go are very different than criminal records. Here's what you need to know:

• Credit reports will typically provide information for a period of seven years. If you're looking for older data, there's a good chance that you won't find it.
• Motor vehicle records will show up, but this is usually only the case if you're looking for them. Therefore, you'll need to find a background check service provider that offers motor vehicle record checks if you're hiring a new medical driver(s).
• Finding malpractice records will often require that you choose a specialized background check service that looks for them.