Employee Checks in a SNF Environment—Employer Obligations
The extensive penalties imposed by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for exclusion infractions makes it imperative that all employers are fully aware of their obligations in this regard.
Employers will not be found liable for infractions only if they can definitively show that they took all possible precautions to avoid employing an excluded individual.
Such precautions include:
– A full check with all applicable state licensing and certification authorities to ensure that, prior to start of employment, potential employees hold the requisite license and/or certification status to perform their job functions and that such license/certification is current and valid;
– A requirement that all potential employees certify as part of the employment application process that they have not been excluded from participation in any state or federal healthcare program, including Medicare and Medicaid;
– A requirement that all potential employees, who have received a conditional offer of employment, certify as to whether they have been convicted, or otherwise found guilty, of an offense under local, state, or federal law that would preclude them from employment in a nursing facility;
– That they do not employ any potential employee previously found guilty by a court of law of abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents; or any potential employee who has had a finding entered into the state nurse aid registry concerning abuse, neglect, or mistreatment of a resident or misappropriation of a resident’s property.
To do all of this, employers have to be thorough in their investigations of the past histories of potential employees.
If and when questions arise as to suitability and eligibility for employment, the situation must be discussed with the Corporate Compliance/Regulatory Attorney overseeing the Corporate Compliance Program—all in order to ensure that no labor laws are broken.
An employer must check available public sources, including the OIG’s List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE) and the General Services Administration’s System for Award Management (SAM) for potential employees whose activities would be recorded there and whose activities may preclude them from employment.
It is the ongoing and continuous obligation of all company employees to alert the Human Resources department of any conviction, exclusion from participating in a state or federal healthcare program, or finding that would disqualify them from providing services.
Any failure to comply with all of the laws, rules, and regulations, can place the company in legal jeopardy, and also expose it to civil liability.
Finally, if any violation is uncovered, it is crucial that it is immediately reported and full cooperation given to any inquiry.
• Screen every employee, contractor, and vendor against the OIG List of Excluded Individuals and Entities at https://exclusions.oig.hhs.gov.
• Check all employees, contractors, and vendors against the OIG list of debarred contractors at https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/##11.
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