Whether you own a home health agency or recruit for a long-term care facility, it's tough to find exactly the right employees for caregiving roles. You have to protect patients from harm without taking several months to fill every position.
Your hiring process also needs to limit liability risks and protect your organization against lawsuits. Learn how to conduct a comprehensive caregiver background check before filling a patient-facing role.
What Are Caregiver Background Checks?
A caregiver background check is a type of screening used to determine if a caregiver meets the requirements for employment with your organization.
Any organization that hires caregivers can benefit from performing this type of background check, including assisted living facilities, nursing homes, home health companies, and hospice facilities. Caregiver background checks are especially relevant when hiring people who will have direct contact with patients or community residents.
In this context, caregiver background checks are appropriate for the following job titles:
- Personal care aide
- Home health aide
- Elder care companion
- Hospice worker
- Nursing assistant
What Do Caregiver Background Checks Typically Include?
Healthcare background checks usually include the following components:
- Criminal background check. It's important to check each candidate's criminal background and state abuse registries to ensure they don't have a history of committing child or elder abuse, financial crimes, or other offenses that could put your patients at risk.
- Sanctions screening. A sanctions check helps determine if a candidate is barred from participating in healthcare programs funded by the federal government.
- License/certificate verification. Some caregiving roles require professional licenses or certifications, so it's important to verify that a candidate meets the minimum requirements.
- Driving records. Checking a candidate's driving records promotes safety, especially if you're hiring for a role that requires a caregiver to transport patients to medical facilities, community centers, and other destinations.
- Employment verification. Verifying a candidate's past employment can help you avoid hiring someone who doesn't have the required experience or quits just a few weeks into every job.
- Education verification. Some roles require specific degrees, so verifying a candidate's education helps you determine if they meet the minimum requirements for a job.
Caregiver Background Check Laws and Regulations
When you conduct a background check, you must comply with state and federal laws designed to protect candidates against discrimination. This list of laws isn't exhaustive, but it includes some of the most common legal considerations.
Be sure to comply with the following requirements when you conduct a caregiver background check.
Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on an individual's color, sex, religion, race, and national origin. It applies to several types of employment decisions, including those related to hiring, termination, training, and promotion.
When you conduct a background check, you must be careful not to collect any information that could lead your HR team to make a biased employment decision. Even if discrimination isn't intentional, it can have serious consequences for a healthcare organization.
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The FCRA protects candidates from discrimination based on several characteristics:
- Color
- Sex
- National origin
- Religion
- Race
- Age (40 or older)
- Genetic information
These protections are narrower than Title VII because they apply only to the use of consumer reports to make employment decisions.
If you want to use financial information as part of your financial screening process, you must treat every candidate the same. You can't ask for financial data from some candidates and not others, especially if you only request information based on certain protected characteristics.
National Background Check Program (NBCP)
The NBCP makes grants available to states interested in creating standardized background screening programs for prospective employees of long-term care facilities. If your state has one of these programs, you may be required to run a background check before hiring anyone who will have direct contact with patients or residents.
Depending on how the program works, your organization may be subject to fines or other penalties if you don't comply with the screening requirements.
State Laws
Many states have laws governing the use of background checks in the healthcare industry. For example, California has the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits most employers from asking an applicant to disclose their criminal history before receiving a job offer.
However, FEHA doesn't apply if a different law requires you to conduct a background check before filling a role. To stay in compliance, you must understand all the relevant laws in your state and know when to apply them.
Another example is the New York Fair Credit Reporting Act, which has protections that aren't included in the federal FCRA. It's important to know the laws in your state so that you can comply with them if they go beyond what federal law requires.
Why Caregiver Background Checks Are Important
Overall, caregiver background checks help you make better hiring decisions. They also help employers limit their risk and protect patients from harm.
Here are the key benefits of conducting caregiver background checks.
Avoid Bad Hires
Bad hires cost you money, and they also make it difficult to reach your organization's goals. Conducting a background check helps you avoid hiring individuals who can't provide patient care with a high degree of competence and safety.
Prevent Negligent Hiring
If you don't do a background check, you could hire someone with a serious criminal history, leaving your organization vulnerable to accusations of negligent hiring. Background checks help you manage risk and avoid poor hiring decisions.
Promote Patient Safety and High Standards of Care
Delivering excellent care is one of the best ways to grow a healthcare business, but poor hiring decisions impact your ability to meet high standards. Conducting background checks helps you identify qualified employees who are capable of delivering an excellent patient experience.
Avoid Legal or Financial Penalties
If you fail to conduct required background checks, your organization could face fines, license suspensions, and other consequences. Performing a background check before you hire someone ensures you stay in compliance with state and federal regulations.
Maintain Your Organization's Reputation
Inexperienced, impatient staff members can create an unsafe environment, or give patients and their family members a negative impression of your organization. Good background screenings can help improve employee retention by fostering a safe environment with better staff and better morale. Make a positive impression by conducting background checks and screening out unqualified individuals.
Caregiver Background Check Best Practices
There's no one-size-fits-all solution for caregiver background checks, but you can improve your process by following a few best practices. Here's what you need to know about performing background checks on prospective employees.
Know the Relevant Regulations for Your Organization
As noted previously, failing to comply with background check regulations can have negative consequences. To avoid these problems, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the regulations governing your organization.
Notify the Applicant of the Background Check
Under the FCRA, you must notify candidates before checking their backgrounds. To stay in compliance and maintain cordial relations with prospective employees, make sure you notify each person before you begin the background screening process.
Review the Results Thoroughly
Background screening isn't just another step to check off your list; you need to review the results thoroughly to determine if you should onboard the candidate or rescind their job offer.
If you don't review each report, you may end up hiring a candidate with a serious criminal record or a lack of qualifications.
Follow the Adverse Action Process If You Turn Down a Candidate
The FCRA also requires you to issue an adverse action notice if you deny employment based on the information in a background check report. Stay in compliance by issuing these notices consistently.
Choose a Compliant, Reliable Caregiver Background Check Provider
Having a third party manage your screening process is a great way to increase efficiency. When you outsource background checks, immunization tracking, and other screening activities, you have more time to focus on training, onboarding, and other activities.
To maximize the benefits of using a background check provider, look for a reliable partner who has a thorough understanding of the state and federal laws surrounding background screening.
For more than 30 years, Cisive PreCheck has been helping healthcare organizations make better hiring decisions. If you hire caregivers, we can help with criminal background checks, automated employment verifications, occupational health testing, and more.
We also offer multiple verification types to meet your organization's unique needs. When you partner with PreCheck, you can stop worrying about background screening and focus on growing your business.
Run Caregiver Background Checks with Ease with Cisive PreCheck
Caregiver background checks are an essential part of the hiring process for organizations that provide direct patient care. Conducting these checks limits your legal liability, protects patients from harm, and ensures your organization stays in compliance with all relevant regulations.
To find out how we can help you streamline your background screening process, speak to a PreCheck expert today.
