Home Health & Hospice Week

1. Be familiar with and follow state-specific requirements, advises attorney Joseph Bianculli, in private practice in Arlington, Va. States' background check requirements vary considerably on numerous parameters.

2. Make use of public databases. Bianculli points out that "most states have reasonably accessible public websites that list offenders, convictions, locations, etc., and sometimes even arrests. There also are easily accessible portals to sex offender registries, including via the U.S. Justice Department."

He recommends that all facilities check these databases as part of their hiring decision for every employee, volunteers, and vendors who have access to patients.

Caution: Don't over-rely on commercial databases. In his research, Bianculli found numerous commercial databases that charge a fee for what they claim to be a comprehensive background check. Yet he also found several commentators noted that the reliability and completeness of the database checks "is questionable at best." For example, "one service claims to have 200 million records, but was found to be less than 80 percent accurate; most others are well under 50 percent accurate."

3. Ask applicants and employees about arrests and convictions. "Also have a policy regarding what offenses disqualify" a person from being hired, advises Bianculli.

Tip: If you border another state or have a lot employees who live in a nearby state, do criminal background checks on prospective employees in both states, suggests Joy Cornelius, a risk management consultant for Robinson Adams Insurance, in Birmingham, Ala. That's especially true if you see a gap in the person's employment record, she adds.