Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Question: We are creating a new compliance policy, in which we’d like to include background checks for our employees. Is this common?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: It’s getting increasingly common for medical practices to perform background checks on new employees, particularly since they handle such important sensitive information such as private medical data, payment information and insurance identification numbers.

A recent case that occurred in Virginia demonstrates how important it is to vet your employees. In December, a practice manager at an ophthalmology office there was sentenced to more than five years in prison for absconding with over $500,000 from the eye care physician.

Even after leaving the practice, the woman continued to use the physician’s credit cards for things like moving expenses and cash advances, until the physician discovered the issue and closed the accounts.

In addition to performing background checks, your office should also ensure that you have checks and balances in place so that no single employee can pay bills and use credit cards without oversight. Perform a risk assessment and educate staff about how to identify insider threats.