Short answer is yes, and long answer is “everyone in your business needs a background check”.
As recommended by Mobile Health’s background check packages, you should look into a healthcare specific package. This will include:
- Social Security Trace
- County Criminal Record
- Enhanced National Criminal Search
- E-Verify
- Employment Verification
- Education Verification
- License Verification
- Suspected Terrorist Watch List
- OFAC– Office of Foreign Assets Control Search
- GSA/Federal Procurement Search
- OIG Sanction Search
Why do you need these reports, and how are they going to help you hire a better medical receptionist?
A medical receptionist works everyday with private medical data, personal billing information, and work directly with individuals who may be vulnerable due to their health. For all these reasons, you must make sure your receptionist does not have a violent criminal record and is who they say they are.
In addition, there are federal and state guidelines for government contractors who accept government funds. This includes doctor offices accepting Medicaid and Medicare patients. If your nurse has a past history of defrauding the government, such as filing false Medicare claims, they they will wind-up on an exclusion list. Individuals and entities on these exclusion lists are prohibited from accepting government fund.
Even if your receptionist was excluded while working as nurse, they are on the list, and may not work in your clinic if you accept these government funded programs.
Now that we understand the importance of background checks for medical receptionists, what else must you screen for?
Mobile Health recommends a drug test along with any background check, and when needed, a pre-employment physical for healthcare workers.
Your medical receptionist most likely has access to prescription pads and samples provided by pharmaceutical companies. An individual with a history of drug abuse will be extremely more likely to abuse this access than one without. Drug testing your entire medical staff helps ensure that their workplace won’t become a personal distribution center.
Considering the nature of any medical position, your employees are constantly surrounded by sick individuals and possibly those with a weakened immune system. An employee physical helps make sure your receptionist is in satisfactory health, and not likely to contaminate others.
Back to the short answer, yes! It is highly recommended that every medical receptionist undergoes our healthcare industry package, and takes part in both a drug test and pre-employment physical.
