Fast, compliant background checks for healthcare

With 30+ years of experience, we understand the challenges you face when screening healthcare professionals. Getting started is easy, with no contracts, and most checks returned in 48-72 hours. 

Kress Background Checks are trusted by
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Why healthcare employers use KRESS

48 to 72 hours
clinician packages, primary source verified
20% faster
time to hire
30+ years
of employment screening

Standards

We know healthcare screening can feel complex. It doesn't need to be.

As your screening partner, our team is committed to helping you achieve total confidence in the people you're placing near patients, while satisfying all legal requirements.

Joint Commission HR.01.01.01

We verify credentials at primary source. You keep the evidence for survey.

OIG LEIE and SAM

Two federal exclusion lists, checked inside every search we run. You act on a hit.

FACIS

The national fraud and abuse database. We run Level III, the deepest of the three, across all 50 states and 6 territories.

CMS Conditions of Participation

We run the criminal searches your provider type requires. You confirm the type.

OBRA '87 nurse aide registries

We check the registry in the state where they'll work. You tell us the location.

Form I-9 and E-Verify

We run E-Verify for you as a designated agent for the Department of Homeland Security. You reverify on Supplement B.

FCRA and adverse action

We run the disclosure, authorization and adverse action process to FCRA and state rules. You make the final call.

HIPAA workforce clearance

We give you a documented screening record for anyone with access to patient data. You decide what access is appropriate.

Healthcare background checks

We're here to make your screening simple (and your work-life easier).

Free download

Download your Healthcare Screening Checklist

A practical pre-hire checklist for healthcare employers.

Role-based packages

Not every healthcare hire carries the same risk

Healthcare hiring carries compliance requirements beyond standard criminal screening, so sanctions and exclusion database checks matter as much as the criminal search itself. Continuous monitoring is available on any package, with monthly OIG and SAM re-checks, ongoing FACIS Level III and license monitoring, and alerts.

Entry Level

Includes

Front desk and non-clinical support staff. Administrative roles with no direct patient contact.

  • Current county criminal search
  • NCSI, multi-state violent and sex offender
  • Social Security trace
  • Sex offender search
  • Global watch

Essential (Healthcare)

Popular

Includes

Clinical staff, nursing assistants and medical technicians. Direct patient contact, no license required.

  • County criminal, all counties, seven years
  • NCSI and national statewide criminal
  • National sex offender registry
  • Federal criminal, all jurisdictions, seven years
  • OIG, GSA, FDA Debarment, EPLS, OFAC and DEA sanctions screening
  • System Award Search and Terrorist Watch List
  • Social Security trace
  • Employment verification, all employers, seven years

Medical Standard

Everything in Essential (Healthcare), plus

Licensed clinical professionals. RNs and other licensed allied health staff.

  • FACIS Level III
  • Education verification, highest degree obtained
  • Professional license verification

Roles we screen

Which package does this role need?

Send us the titles you hire for and we will map each one. These are the three groups we are asked about most in healthcare.

Front desk and non-clinical support staff

Entry Level package. Administrative roles with no direct patient contact, screened on current county criminal records, NCSI, Social Security trace, sex offender search and global watch.

Clinical staff, nursing assistants and medical technicians

Essential (Healthcare) package. Direct patient contact without a license, adding OIG, GSA, EPLS, OFAC and DEA sanctions screening and employment verification.

Licensed clinical professionals

Medical Standard package. RNs and other licensed allied health staff, adding FACIS Level III, education verification and professional license verification.

How it works

Getting started is easy

  1. 1
    Step 1

    Invite the applicant

    Send a link. They enter their own details and consent, so nobody on your team rekeys anything.

  2. 2
    Step 2

    We run it, then a person checks it

    Searches run automatically. A US-based researcher reviews the file before it reaches you.

  3. 3
    Step 3

    You get a named contact

    Someone who knows your account and picks up the same business day.

Most accounts are open within one business day. Drug panel timing depends on collection site availability, so tell us your start date and we'll confirm before you order.

Get a price

Not sure which package your roles need?

Send the role titles. We'll map each one to a tier, confirm turnaround and send a price the same business day.

  • A package matched to your roles
  • Turnaround checked against your start date
  • A price, with nothing to sign

A real person replies the same business day.

FAQs

Common questions

An OIG exclusion check searches the HHS Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals and Entities, known as the LEIE, to establish whether a person or organization has been barred from federal health care programs. No federal health care program payment can be made for items or services furnished, ordered or prescribed by an excluded individual or entity, and civil monetary penalties can follow where the employer knew or should have known. KRESS covers the LEIE and SAM inside the FACIS Level III search it runs through Verisys.

Clinician packages that include primary source license verification complete in 48 to 72 hours, because the issuing board sets that pace, not us. Exclusion searches are usually same day. The drug panel is normally the real constraint on a start date, so book it first.

FACIS has three levels. All three cover the federal baseline: the OIG LEIE, SAM, DEA, OFAC, FDA, Medicare Opt-Out, Tricare, HHS, state Medicaid sanctions lists and state debarment sources. Level II adds state licensing and state Medicaid boards for the state of residence. Level III adds state licensing boards across all 50 states and the territories, plus HEAT task forces and federal district sources. KRESS runs Level III by default, because it's the most comprehensive coverage available.

No. No contract, no monthly minimum and no signup fee. You pay for the checks you order, and most accounts are set up within one business day.

You do. KRESS supplies verified data and the notification workflow. The hiring decision, including any individualized assessment, belongs to the employer.

OIG guidance is to screen before hire, again just before the start date, and on an ongoing basis after that. Verisys reports that the database behind FACIS adds more than 75,000 records a month, so a search that was clear at offer stage can be out of date by day one. KRESS can re-screen on an ongoing basis rather than leaving it to a diary note.

Most healthcare clients order through the KRESS portal or send candidates a direct Invite the Applicant link, which takes the double entry out between your ATS and ours. KRESS integrates with Workday, Essium/Xenque and Greenhouse. Tell us your platform and we'll confirm the handoff before you order.

More than most employers assume. Where an organization receives federal healthcare funds, OIG guidance reaches employees, vendors and contractors, not only clinical staff. That takes in billing, coding, administration, IT, facilities, transport and agency workers. Screening only the people in scrubs is a common gap, and the liability sits with the organization rather than the individual. Tell us your role mix and we'll scope it.

Yes. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an employer has to give the candidate a clear written disclosure in a standalone document and obtain written authorization before ordering a consumer report. KRESS provides the disclosure and authorization step inside the applicant invite, so the consent is captured and stored with the file rather than sitting in someone's inbox.

The FCRA sets out a two-step process. You send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the CFPB Summary of Consumer Rights, leave the candidate a reasonable period to dispute or explain, then send a final adverse action notice if the decision stands. KRESS supports the full workflow, and where state law or EEOC guidance calls for an individualized assessment the report carries the detail your decision-makers need to document it.

They do. Registries, lookback limits, disqualifying offenses and how often you re-screen vary by state, by care setting and by payer. The nurse aide registry that applies is the state of employment, not the state the candidate lives in. Tell us where the role sits and we'll confirm what applies before you order.

A standard pre employment screening covers identity, criminal history and employment history. A healthcare background check adds the searches the healthcare industry is judged on: FACIS Level III exclusion screening, primary source license verification, and nurse aide and abuse registries. Compare the two side by side in the KRESS screening packages before you order.
It can, and for most clinical roles it should. KRESS runs 10-panel drug and alcohol testing through SAMHSA-certified labs with documented chain of custody, DOT and non-DOT. The panel you pick follows the role and your drug free workplace policy, and roles handling controlled substances usually warrant a wider one.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most adverse items cannot be reported after seven years, but records of criminal convictions are exempt from that limit. The restriction also falls away where the role pays $75,000 a year or more. Several states apply tighter rules than the federal floor, so check the state compliance guide for the lookback that applies where the job sits.
A criminal background check starts with an SSN trace and address history, which tells us which counties to search. County criminal checks are run at the courthouse, because database-only searches miss recent filings. National and federal sources sit on top, alongside sex offender registry searches across all 50 states. County and statewide searches return different results, so KRESS runs both where the role calls for it.

Continuous monitoring re-runs exclusion, license and criminal checks on existing staff rather than only at hire. The OIG updates the LEIE monthly and its guidance says screening employees and contractors each month best limits overpayment and civil monetary penalty exposure. That matters most where agency staff, contracted physician groups and billing vendors are in scope. HealthCheck Continuous handles the re-checks and the alerts, so patient safety and payment risk are not left to a diary note.

Let's get your healthcare screening right.

If your next clinician starts in two weeks, the drug panel needs booking this week. A 15-minute call gets you a package matched to your roles, a price and a start date. No contracts, no minimums, and if KRESS isn't the right fit we'll say so.

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