If your medical office plans to open for business in the near future, you may hire multiple people to help you run it. You may run background checks on every applicant you plan to hire. Although background checks are critical, you also want to run OIG screening checks on your applicants. With OIG, or the Office of Inspector General, screening checks keep you from hiring people who committed medical fraud in the past. Learn below why it's important to run OIG screening checks on the people you plan to hire.

What Does OIG Stand For?

The Office of Inspector General is a government entity that keeps records of everyone who commits state and federal medical fraud. The OIG keeps an updated list of the individuals it excludes from receiving future state- and federally-funded benefits. If a medical company hires an OIG excluded person, the company may be fined, or even shut down, in the future. 

To keep from receiving monetary fines or losing your new office, you must become OIG compliant. You can become compliant by screening every applicant you hope to hire for your company.

First, contact an OIG screening company and request access to a nationwide exclusion list. A nationwide exclusion list contains the names, dates of birth, and identification numbers of people all over the United States who committed medical fraud. The list keeps you from hiring individuals who not only committed medical fraud in another state but also have the potential to commit medical fraud in your state as well.

After you screen all of your potential employees, you want to remain compliant with the OIG. You can stay compliant with the OIG by checking the exclusion regularly.

How Do You Maintain Compliance?

The most effective way to keep your medical office OIG compliant is to check a nationwide exclusion list as often as possible. For example, you may choose to screen your old and new staff on a monthly basis. The monthly checks allow you to discover applicants and members of your staff who may commit medical fraud after you hire them.

A screening company can also run regular OIG checks for you. The service ensures your medical office remains in compliance with the state and federal government. If a screening company finds problems with your applicants or employees, it will inform you immediately.

Learn how you can keep your medical office OIG compliant by contacting a screening company for monthly OIG employee screening services today.