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Healthcare background checks.

Criminal, exclusion, and license checks, plus drug tests and TB tests, for every role that touches patient care.

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A doctor in a white coat goes over results on a clipboard with a patient across the desk

Trusted by health systems, schools, nonprofits, and businesses across the country

  • Cincinnati Children’s
  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of America
  • National Recreation and Park AssociationExclusive partner
  • BNY Mellon
  • Lowes Foods
  • Charter Schools USA
  • University of North Carolina Charlotte
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters
  • Green Bay Area Public School District
  • Cleveland County Schools
  • Chiquita
  • Harris Teeter
  • Bethel Redding
  • City of Monte Vista
  • Cabarrus County Schools
  • Mr. Handyman
  • Plant Partners
  • The Krazy Coupon Lady
  • Set2Close

Healthcare background check requirements, by role.

The checks most healthcare employers run for each group of staff. Your state, your payers, and your own policy can add more.

  • Yes: for every hire in the role
  • Depends on the role, the state, or your policy
Typical healthcare background checks by role
Role CriminalCounty, statewide, federal, and sex offender registry OIG and SAM.gov exclusionsThree levels License verificationStatus and expiration Drug testReviewed by a licensed MRO Health examsTB tests and immunizations
Nurses and cliniciansRNs, LPNs, physicians, pharmacists, and therapists
Aides and home healthCNAs, home health and personal care aides, and senior care staff
Front desk and adminRegistration, scheduling, billing, and records staff
Contractors and vendorsTravel and per diem staff, contracted clinicians, and on-site vendors

Exclusion and sanction searches come in three levels. Every level includes the federal OIG exclusion list and SAM.gov, and Levels 2 and 3 search wider sets of sanction lists. How the OIG exclusion list works

Often added: a driving record for aides who drive to visits, plus employment, education, and reference checks for licensed roles. Licensing boards and state health departments set their own rules too. What’s required for healthcare workers

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Inside the kit: checks by role and exclusion screening, step by step Cover of the Healthcare Hiring Screening Kit

Healthcare Hiring Screening Kit

The table above, ready to print, with everything around it your team needs to run it.

  • What federal rules add in each care setting
  • Exclusion screening: the lists, how often, and what to do with a match
  • A fill-in screening policy, with an editable Word version
  • Checklists from offer to first shift, plus a monthly exclusion log
Get the Free Kit

One order for every check.

Background checks, drug tests, and TB tests from one dashboard, with one support team behind all three.

Map of the United States showing the court and data sources a Bchex background check searches

BchexBackground Checks

Background checks for clinical and support staff

Criminal, exclusion, license, employment, and education checks across more than 5,000 data sources, ordered and tracked in one dashboard.

See employment background checks
A technician in gloves handling a drug test sample

BchexDrug Testing

Drug tests reviewed by a licensed MRO

Pre-employment, random, post-accident, and reasonable suspicion tests at collection sites nationwide.

See drug testing
A clinician filling out a health screening form with an employee

BchexOccupational Health

TB tests, immunizations, and physicals

Scheduled at partner clinics and added to the same order as the background check.

See occupational health

From offer letter to first shift.

Send one invite. Candidates finish their part online, and you see every search, test, and exam in one place.

  1. Hands typing on a white keyboard at a bright desk

    Invite your candidate

    Enter a name and email or send a link. Candidates give consent and enter their own details, and they can scan their driver’s license to fill them in.

  2. A bright desk with a laptop, an open notebook, a phone, and reading glasses

    Follow every order in one dashboard

    See the status of each search, drug test, and exam, with notifications as results come in.

  3. Two people reviewing a printed form with pens

    Review results and decide

    Reports are easy to read, with adverse action tools for the FCRA steps that follow. Your team makes every hiring decision.

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Keep your patients and staff safe, every day.

Chex365 checks sex offender registries in all 50 states and the national NSOPW database every day. If someone on your roster is added, your team is notified automatically with a detailed alert to review.

  • For clinical and support staff who work with patients, including vulnerable adults and children
  • Your team confirms each match before acting
  • Criminal record monitoring too, where it’s available
See Chex365
The Chex365 dashboard with active alerts, reviewed alerts, and an alert list marked found or cleared
Two clinicians, in a white coat and light blue scrubs, reviewing a clipboard by a bright window

“Turnaround times are great and the system is very user-friendly.”

Mike LaRussaBusiness Development Manager, Amergis Healthcare Staffing

Read Bchex reviews on SHRM Read customer stories

Comparing screening partners?

Start with The 2026 Background Screening Buyer Report. 59% of HR and hiring leaders say they aren’t loyal to their screening provider, yet 81% have stayed three years or more. The report explains the gap, where turnaround actually lands, and what buyers are weighing next.

Get the Free Report

What background checks do healthcare workers need?

Most healthcare employers start with identity and address history, county, statewide, and federal criminal searches, the sex offender registry, and healthcare exclusion and sanction searches. Licensed roles add license verification, and many employers add a drug test and health screenings such as TB tests. Requirements vary by state, role, and care setting. See the checks by role.

Do healthcare employers need to check the OIG exclusion list?

Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs generally won’t pay for items or services from someone on the OIG’s exclusion list, and an employer that hires an excluded person may face civil penalties. The OIG recommends checking its list before you hire and regularly after. Bchex’s healthcare exclusion and sanction searches come in three levels, and every level includes the OIG list and SAM.gov. How the OIG exclusion list works.

Do nurses need a background check?

Most healthcare employers screen nurses and nursing assistants at hire with criminal, registry, and exclusion searches, plus license verification to confirm the license is active. Many also require a drug test. Some states set their own requirements for nursing roles, so check yours.

Do home health aides need a background check?

Many states require criminal background checks for home health and personal care aides, and agencies commonly screen everyone who works in clients’ homes. Add a driving record for aides who drive to visits. Rules vary by state, so confirm yours before you set a package.

What can disqualify someone from working in healthcare?

It depends on the role, the state, and your policy. Some states bar people with certain convictions from specific care roles, and federal health care programs generally won’t pay for services from someone on a federal exclusion list. Otherwise, many employers weigh the nature of the offense, how long ago it happened, and how it relates to the job, and state and local fair chance laws may set their own steps. Before you decide against someone based on a report, the FCRA requires pre-adverse and adverse action notices.

Do healthcare employers drug test?

Many hospitals and health systems require drug testing as a condition of employment and credentialing, often with a broader panel than the federal DOT minimum. With Bchex, every non-negative result is reviewed by a licensed Medical Review Officer before it’s reported. See drug testing.

Do healthcare workers need TB tests?

Many healthcare employers require TB screening for clinical and patient-facing staff, and some states require it. Bchex coordinates TB skin and blood tests, plus immunizations such as hepatitis B and flu, at partner clinics. How often to retest varies by state and employer policy. See occupational health.

How long does a healthcare background check take?

At Bchex, about 85% of eligible searches come back within 24 hours. License and employment verifications, searches that need a court clerk, and clinic visits for drug tests and TB tests can take longer, so start a week or two before the first shift.

How often should healthcare employers rescreen staff?

Many rescreen every year or at license renewal, recheck licenses on a schedule so an expired license is caught before the next shift, and recheck the exclusion lists regularly, since the OIG updates its list every month.

How can a healthcare employer be notified if a staff member is added to a sex offender registry?

With Chex365. It checks sex offender registries in all 50 states and the national NSOPW database every day. If someone on your roster is added, your team is notified automatically with a detailed alert to review and confirm before acting. Where it’s available, Chex365 also monitors criminal records. Pair it with a background check at hire and rescreening on the schedule your policy sets. See Chex365.

Bchex is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Check your state’s requirements for each role. Last updated November 2026.

Screening for another kind of organization? See background checks for schools, churches, nonprofits, youth sports, and staffing agencies.

Set up healthcare screening with one team.

Tell us your roles and your states, and we’ll match the checks, from nursing assistants to physicians.

Talk to Sales See Background Checks

Need drug tests or TB tests on their own? See drug testing and occupational health.