Failure to Investigate Exclusion Status During Background Screening
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to thoroughly investigate the results of a background screening for a direct access employee, resulting in the employment of an individual who appeared on the Medi-Cal exclusion list. During the new hire background screening process, two CNA licenses were found under the same name: one active and employable, and another that was revoked and not employable. The facility's policy required verification of any findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation, and mandated that applicants with such findings not be employed. However, the process to verify whether the excluded license belonged to the same individual, such as cross-referencing Social Security Number, date of birth, or residential addresses, was not followed during the hiring of this employee. Further review and interviews revealed that the background screening process had changed under new management, and the current staff could not account for the original hiring process. The employee in question later admitted to having previously used a fraudulent Social Security Number to obtain a CNA license, which was subsequently revoked, and later applied for a new CNA license using a legal Social Security Number. The failure to thoroughly investigate and resolve the exclusion status during the hiring process led to the deficiency.