National Background Check Program for Long Term Care Employees: Interim Report

Long-term-care employees provide essential care to patients in settings such as nursing facilities, home health agencies, and hospices. Ensuring that these employees have undergone a minimum level of screening helps protect the safety of beneficiaries in these settings. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides grants to States to implement background check programs for prospective long-term-care employees. The ACA also requires OIG to conduct an evaluation of this grant program-known as the National Background Check Program-after its completion. This interim report describes the overall implementation status and States' results from the first 4 years of the program, and provides CMS with information that may assist its ongoing administration of this program. OIG also plans to issue a final evaluation of the grant program after its completion.