The state of Ohio will be ramping up on background checks for home health care workers as a result of a new $2.1 million federal grant.
The Ohio Governor’s Office of Health Transformation (OHT) has announced the state will use the grant to improve criminal background checks for
direct-care workers in home- and community-based settings, and that the administration will match the funds from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with $700,000 in state resources.
The grant will allow for the state to conduct more thorough criminal background checks for roughly 100,000 workers who work directly in providing care for disabled and elderly patients under Medicaid and Medicare. This will include expansion of Ohio’s attorney general’s fingerprint database to direct-care workers, a change the state says will make the background check process more efficient and will hone in on protecting patients in their homes.
“It is important that seniors and people with disabilities can trust the service providers that come into their homes, and this program will ensure that home-based services are of the highest quality,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in a statement.
A the post-hiring background checks system provides information in real-time, allowing for immediate dismissal of any employees with disqualifying convictions.
“Now, the Attorney General’s Office will be able to immediately notify employers of many home-care workers of an arrest or a conviction,” AG DeWine said. “This is extremely important as we work with the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation to help ensure the safety of individuals receiving home and community-based services.”
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
