Arkansas FACIS background checks: Levels 1M & 3 explained
A Arkansas-specific breakdown of the FACIS healthcare exclusion search: what Level 1M covers, what Level 3 adds from Arkansas boards and Medicaid enforcement, and which level fits which employer.
Every Arkansas organization that bills a federally funded healthcare program — Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, or a state Medicaid managed-care plan — is required to verify that its employees, contractors, and vendors are not excluded from participation. FACIS is the standard tool for that verification. This guide covers what a FACIS search returns in Arkansas and which level fits your workforce.
What is a FACIS background check in Arkansas?
FACIS (Fraud and Abuse Control Information System) is a healthcare-specific sanction database that aggregates federal exclusion and debarment records with state licensing, Medicaid, and Attorney General enforcement data. Run against a Arkansas candidate, a Level 3 FACIS search reaches into the Arkansas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the disciplinary records of every Arkansas healthcare licensing board.
Arkansas sources included in FACIS Level 3
- Arkansas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List
- Arkansas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit enforcement actions
- Arkansas Board of Medicine disciplinary actions
- Arkansas Board of Nursing disciplinary actions
- Arkansas Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions
- Arkansas dental, behavioral health, and allied-health board actions
- Arkansas Attorney General healthcare-fraud actions
- Arkansas contractor disqualification and debarment lists
Arkansas hiring rules that shape a healthcare screening program
FACIS answers the exclusion question, but a Arkansas healthcare hire also runs into state-specific reporting and inquiry rules. Arkansas uses the federal FCRA window; sealed records under Act 1460 must not appear in the report.
Criminal-history inquiry timing. Act 280 (2019) prohibits state agencies from asking about convictions on the initial application. That matters for clinical hiring in Arkansas because a FACIS hit and a county criminal hit often arrive together, and the order in which you may act on them is set by state law, not by the report.
Drug and cannabis testing. Issue 6 (2016) authorized medical cannabis. AR Code §11-3-204 explicitly preserves the employer's right to enforce zero-tolerance policies.
Salary history. No statewide salary-history ban.
Practical note for Arkansas providers. Sealed records under Act 1460 must not be reported, even if returned by the source court.
Primary Arkansas citations: Act 1460 (sealing) · Act 280 (2019) · AR Code §11-3-204
Full detail lives in the Arkansas background check guide.
Federal sources included in every FACIS search
Both Level 1M and Level 3 include the federal exclusion sources that satisfy OIG and CMS baseline requirements for Arkansas providers:
- OIG List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE)
- System for Award Management (SAM), including SDN
- OFAC Specially Designated Nationals list
- FDA Debarment List
- DEA administrative actions
- GSA excluded parties
- TRICARE excluded providers
- U.S. Department of Justice, Treasury, and State healthcare-fraud actions
FACIS Level 1M vs. Level 3 for Arkansas employers
| Federal exclusion lists | Level 1M ✓ Level 3 ✓ |
| Arkansas Medicaid exclusions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| AR licensing board disciplinary actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| Arkansas AG healthcare-fraud actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
Which Arkansas employers need Level 3?
If any of the following describe your Arkansas organization, Level 3 is the right search. Level 1M is not enough to see AR board sanctions or Arkansas Medicaid exclusions:
- Arkansas hospitals, health systems, and physician groups
- Skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term-care operators in Arkansas
- Home health, hospice, and DME suppliers billing Arkansas Medicaid
- Behavioral health, telehealth, and substance-use providers licensed in Arkansas
- Any employer with clinical staff holding a AR license alongside licenses in other states
How often should Arkansas providers re-screen?
The OIG Special Advisory Bulletin recommends monthly re-screening against the LEIE. Arkansas Medicaid enrollment agreements generally impose the same monthly cadence against the Arkansas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List. A pre-hire FACIS check is the starting point; continuous monthly monitoring is what catches sanctions that land after the hire date.
How SafestHires runs FACIS for Arkansas employers
SafestHires offers FACIS Level 1M and FACIS Level 3 as standalone searches or bundled into a Arkansas healthcare hiring package alongside primary-source license verification, sex-offender registry checks, and county criminal history. Ongoing monthly monitoring is available for the entire workforce from the same dashboard.
FACIS turnaround time for Arkansas employers
A single-name FACIS Level 3 search on a Arkansas candidate typically returns in minutes because most sources are queried via live API. Manual review kicks in only when the search returns a potential match that needs AR board or Arkansas Medicaid-exclusion identifier confirmation before it can be reported. See the SafestHires turnaround guide for a full breakdown of what drives timing across all searches in a Arkansas hire.
Building a complete Arkansas healthcare hiring package
FACIS is the sanction-and-exclusion layer of a healthcare hire, but it is only one component. A complete Arkansas clinical hiring package typically pairs FACIS Level 3 with:
- Primary-source license verification against the Arkansas Board of Medicine, Arkansas Board of Nursing, and Arkansas Board of Pharmacy
- County criminal history for every Arkansas county lived or worked in during the FCRA lookback window
- National sex offender registry and Arkansas-specific abuse/neglect registry lookups
- Employment and education verification, including internship and residency dates
- Drug screening under Arkansas employer policy — 5- or 10-panel lab-based
- Financial Risk Search for Arkansas finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary duties (bankruptcies, judgments, liens from public records)
See Arkansas background check laws for the state-level rules that shape package design, and the package builder to assemble a Arkansas healthcare package end-to-end.
Frequently asked questions about FACIS in Arkansas
What is the penalty if a Arkansas employer bills for services from an excluded provider?
Under 42 U.S.C. §1320a-7a, civil monetary penalties can reach up to $21,000 per item or service claimed, plus treble damages, plus repayment of every dollar that touched the excluded person's work. State Medicaid Fraud Control Units in Arkansas can pursue additional penalties under state false-claims statutes.
Is a Financial Risk Search recommended for Arkansas healthcare hires?
For clinical roles, FACIS plus primary-source license verification and county criminal history is the compliance-driven baseline. For Arkansas healthcare finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary responsibility, the SafestHires Financial Risk Search — bankruptcies, civil judgments, and tax liens from public records — is a common add-on to surface public financial-risk indicators before hire.
Does FACIS replace primary-source license verification in Arkansas?
No. FACIS surfaces disciplinary and sanction history, but it does not confirm that a AR license is currently active and in good standing. SafestHires runs primary-source license verification against each Arkansas board alongside FACIS on every clinical hire.