New Jersey FACIS background checks: Levels 1M & 3 explained
A New Jersey-specific breakdown of the FACIS healthcare exclusion search: what Level 1M covers, what Level 3 adds from New Jersey boards and Medicaid enforcement, and which level fits which employer.
Every New Jersey 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 New Jersey and which level fits your workforce.
What is a FACIS background check in New Jersey?
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 New Jersey candidate, a Level 3 FACIS search reaches into the New Jersey Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the New Jersey Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the disciplinary records of every New Jersey healthcare licensing board.
New Jersey sources included in FACIS Level 3
- New Jersey Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List
- New Jersey Medicaid Fraud Control Unit enforcement actions
- New Jersey Board of Medicine disciplinary actions
- New Jersey Board of Nursing disciplinary actions
- New Jersey Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions
- New Jersey dental, behavioral health, and allied-health board actions
- New Jersey Attorney General healthcare-fraud actions
- New Jersey contractor disqualification and debarment lists
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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey employers
| Federal exclusion lists | Level 1M ✓ Level 3 ✓ |
| New Jersey Medicaid exclusions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| NJ licensing board disciplinary actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| New Jersey AG healthcare-fraud actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
Which New Jersey employers need Level 3?
If any of the following describe your New Jersey organization, Level 3 is the right search. Level 1M is not enough to see NJ board sanctions or New Jersey Medicaid exclusions:
- New Jersey hospitals, health systems, and physician groups
- Skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term-care operators in New Jersey
- Home health, hospice, and DME suppliers billing New Jersey Medicaid
- Behavioral health, telehealth, and substance-use providers licensed in New Jersey
- Any employer with clinical staff holding a NJ license alongside licenses in other states
How often should New Jersey providers re-screen?
The OIG Special Advisory Bulletin recommends monthly re-screening against the LEIE. New Jersey Medicaid enrollment agreements generally impose the same monthly cadence against the New Jersey 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 New Jersey employers
SafestHires offers FACIS Level 1M and FACIS Level 3 as standalone searches or bundled into a New Jersey 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 New Jersey employers
A single-name FACIS Level 3 search on a New Jersey 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 NJ board or New Jersey 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 New Jersey hire.
Building a complete New Jersey healthcare hiring package
FACIS is the sanction-and-exclusion layer of a healthcare hire, but it is only one component. A complete New Jersey clinical hiring package typically pairs FACIS Level 3 with:
- Primary-source license verification against the New Jersey Board of Medicine, New Jersey Board of Nursing, and New Jersey Board of Pharmacy
- County criminal history for every New Jersey county lived or worked in during the FCRA lookback window
- National sex offender registry and New Jersey-specific abuse/neglect registry lookups
- Employment and education verification, including internship and residency dates
- Drug screening under New Jersey employer policy — 5- or 10-panel lab-based
- Financial Risk Search for New Jersey finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary duties (bankruptcies, judgments, liens from public records)
See New Jersey background check laws for the state-level rules that shape package design, and the package builder to assemble a New Jersey healthcare package end-to-end.
Frequently asked questions about FACIS in New Jersey
What is the penalty if a New Jersey 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 New Jersey can pursue additional penalties under state false-claims statutes.
Is a Financial Risk Search recommended for New Jersey healthcare hires?
For clinical roles, FACIS plus primary-source license verification and county criminal history is the compliance-driven baseline. For New Jersey 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 New Jersey?
No. FACIS surfaces disciplinary and sanction history, but it does not confirm that a NJ license is currently active and in good standing. SafestHires runs primary-source license verification against each New Jersey board alongside FACIS on every clinical hire.