South Carolina FACIS® background checks: Levels 1M & 3 explained
A South Carolina-specific breakdown of the FACIS® healthcare exclusion search: what Level 1M covers, what Level 3 adds from South Carolina boards and Medicaid enforcement, and which level fits which employer.
FACIS®, powered by Verisys, is a registered trademark owned by the Verisys Corporation.
Short answer
What is the difference between FACIS® Level 1M and Level 3 in South Carolina?
FACIS® Level 1M covers federal exclusion sources — OIG-LEIE, SAM.gov, and OFAC. FACIS® Level 3 adds South Carolina sources: the South Carolina Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and disciplinary records from the South Carolina medical, nursing, and pharmacy boards. Level 3 is the standard for direct-patient-care and licensed roles.
Every South Carolina 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 South Carolina and which level fits your workforce.
What is a FACIS® background check in South Carolina?
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 South Carolina candidate, a Level 3 FACIS® search reaches into the South Carolina Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the disciplinary records of every South Carolina healthcare licensing board.
South Carolina sources included in FACIS® Level 3
- South Carolina Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List
- South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit enforcement actions
- South Carolina Board of Medicine disciplinary actions
- South Carolina Board of Nursing disciplinary actions
- South Carolina Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions
- South Carolina dental, behavioral health, and allied-health board actions
- South Carolina Attorney General healthcare-fraud actions
- South Carolina contractor disqualification and debarment lists
South Carolina hiring rules that shape a healthcare screening program
FACIS® answers the exclusion question, but a South Carolina healthcare hire also runs into state-specific reporting and inquiry rules. South Carolina applies FCRA. Expunged records under S.C. Code §17-22-940 must be suppressed.
Criminal-history inquiry timing. No statewide ban-the-box statute. That matters for clinical hiring in South Carolina 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. South Carolina permits limited CBD use; no recreational legalization and no off-duty protection.
Salary history. No statewide salary-history ban.
Practical note for South Carolina providers. E-Verify is mandatory for South Carolina employers.
Primary South Carolina citations: S.C. Code §17-22-940 · S.C. Code §23-3-115 (SLED access)
Full detail lives in the South Carolina 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina employers
| Federal exclusion lists | Level 1M ✓ Level 3 ✓ |
| South Carolina Medicaid exclusions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| SC licensing board disciplinary actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| South Carolina AG healthcare-fraud actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
Which South Carolina employers need Level 3?
If any of the following describe your South Carolina organization, Level 3 is the right search. Level 1M is not enough to see SC board sanctions or South Carolina Medicaid exclusions:
- South Carolina hospitals, health systems, and physician groups
- Skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term-care operators in South Carolina
- Home health, hospice, and DME suppliers billing South Carolina Medicaid
- Behavioral health, telehealth, and substance-use providers licensed in South Carolina
- Any employer with clinical staff holding a SC license alongside licenses in other states
How often should South Carolina providers re-screen?
The OIG Special Advisory Bulletin recommends monthly re-screening against the LEIE. South Carolina Medicaid enrollment agreements generally impose the same monthly cadence against the South Carolina 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 South Carolina employers
SafestHires offers FACIS® Level 1M and FACIS® Level 3 as standalone searches or bundled into a South Carolina 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 South Carolina employers
A single-name FACIS® Level 3 search on a South Carolina 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 SC board or South Carolina 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 South Carolina hire.
Building a complete South Carolina healthcare hiring package
FACIS® is the sanction-and-exclusion layer of a healthcare hire, but it is only one component. A complete South Carolina clinical hiring package typically pairs FACIS® Level 3 with:
- Primary-source license verification against the South Carolina Board of Medicine, South Carolina Board of Nursing, and South Carolina Board of Pharmacy
- County criminal history for every South Carolina county lived or worked in during the FCRA lookback window
- National sex offender registry and South Carolina-specific abuse/neglect registry lookups
- Employment and education verification, including internship and residency dates
- Drug screening under South Carolina employer policy — 5- or 10-panel lab-based
- Financial Risk Search for South Carolina finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary duties (bankruptcies, judgments, liens from public records)
See South Carolina background check laws for the state-level rules that shape package design, and the package builder to assemble a South Carolina healthcare package end-to-end.
Frequently asked questions about FACIS® in South Carolina
What is the penalty if a South Carolina 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 South Carolina can pursue additional penalties under state false-claims statutes.
Is a Financial Risk Search recommended for South Carolina healthcare hires?
For clinical roles, FACIS® plus primary-source license verification and county criminal history is the compliance-driven baseline. For South Carolina 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 South Carolina?
No. FACIS® surfaces disciplinary and sanction history, but it does not confirm that a SC license is currently active and in good standing. SafestHires runs primary-source license verification against each South Carolina board alongside FACIS® on every clinical hire.