Texas FACIS® background checks: Levels 1M & 3 explained
A Texas-specific breakdown of the FACIS® healthcare exclusion search: what Level 1M covers, what Level 3 adds from Texas 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 Texas?
FACIS® Level 1M covers federal exclusion sources — OIG-LEIE, SAM.gov, and OFAC. FACIS® Level 3 adds Texas sources: the Texas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and disciplinary records from the Texas medical, nursing, and pharmacy boards. Level 3 is the standard for direct-patient-care and licensed roles.
Every Texas 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 Texas and which level fits your workforce.
What is a FACIS® background check in Texas?
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 Texas candidate, a Level 3 FACIS® search reaches into the Texas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the disciplinary records of every Texas healthcare licensing board.
Texas sources included in FACIS® Level 3
- Texas Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List
- Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit enforcement actions
- Texas Board of Medicine disciplinary actions
- Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary actions
- Texas Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions
- Texas dental, behavioral health, and allied-health board actions
- Texas Attorney General healthcare-fraud actions
- Texas contractor disqualification and debarment lists
Texas hiring rules that shape a healthcare screening program
FACIS® answers the exclusion question, but a Texas healthcare hire also runs into state-specific reporting and inquiry rules. The Texas Business and Commerce Code §20.05 incorporates the FCRA seven-year cap into state law for non-convictions; convictions may be reported beyond seven years for positions paying $75,000+.
Criminal-history inquiry timing. HB 2466, effective September 1, 2025, is Texas's first statewide fair-chance statute. Public and private employers with 15 or more employees may not inquire about criminal history until the employer has determined the applicant is otherwise qualified, offered an interview, or extended a conditional offer. Independent contractors and gig workers are outside the statute, and roles where law requires a criminal-history check — law enforcement, healthcare, childcare, and certain financial-services positions — are carved out. Austin's Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance (private employers with 15+ workers) still layers on top. That matters for clinical hiring in Texas 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. Texas Compassionate Use Program permits low-THC medical use; no recreational legalization and no off-duty protection.
Salary history. No statewide salary-history ban.
Practical note for Texas providers. HB 2466 moved Texas from a local-ordinance state to a statewide ban-the-box state on Sept 1, 2025 — reset ATS knock-out logic accordingly. Nondisclosure orders under Gov. Code §411 must be honored and not reported.
Primary Texas citations: Bus. & Com. Code §20.05 · HB 2466 (2025) · Gov. Code §411 (DPS access) · Austin Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance
Full detail lives in the Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas employers
| Federal exclusion lists | Level 1M ✓ Level 3 ✓ |
| Texas Medicaid exclusions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| TX licensing board disciplinary actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| Texas AG healthcare-fraud actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
Which Texas employers need Level 3?
If any of the following describe your Texas organization, Level 3 is the right search. Level 1M is not enough to see TX board sanctions or Texas Medicaid exclusions:
- Texas hospitals, health systems, and physician groups
- Skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term-care operators in Texas
- Home health, hospice, and DME suppliers billing Texas Medicaid
- Behavioral health, telehealth, and substance-use providers licensed in Texas
- Any employer with clinical staff holding a TX license alongside licenses in other states
How often should Texas providers re-screen?
The OIG Special Advisory Bulletin recommends monthly re-screening against the LEIE. Texas Medicaid enrollment agreements generally impose the same monthly cadence against the Texas 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 Texas employers
SafestHires offers FACIS® Level 1M and FACIS® Level 3 as standalone searches or bundled into a Texas 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 Texas employers
A single-name FACIS® Level 3 search on a Texas 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 TX board or Texas 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 Texas hire.
Building a complete Texas healthcare hiring package
FACIS® is the sanction-and-exclusion layer of a healthcare hire, but it is only one component. A complete Texas clinical hiring package typically pairs FACIS® Level 3 with:
- Primary-source license verification against the Texas Board of Medicine, Texas Board of Nursing, and Texas Board of Pharmacy
- County criminal history for every Texas county lived or worked in during the FCRA lookback window
- National sex offender registry and Texas-specific abuse/neglect registry lookups
- Employment and education verification, including internship and residency dates
- Drug screening under Texas employer policy — 5- or 10-panel lab-based
- Financial Risk Search for Texas finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary duties (bankruptcies, judgments, liens from public records)
See Texas background check laws for the state-level rules that shape package design, and the package builder to assemble a Texas healthcare package end-to-end.
Frequently asked questions about FACIS® in Texas
What is the penalty if a Texas 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 Texas can pursue additional penalties under state false-claims statutes.
Is a Financial Risk Search recommended for Texas healthcare hires?
For clinical roles, FACIS® plus primary-source license verification and county criminal history is the compliance-driven baseline. For Texas 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 Texas?
No. FACIS® surfaces disciplinary and sanction history, but it does not confirm that a TX license is currently active and in good standing. SafestHires runs primary-source license verification against each Texas board alongside FACIS® on every clinical hire.