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.
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
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.