West Virginia FACIS® background checks: Levels 1M & 3 explained
A West Virginia-specific breakdown of the FACIS® healthcare exclusion search: what Level 1M covers, what Level 3 adds from West Virginia boards and Medicaid enforcement, and which level fits which employer.
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Short answer
What is the difference between FACIS® Level 1M and Level 3 in West Virginia?
FACIS® Level 1M covers federal exclusion sources — OIG-LEIE, SAM.gov, and OFAC. FACIS® Level 3 adds West Virginia sources: the West Virginia Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the West Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and disciplinary records from the West Virginia medical, nursing, and pharmacy boards. Level 3 is the standard for direct-patient-care and licensed roles.
Every West Virginia 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 West Virginia and which level fits your workforce.
What is a FACIS® background check in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia candidate, a Level 3 FACIS® search reaches into the West Virginia Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List, the West Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the disciplinary records of every West Virginia healthcare licensing board.
West Virginia sources included in FACIS® Level 3
- West Virginia Medicaid Sanctioned or Excluded Provider List
- West Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit enforcement actions
- West Virginia Board of Medicine disciplinary actions
- West Virginia Board of Nursing disciplinary actions
- West Virginia Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions
- West Virginia dental, behavioral health, and allied-health board actions
- West Virginia Attorney General healthcare-fraud actions
- West Virginia contractor disqualification and debarment lists
West Virginia hiring rules that shape a healthcare screening program
FACIS® answers the exclusion question, but a West Virginia healthcare hire also runs into state-specific reporting and inquiry rules. West Virginia applies FCRA. Expunged records under W. Va. Code §61-11-26 must be suppressed.
Criminal-history inquiry timing. State-agency hiring has removed the conviction question; no statewide private rule. That matters for clinical hiring in West Virginia 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. W. Va. Medical Cannabis Act authorizes medical use; employers may continue to enforce drug-free workplace policies.
Salary history. No statewide salary-history ban.
Practical note for West Virginia providers. Standard drug-testing policies apply.
Primary West Virginia citations: W. Va. Code §61-11-26 · W. Va. Medical Cannabis Act
Full detail lives in the West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia employers
| Federal exclusion lists | Level 1M ✓ Level 3 ✓ |
| West Virginia Medicaid exclusions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| WV licensing board disciplinary actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
| West Virginia AG healthcare-fraud actions | Level 1M ✗ Level 3 ✓ |
Which West Virginia employers need Level 3?
If any of the following describe your West Virginia organization, Level 3 is the right search. Level 1M is not enough to see WV board sanctions or West Virginia Medicaid exclusions:
- West Virginia hospitals, health systems, and physician groups
- Skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term-care operators in West Virginia
- Home health, hospice, and DME suppliers billing West Virginia Medicaid
- Behavioral health, telehealth, and substance-use providers licensed in West Virginia
- Any employer with clinical staff holding a WV license alongside licenses in other states
How often should West Virginia providers re-screen?
The OIG Special Advisory Bulletin recommends monthly re-screening against the LEIE. West Virginia Medicaid enrollment agreements generally impose the same monthly cadence against the West Virginia 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 West Virginia employers
SafestHires offers FACIS® Level 1M and FACIS® Level 3 as standalone searches or bundled into a West Virginia 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 West Virginia employers
A single-name FACIS® Level 3 search on a West Virginia 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 WV board or West Virginia 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 West Virginia hire.
Building a complete West Virginia healthcare hiring package
FACIS® is the sanction-and-exclusion layer of a healthcare hire, but it is only one component. A complete West Virginia clinical hiring package typically pairs FACIS® Level 3 with:
- Primary-source license verification against the West Virginia Board of Medicine, West Virginia Board of Nursing, and West Virginia Board of Pharmacy
- County criminal history for every West Virginia county lived or worked in during the FCRA lookback window
- National sex offender registry and West Virginia-specific abuse/neglect registry lookups
- Employment and education verification, including internship and residency dates
- Drug screening under West Virginia employer policy — 5- or 10-panel lab-based
- Financial Risk Search for West Virginia finance, revenue-cycle, and executive roles with fiduciary duties (bankruptcies, judgments, liens from public records)
See West Virginia background check laws for the state-level rules that shape package design, and the package builder to assemble a West Virginia healthcare package end-to-end.
Frequently asked questions about FACIS® in West Virginia
What is the penalty if a West Virginia 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 West Virginia can pursue additional penalties under state false-claims statutes.
Is a Financial Risk Search recommended for West Virginia healthcare hires?
For clinical roles, FACIS® plus primary-source license verification and county criminal history is the compliance-driven baseline. For West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
No. FACIS® surfaces disciplinary and sanction history, but it does not confirm that a WV license is currently active and in good standing. SafestHires runs primary-source license verification against each West Virginia board alongside FACIS® on every clinical hire.