Provider Signals™Healthcare sanctions screening
Sanctions screening is the broader practice that exclusion screening is part of: confirming that no provider, employee, contractor, or vendor appears on any government list that would make them ineligible to participate in federal health care programs.
What sanctions screening covers
Where "exclusion screening" usually means the OIG LEIE specifically, sanctions screening spans the full set of sources a compliant organization should check:
- OIG LEIE — federal health care exclusions (the core source).
- SAM.gov — government-wide debarments and exclusions.
- State Medicaid exclusion lists — state-level terminations and sanctions.
- State licensure boards — license revocations, suspensions, and disciplinary actions.
- OFAC / other — where relevant to your organization's risk profile.
Who needs to be screened
Not just billing providers. OIG guidance extends to employees, contractors, vendors, and governing-body members — anyone who furnishes, orders, or could influence items and services paid for by federal programs. Many organizations underscreen by checking only the physicians on their claims.
How often
Screen before hire or contracting, then re-screen monthly to match the LEIE's update cadence. Point-in-time checks at onboarding are necessary but insufficient — exclusions added later go unnoticed until the next pass.
From manual to monitored
Most teams start with spreadsheets and one-by-one lookups, which break down past a few dozen names. Continuous monitoring uploads your roster once and re-checks it against each federal refresh, alerting you on new matches and producing an exportable audit trail. See the best-practices checklist to formalize a program.
Frequently asked questions
What is healthcare sanctions screening?
It's the process of checking providers, employees, contractors, and vendors against government sanction and exclusion lists — the OIG LEIE, SAM.gov, state Medicaid lists, and licensure boards — to confirm none are ineligible for federal health care programs.
Is sanctions screening the same as exclusion screening?
Exclusion screening usually refers to the OIG LEIE specifically. Sanctions screening is broader, covering the LEIE plus SAM.gov, state Medicaid lists, and licensure-board actions.
Who should be screened?
Employees, contractors, vendors, and governing-body members — not only billing providers — per OIG guidance, because federal programs won't pay for anything an excluded party furnishes, orders, or prescribes.
How often should sanctions screening run?
Screen before hire/contracting and re-screen monthly, matching the OIG's monthly LEIE updates. Continuous monitoring automates the recurring checks.
Data & methodology
Sources: OIG LEIE, CMS NPPES. This page is informational and does not constitute legal or compliance advice.
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