Continuous Monitoring: Your Shield Against Risks

In today's rapidly evolving world, it's crucial for employers to prioritize safety and security.  Once you hire an employee or bring on a volunteer, it's easy to assume their background has been thoroughly vetted. 

However, to truly protect your organization, it's essential to maintain continuous oversight of individuals' records.

Why is monitoring your staff vital?  It provides an extra layer of protection for your organization.  Employers can proactively identify arrests made within the United States involving employees, volunteers, tenants, contractors, or board members. 

By staying vigilant, you can mitigate potential risks and safeguard your workplace.

The Expansive Scope

Everyone's minds automatically go to the criminal portion of a background check when thinking about continuous monitoring. 

If your employees are going into people's homes or are working with vulnerable populations, looking into their criminal history is a good place to start. 

With the increased chance of fraud and abuse among the elderly, this is especially prevalent in the healthcare industry. We will dive more into that topic later on.

These same principles also apply in the financial sector, where sensitive personal identifying information is easily accessible. 

Theft is the biggest issue plaguing the financial industry, as individual bad actors can devastate personal accounts. 

These are just two examples from a couple of industries, but they are meant to get you thinking about the possibilities in yours.

Commercial Investigations provides two inquiries for criminal monitoring.  One is Vigilant US™ which monitors the whole country, and updates about once a week due to the amount of data that needs to be obtained.  

The other is Vigilant NY™, which updates about every 15 minutes, and provides arrest information involving members of your organization, but only within New York state.

Vigilant NY™ is the more powerful of the two inquiries, as it is able to obtain information from various sources in addition to court records.  That means employers can put their trust and confidence behind the results found. 

For New York employers, Vigilant NY™ is the best option for continuous monitoring.  For nationwide employers, Vigilant US™ provides the most cost-efficient results.

Utilizing a continuous monitoring process is a sensible approach to safeguarding your organization, demonstrating a commitment to due diligence and ensuring peace of mind for everyone involved. 

However, the criminal background is not the only continuous monitoring option employers have.

Ensuring Safety on the Road

There is a misconception in background investigations that motor vehicle arrests, accidents, infractions, expirations, and everything else auto related will be captured in the criminal portion of the background check. 

Unfortunately, motor vehicle data is not always included with the criminal portion, and employers need a separate inquiry to obtain it.

The same is true when talking about continuous (or Vigilant™) monitoring.

If your company deals with transportation or logistics, or just has employees driving on company time or with a company vehicle, there should be a process in place to ensure those individuals are being safe on the road. 

A 2018 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article highlights the fact that employers can be held liable for the actions of employees in company vehicles, on company time. 

Even with one or two salespeople on the road, this applies to companies of all sizes.

While there isn’t a national DMV office to pull data from, employers in New York are able to conduct continuous monitoring with CI’s Vigilant NYS LENS™ inquiry. 

Vigilant NYS LENS™ provides instant notifications on critical events recorded in your drivers’ license history, including accidents, convictions, expirations, HazMat endorsement changes, MedCert status alterations, and more.

LENS is also able to produce abstracts automatically, and verify CDL information.  This comprehensive approach, paired with simple notifications, helps you stay well-informed about your drivers' qualifications. 

Drivers licenses aren’t the only type of license that requires continuous monitoring though.  For those in the healthcare or medical field, there are a litany of additional licenses that need to be verified.

Streamlining Compliance

Earlier, we mentioned the fraud issue affecting the healthcare industry.  The problem has become so rampant that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) launched a multi-state coordinated action to apprehend individuals involved in a scheme to sell falsified nursing degrees and transcripts. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) even has its own Annual Coordinated Healthcare Fraud Takedown plan.  These are just a couple of examples showing how serious the issue of fraud is in the healthcare industry and why employers need to protect themselves from bad actors.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is the main database where healthcare exclusion information is stored.  Individuals and entities on the OIG Exclusion List are prohibited from receiving payments from federal healthcare programs for any items or services they furnish, order, or prescribe. 

Healthcare entities that hire individuals or entities on the list may be subject to serious civil monetary penalties.

Most states also have their own Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG). A state’s OMIG contains license information for the people that work in that state. 

It’s best practice to search the OIG and each state OMIG where an applicant has lived and worked. Utilizing each one of these databases separately can take time though.

That's where Vigilant MEDS™ steps in.  MEDS stands for Medical Exclusions Data Search.  With Vigilant MEDS™, you can validate your employees, vendors, providers, and volunteers against sanctioned, disbarred, and excluded provider lists. 

Our extensive database encompasses crucial sources like SAM/GSA, OIG/LEIE, OFAC/SDN, and state-specific databases like the OMIGs.

With over 1,700 sources of healthcare data at our disposal, we leave no stone unturned.  Our expert investigators handle all the testing processes, delivering a detailed validation report while highlighting any potential matches. 

By combining multiple sources into one, your team can save you time, without sacrificing the quality of data you’re used to.

Securing Your Future

In today's complex and ever-changing business landscape, continuous monitoring is no longer an option, it's a necessity.  To safeguard against potential risks and maintain a secure workplace, it provides an extra layer of protection your organization needs. 

Monitoring gives you the power to prioritize security, reassure stakeholders, and ensure peace of mind for everyone involved.

Whether it's criminal records, motor vehicle data, or healthcare licenses, these comprehensive options ensure your commitment to due diligence. 

Don't wait until a crisis occurs—invest in continuous monitoring now to protect your organization's future.