A HRSA representative says hospitals already had the ability to query the data bank for background checks on physicians and dentists, but information on other health professionals has resided at a separate source, the Healthcare Integrity Protection Data Bank, which was not accessible to hospitals.
Starting March 1, information on these other health professionals — nurses, specialists, technicians and other licensed medical workers — will be put in the practitioner databank and be accessible through it.
The change is part of a final rule that HRSA published in the Jan. 28 Federal Register.
The final rule also expands reporting to the databank to more entities such as private accrediting organizations and peer review organizations, to report adverse actions to the data bank.
Read HRSA’s notice in the Federal Register on health worker background checks.
