Ways Sanction Checks Offer Protection To Your Healthcare Organization

Author : Exclusions List OIG | Published On : 17 Nov 2025

The protection of your organization, whether in healthcare finance or other industries, lies in the hands of a person. Who ensures that they are related only to entities in which they have performed sanction checks. It ensures that the employee we are hiring or the organization we are connecting with already has their background check. And it is safe and sound, protecting healthcare providers from fraud and preventing them from exposing their patients to a person with a threat. These checks are done by running a screening test with a database list generated and maintained by the federal government.

These checks help protect against reputational damage and financial fraud. These healthcare check also protects you from legal penalties and fines. Most often imposed on the healthcare organization that failed to follow the rule against working with excluded people, vendors, or service providers. It is considered to be involved in illegal activities, according to OIG checks.

Why Are Sanction Checks Critical Across Healthcare?

Failure to conduct can lead to significant, irreversible damage, and that’s why healthcare needs to be particularly cautious. It’s clearly putting a risk for many aspects of organizations. Here are a few of the aspects that are at high risk if an organization is not taking sanctions checks seriously.

1. Legal & Financial Risk

The primary goal of sanction screening and checks is to ensure that the vendors or people working with you. Follow all the rules and regulations, and are not on the sanctions list. That can save you from penalties of up $10,000 per claim and also include some critical damage. Furthermore, they can pose a risk of permanent exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. Healthcare organizations can avoid such fines and damage with regular sanction checks.

2. Reputational Damage

Sanction Check ensures that the healthcare organization is not associated with any illegal activities or works with anyone with a criminal background. By doing so, it helps organizations maintain public trust and work only with well-trained professionals. This helps increase the overall quality of the services provided by healthcare organizations. This improved quality ensures patients receive the correct treatment and maintains a good reputation among them.

3. Patient Safety Concerns

The individuals on the OIG Exclusion list most likely have a history of fraud, abuse, or negligence. And the involvement of any healthcare provider only exposes their patients to the threat they carry.

4. Regulatory Requirements

The screening checks are not a one-time thing, instead, they are needed continuously. To keep track of whether they are not falling behind with their employees' actions.

Common Misconceptions About OIG Check

There are many, and a few of them need to be clear so everyone can follow them more efficiently. First, a one-time screening is enough, which is not true in reality. OIG updates this list monthly, increasing the possibility that exclusions can occur at any time. Secondly, only physicians need to be checked, but in reality, Vendors, contractors, volunteers, and even board members require this screening. Third, if someone isn’t on the OIG list, they are safe, which is also not true. Apart from OIG, other exclusions matter, such as state-level and other databases (e.g., SAM). The OIG Check is widely known, which is why this misconception exists, but sanctions are also involved in many other checks.

The Multiple Types of Sanction Check, Their Purpose, and Characteristics

Sanction checks are widespread here, and there is a table with the needed data about the different types of sanction checks. The governing bodies that are accountable, their purposes, penalties, and how frequently they are updated.

Sanction Check Type	Governing Body / Source	Purpose	Who It Applies To	Update Frequency	Penalties for Non-Compliance
OIG Exclusion Check	U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) – Office of Inspector General (OIG)	Identifies individuals and entities excluded from participating in federal healthcare programs (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid)	Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, vendors, contractors, executives, and billing staff	Monthly (OIG updates list regularly)	Fines up to $10,000 per claim + 3x damages; possible program exclusion; reputational harm
SAM (System for Award Management) Check	U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)	Screens for debarred, suspended, or otherwise ineligible parties for federal contracts and grants	Vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, and grant recipients	Daily	Ineligibility for federal contracts, financial penalties, and contract termination
State Medicaid Exclusion Lists	Individual State Medicaid Agencies (e.g., CA, NY, TX)	Identifies providers or entities barred from participating in state Medicaid programs	Healthcare providers, clinics, pharmacies, DME suppliers	Varies by state (often monthly)	Loss of Medicaid reimbursement; state-level fines; license sanctions
FDA Debarment List	U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)	Lists individuals prohibited from working in drug product development or approval due to fraud or misconduct	Clinical researchers, pharmaceutical employees, and CRO staff	As needed (less frequent)	Prohibition from FDA-regulated activities; criminal/civil penalties
TRICARE Sanctions List	Defense Health Agency (DHA) – TRICARE Program	Identifies providers excluded from the TRICARE military health program	Military healthcare providers, clinics, and labs	Updated periodically	Inability to bill TRICARE; loss of military healthcare contracts
Global Sanctions Lists	OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), UN, EU	Screens for individuals/entities under international sanctions (e.g., terrorism, narcotics, corruption)	International vendors, partners, and telehealth providers with global reach	Real-time/frequent	Severe fines (millions of dollars), criminal charges, and asset freezes

It’s Time to Wrap Things Up!

Sanction checks are equally critical in the field of healthcare, as they require careful consideration. Furthermore, such a wide range of screening can be done in a few minutes using automation. That’s why we have Venops, a trusted platform serving multiple healthcare providers to ensure their screening is completed on time and to generate continuous sanctions results.