We Checked Our Doctors but Forgot Our Contractors: Closing the Vendor Screening Gap
Regional Medical Center
At a Glance
The hospital had invested significantly in employee exclusion screening. Every physician, nurse, and clinical staff member was checked against OIG and SAM lists. It was thorough, disciplined, and completely missed half the equation.
Vendors -- the companies supplying linens, equipment, staffing contractors, and consulting services -- were never screened. The vendor master file contained hundreds of entries, and nobody had thought to check whether any of those entities appeared on federal debarment lists.
The hospital ran their entire vendor master file through EcoCheck's batch screening capability. Instead of checking vendors one at a time, the system processed the full roster against federal and state debarment databases in a single operation.
EcoCheck flagged matches with detailed reports showing the specific exclusion, the relevant database, and the effective dates. The compliance team could then investigate each flag, determine the appropriate action, and document the resolution.
The initial batch screen identified three vendors on federal debarment lists, including a linens supplier and a facilities contractor. The hospital immediately suspended payments and initiated contract reviews, preventing potential Medicare reimbursement clawbacks that could have reached into the hundreds of thousands.
The discovery was a wake-up call that rippled through the organization. Procurement, Legal, and Compliance aligned on a unified vendor governance process for the first time. Vendor screening became as routine as employee screening.
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