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IOWA · CARE PROGRAM

Nursing Facility

Every employee who gives direct or indirect services to residents of a licensed nursing facility (Iowa Code ch. 135C; 481 IAC 58), plus nurse aides and licensed nurses.

NURSING FACILITY · ON FILE
Registries named
9
Required
7
Expected
2
Screened by ezOIG
5 of 9
Rules checked
October 16, 2026

Required checks

Named by a regulation, a statute or the state's Medicaid agency

  1. List of Excluded Individuals/Entities

    HHS Office of Inspector General

    SCREENED BY EZOIG Federal exclusion check against the HHS-OIG list
    WHEN
    MONTHLY Before hire or contract, and monthly
    BASIS
    Iowa Medicaid Provider Agreement (Form 470-2965, rev. 03/26), § 4; IL 1130

    The Provider must screen employees and contractors against the HHS-OIG and State Exclusion List before hiring and monthly thereafter. Any exclusions must be reported to the Department.

    Read the source hhs.iowa.gov

  2. Iowa Medicaid Sanctions List

    Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa Medicaid Program Integrity)

    SCREENED BY EZOIG State Medicaid exclusion list check
    WHEN
    MONTHLY Before hire or contract, and monthly
    BASIS
    Iowa Medicaid Provider Agreement (Form 470-2965, rev. 03/26), § 4 ("State Exclusion List", published on Iowa Medicaid's Excluded Individuals and Entities page as the Iowa Medicaid Sanctions List under "Required Exclusion Databases"); 441 IAC 79.2(2)(w)

    The Provider must screen employees and contractors against the HHS-OIG and State Exclusion List before hiring and monthly thereafter. Any exclusions must be reported to the Department.

    Read the source hhs.iowa.gov

  3. Iowa Criminal History Record Check

    Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI)

    NOT SCREENED YET Checked by request to the agency
    WHEN
    AT HIRE Before employment (results valid 30 days); verify within seven days of a reported or credible new conviction or founded abuse
    BASIS
    Iowa Code § 135C.33(1)(b); 481 IAC 58.11(3), 50.9(3)(b)

    The facility shall either request that the department of public safety perform a criminal history check and that the department of human services perform child and dependent adult abuse record checks of the person in this state, or access the single contact repository (SING) to perform the required background check.

    Read the source legis.iowa.gov

  4. Central Abuse Registry (child abuse information)

    Iowa Department of Health and Human Services

    NOT SCREENED YET Checked by request to the agency
    WHEN
    AT HIRE Before employment (results valid 30 days); verify within seven days of a reported or credible new conviction or founded abuse
    BASIS
    Iowa Code § 135C.33(1)(b); 481 IAC 58.11(3), 50.9(3)(b)

    The facility shall either request that the department of public safety perform a criminal history check and that the department of human services perform child and dependent adult abuse record checks of the person in this state, or access the single contact repository (SING) to perform the required background check.

    Read the source legis.iowa.gov

  5. Central Abuse Registry (dependent adult abuse information)

    Iowa Department of Health and Human Services

    NOT SCREENED YET Checked by request to the agency
    WHEN
    AT HIRE Before employment (results valid 30 days); verify within seven days of a reported or credible new conviction or founded abuse
    BASIS
    Iowa Code § 135C.33(1)(b); 481 IAC 58.11(3), 50.9(3)(b)

    The facility shall either request that the department of public safety perform a criminal history check and that the department of human services perform child and dependent adult abuse record checks of the person in this state, or access the single contact repository (SING) to perform the required background check.

    Read the source legis.iowa.gov

  6. Iowa Direct Care Worker Registry

    Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL)

    SCREENED BY EZOIG Nurse aide registry check
    WHEN
    AT HIRE Before anyone works as a nurse aide, checking every state registry the facility believes holds information on them
    BASIS
    42 CFR 483.35(d)(4)-(5), 483.12(a)(3)(ii); 441 IAC 81.11(7)(c)(1); Iowa Medicaid Nursing Facility Manual ch. III (Nurse Aide Registry Verification)

    Before allowing an individual to serve as a nurse aide, a facility must receive registry verification that the individual has met competency evaluation requirements ... Before allowing an individual to serve as a nurse aide, a facility must seek information from every State registry ... that the facility believes will include information on the individual.

    Read the source ecfr.gov

  7. Iowa Board of Nursing License Verification

    Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (Board of Nursing)

    NOT SCREENED YET The registry blocks automated access
    WHEN
    AT HIRE At hire and at each renewal, licensed nurses
    BASIS
    42 CFR 483.12(a)(3)(iii)

    Have a disciplinary action in effect against his or her professional license by a state licensure body as a result of a finding of abuse, neglect, exploitation, mistreatment of residents or misappropriation of resident property.

    Read the source ecfr.gov

Expected checks

Standard practice, or implied by a provider's enrollment duties; no rule names them outright

  1. Iowa Sex Offender Registry

    Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation

    SCREENED BY EZOIG Sex offender registry check
    WHEN
    AT HIRE At hire
    BASIS
    Standard practice; no Iowa rule names it. It lists Iowa registrants with out-of-state convictions that the Iowa-only DCI check misses, and Iowa HHS's Abuse Registry page links it beside the DCI criminal history check

  2. SAM.gov exclusions

    General Services Administration

    SCREENED BY EZOIG Federal exclusion check against SAM.gov
    WHEN
    MONTHLY At hire and monthly
    BASIS
    Iowa Medicaid's exclusion page lists SAM.gov with its "Required Exclusion Databases", but IL 1130 and the HCBS Provider Manual only recommend it and the Provider Agreement leaves it out

Also required

Not registry lookups; ezOIG doesn't run these
  • HHS Record Check Evaluation (Form 470-2310) before employing anyone whose checks show a conviction or founded child or dependent adult abuse; HHS decides whether the record bars the job (Iowa Code § 135C.33(2)-(4); 441 IAC 119)
  • Signed acknowledgment of the record checks, and the application question on founded abuse and convictions (Iowa Code § 135C.33(1)(d))
  • Employees report a new conviction or founded abuse within 48 hours and the employer verifies it within seven days (Iowa Code § 135C.33(8))
  • Optional comprehensive preliminary background check by a DIAL-approved third-party vendor, allowing provisional employment while SING results and any evaluation are pending (Iowa Code § 135C.33(1)(c))
  • Baseline TB screening at hire, then serial screening by the facility's risk class (481 IAC 59.5, 59.6)
  • Nurse aide training and competency evaluation, and each employed nurse aide's name submitted to the registry (441 IAC 81.13(4)-(5); 481 IAC 58.11(1)(h))

Why some registries are not screened yet

The registry blocks automated access
The registry's website turns away automated lookups. We don't work around that, so for now your staff search it themselves.
Checked by request to the agency
The agency answers a written request or form rather than an online search.

Guidance, not legal advice

This page summarizes ezOIG's research into Iowa's rules for this program, checked against the regulations as of October 16, 2026. Rules change, and an agency's own contract or license can add to them. Confirm what applies to you with Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa Medicaid) or your own counsel before relying on it.

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