Oct. 12,  2023

MDH to Pass Background Studies Cost to Providers

On October 12, 2023 by Erin Huppert

On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) convened a meeting with LeadingAge Minnesota and other provider o

rganizations to share that MDH-regulated healthcare providers will be responsible for paying the Department of Human Services (DHS) directly for all background studies initiated for current or prospective employees. This change will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2024, representing a significant cost shift to healthcare providers. 

MDH issued a notice via GovDelivery on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

After our initial shock wore off, we successfully advocated for this change to go into effect on Feb. 1 instead of MDH’s initial targeted date of Jan. 1.  

An additional month buys us a little more time to continue our advocacy and plan for this change, but it does not mitigate the devasting impact this will have on providers required to use background checks to ensure the safety of the people they serve. As a frame of reference, MDH shared that they’ve spent $1 million in under two months on background studies – costs that will now be placed on financially fragile healthcare providers across the continuum of care. 

Impact on your organization

As of Feb. 1, providers will be responsible for paying the background study fee directly to DHS for each application submitted into NETStudy 2.0. Providers may also choose to have the study subject pay the fee.  

The NETStudy 2.0 system will display a payment screen for background study applications submitted. 

Providers will be responsible for paying the study initiation fee (currently $44 per initiated study) and the IDEMIA - IdentoGO vendor fee for live scan fingerprinting (currently $10.50 per study person).

Legislative appropriation for background studies 

The legislature intended MDH to subsidize providers for background studies and provided MDH funding for this activity. For years, MDH and the Department of Human Services (DHS) have maintained an interagency agreement to transfer MDH funds provided by the legislature to DHS to subsidize or cover the ever-increasing costs of studies on behalf of providers.

MDH seems to have underestimated the cost of background studies to the legislature, leading to this dramatic and forthcoming change. However, this issue is more symptomatic of a broken background studies system than a lack of legislative funding—especially before the legislature can discuss or resolve this problem during the legislative session. 

Next steps 

While we have long worked with legislators to address underlying problems with Minnesota's background studies process, this development elevates the issue. We will continue our strong advocacy and use every tactic in our toolbox to stop this devasting decision from going into effect. 

In the meantime, we ask you to assess the financial impact this change will have on your organization. Consider, in particular, the cost of initiating a study that is never completed because the applicant did not complete the fingerprinting requirement.

Other causes that might also result in the payment for initiating the background study but not resulting in completing the process include:  

• Not completing the fingerprint and photo requirements within the 14-day timeframe;  
• Not completing and submitting the consent and disclosure form required by NETStudy; or if the subject declines the consent and disclosure in error; or 
• Withdrawing the request for a background study but later resubmitting a new background study application when a provider decides to hire a candidate. 

Stay tuned for additional details and specific advocacy actions you can take to share the impact of this poorly-timed, short-sighted policy on your organization and your efforts to recruit a skilled, compassionate caregiving workforce.