MDH-Licensed Providers Transition to Fingerprint-Based Background Studies for New Employees Beginning March 2

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Jonathan Lips

Providers licensed or regulated by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will transition back to fingerprint-based background studies beginning March 2 for new employees. In late January, following two previous delays, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) announced March 2 as the date for the resumption of fingerprinting. The transition is moving forward without further postponement.

The March 2 transition applies to submitting background studies for new employees. The list of provider types includes assisted living, boarding care, home care, hospitals, nursing home and supplemental nursing services agencies, among others. Providers should have received a notification directly from NETStudy with information about the transition.

Existing employees who received emergency studies without fingerprints will need clearance through a standard fingerprint-based study by July 2. DHS has identified the period of April 6 – May 31 for resubmitting background studies for existing employees. Knowing this will be a significantly large group of employees, we advocate for DHS to ensure that the system has sufficient capacity to accommodate the expected volume. We will provide additional information and updates on this issue.

As providers are likely aware, the State has contracted with a new fingerprinting vendor, IDEMIA, and a listing of locations and go-live dates is available on this IDEMIA webpage. As of Feb. 14, the list includes 84 sites.

This DHS Frequently-Asked-Questions page addresses many key issues relating to the transition and working with IDEMIA. It includes a link to a Fingerprint Vendor Transition Guide for Entities DHS-8166 that provides an overview of the IDEMIA fingerprinting process.

As the transition process proceeds, we urge members to let us know of any access issues your staff experience with obtaining fingerprinting and any technical problems you encounter with the new system.