—Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 16th Century
By Karen O’Hara
The National Association of Occupational Health Professionals has announced a new partnership to make it easy and profitable for occupational health providers to routinely refer their clients and parent healthcare organizations to a reputable source for a broad range of background check services.
On behalf of its members, the association has evaluated prospective partners and entered into an agreement with Acxiom Risk Mitigation, one of the nation’s leading background check companies.
Under the NAOHP agreement, occupational health programs will receive 20 percent of the revenue generated by each Acxiom-approved client referral in the first year of business and 10 percent of the revenue generated in the second year from year-one referrals, paid on a monthly basis. Background check packages are expected to average approximately $35 per transaction. (See related article for specific details.)
“This opportunity represents another revenue stream that is pure profit and low labor intensive for occupational health programs,” said Michael Cool, business unit leader for Acxiom’s Cleveland, OH-based background screening division. “Allan NAOHP member program has to do is fill out a form to refer a company to us and we will take it from there. They won’t have to sell the service to the prospective customer.”
The company uses advanced communications technology (e.g., secure Internet interfaces, custom links, email, auto-fax, and specialized software) to facilitate the exchange of information.
The company uses advanced communications technology (e.g., secure Internet interfaces, custom links, email, auto-fax, and specialized software) to facilitate the exchange of information. Depending upon the service, the company typically can complete a background search within three to five working days. All processes and procedures comply with Fair Credit Reporting Act standards, the legal guidelines by which corporate employment decisions are primarily governed. Acxiom plays a leadership role in the industry with respect to data integrity and privacy protection issues.
NAOHP Member Benefits
There are numerous reasons why a relationship between the NAOHP and Acxiom makes sense, said Frank Leone, executive director of the NAOHP:
- Background checks are a logical complement to a pre-hire screening process that traditionally includes a physical assessment and drug screen. Recurrent background screening of existing employees is also becoming increasingly popular as an indicator of corporate due diligence.
- Background checks have the potential to become an even more common and revenue-enhancing staple than drug screens for occupational health programs.
- Scrutiny of individuals’ criminal, educational, financial and employment histories has become much more common since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Background checks are part of a dynamic and growing industry.
- There are seemingly limitless opportunities to educate employers about the value of background checks and convert those contacts to Acxiom Referrals.
“Background checks are a vertical expansion product that is consistent with the mission of NAOHP members to render a safer, healthier workforce on behalf of their employer clients,” Mr. Leone said. “And, they represent an excellent source of added revenue with minimal administrative time. For employers, background checks are a low-cost adjunct to the hiring process.”
Addressing a Need
Mr. Cool said Acxiom’s background check business has grown 20 to 25 percent in the past five years. According to industry estimates, about 70 percent of private employers in the United States are now performing some form of background check as part of the hiring process to mitigate liability risks, decrease employee turnover and improve productivity.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that about 30 percent of business failures are directly linked to bad hiring decisions. Meanwhile, a single hiring error in judgment can shut down a small business with limited resources. Employee theft alone costs American employers an estimated $40 billion a year; in a recent poll by CareerBuilder.com, 38 percent of hiring managers said they had to fire employees for workplace theft.
From a revenue-generating perspective, background checks tend to be about volumes, but unlike drug screens, they are not considered a commodity, explains Mr. Cool, who formerly worked as a law enforcement officer.
“The drug screening process is heavily regulated, and because of that, there is a lot of commodity in the test,” Mr. Cool said. “The result will basically be the same as long as the specimen is sent to a certified lab. That makes service and price more important than the actual Product.
“The opposite is true with background screening. In our case, it’s the quality of the product that’s important. For example, unlike other companies, we check 100 percent of criminal records in real-time using 3,000 criminal court researchers who are fanned out across the country. We get more current, comprehensive information than anyone else in this industry.”
Acxiom’s national criminal record database, which is used as a supplement to the core physical/real-time searches conducted in local county and federal courts, contains more than 180 million criminal record files.
“If an employer only has $20 to spend and needs to choose between a drug test or a background check, his or her risk is best mitigated by choosing the background check.”
—Michael Cool, Acxiom Risk Mitigation
According to Mr. Cool, among the array of background services that are available to employers, a criminal background check is the most effective screening tool. Approximately 10 percent of the U.S. population has a criminal record; positive “hits” during criminal background checks reflect that percentage.
“If an employer only has $20 to spend and needs to choose between a drug test or a background check, his or her risk is best mitigated by choosing the background check,” Mr. Cool said. “Employers are expected to exercise certain levels of diligence, and the non-diligence associated with placing a convicted criminal, particularly someone who has committed a sexual or violent act, in the proximity of customers and employees presents tremendous liability.” Drug testing provides a snapshot of a person’s life, and by and large, it basically tells us if someone has used drugs within the past three days. “By comparison, a criminal background check captures the entire criminal history, which is forever,” he added. “The genesis of violent or sexual crimes is that people can’t control themselves. Criminals lack the filter that keeps the rest of us from hurting someone.”
He noted that healthcare organizations, in particular, have a duty to protect patients and others who are in a vulnerable position.
Another factor that differentiates Acxiom from its competitors is the way it verifies information to ensure that the individual being investigated is actually the person the client company is considering hiring, Mr. Cool said.
In addition, Acxiom has the ability to score results based on a company’s hiring policies and submit a simple “pass” or “fail” statement to the employer by email. For example, a company hiring someone who will be dealing with the public and handling large sums of money may have more restrictive human resources and background check policies than one that is hiring a warehouse worker for a wholesale operation without any interaction with the public. Acxiom supports its applicant-scoring program with an adverse action fulfillment service in compliance with Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements.
