How we perform background checks on treatment centers for Trust Scores
We conduct background reviews of available information about a facility to look for concerns that may be important to someone considering treatment. Background checks are part of how we calculate and assign a facility’s Trust Score.
Through the background check, we look for allegations and evidence of serious concerns related to client safety, rights, or quality of care. Serious concerns may include:
When we identify a serious allegation, we review it more closely to determine whether it is credible, supported by other information, and significant enough to impact the facility’s Trust Score.
For less serious allegations, we look for patterns of issues that could impact the overall treatment experience. Because not every concern means a pattern of a broader problem, we look at how often concerns are reported, whether multiple people describe the same experiences, how serious or recent the concerns are, and whether other available information supports them. Patterns of concerns may also impact a facility’s trust score.
We consider information from various sources, including:
A negative review or allegation does not automatically result in a lower Trust Score for a facility. We look at all of the available evidence, how frequently the issue has been reported, whether similar concerns appear across different sources, and the seriousness of the issue.
When relevant concerns are identified, we may also include them in the facility page’s “Background Check” section to help people understand what we found and therefore, what they may want to ask about before choosing care at that facility.
Our background check is based on the information available to us and cannot independently verify every allegation. When reviewing a facility, we primarily defer to current licensing and accreditation because allegations from past clients are difficult to confirm. Our Trust Scores are not guarantees of treatment quality.