HHS OIG LEIE Exclusion Screening API

Screen healthcare workers, providers, vendors, pharmacies, and organizations against the official HHS Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE). Search the current active-exclusions file by person name, business/entity name, or exact NPI, then export source-backed evidence for credentialing, staffing, Medicaid enrollment, vendor onboarding, and healthcare compliance workflows.

No API key is required. HHS OIG replaces the full database monthly and says exclusion information is updated by the 10th of each month.

Important identity caveat: Every returned row is a possible match, not final identity adjudication. HHS OIG says a name match is not sufficient and requires final verification with SSN for an individual or EIN for an entity through the online LEIE search. The downloadable database cannot include SSNs.

Fast start

The default Smith prefix search returns a non-empty screening sample. For deterministic review, use an exact NPI:

{
  "npi": "1972902351",
  "maxResults": 25
}

Person search:

{
  "firstName": "John",
  "lastName": "Smith",
  "state": "TX",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Entity search:

{
  "businessName": "Dental",
  "state": "NY",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Generic agent-friendly search:

{
  "query": "Smith John",
  "providerType": "Individual",
  "maxResults": 25
}

Search precedence is npi → businessName → person-name fields → query, so a saved default query never blocks a more specific lookup.

Output

Possible-match records include:

• screeningStatus and matchMethod
• person and business names
• entity type, provider type, and specialty
• NPI and UPIN when present
• date of birth when included in the public LEIE record
• address, city, state, and ZIP
• exclusion authority code and effective date
• waiver and reinstatement fields when present
• official source freshness date and source URL
• stable source record key
• verificationRequired, identityVerified, and the official SSN/EIN verification URL

No-match searches return an explicit NO_POSSIBLE_MATCHES evidence item with source freshness rather than an ambiguous empty dataset. Temporary official-source failures return SOURCE_UNAVAILABLE and do not claim a screening conclusion.

Inputs

Field	Purpose
query	Generic person/business prefix or exact 10-digit NPI
firstName	Individual first-name prefix; use with lastName
lastName	Individual last-name prefix
businessName	Business/entity-name prefix
npi	Exact 10-digit NPI lookup
state	Optional two-letter address-state filter
providerType	Optional provider/entity classification filter
specialty	Optional provider or business specialty filter
exclusionType	Optional exact OIG exclusion authority code
maxResults	Total response cap, 1–500

Name matching is case-insensitive and punctuation-normalized. It uses prefix matching because HHS OIG recommends entering the first few letters of person names or the first part of an entity name for bulk searches.

Use cases

• Monthly employee and contractor exclusion checks
• Healthcare staffing and provider credentialing
• Medicaid enrollment and network monitoring
• Pharmacy, home-health, DME, and clinic vendor screening
• Compliance evidence and audit-trail exports
• NPI-to-exclusion possible-match checks
• Healthcare vendor and entity due diligence

Official sources

• LEIE database and monthly supplement downloads
• LEIE quick tips and verification instructions
• Online LEIE SSN/EIN identity verification

The active database contains exclusions currently in effect. HHS OIG removes reinstated individuals and entities from each replacement full file. Preserve screening evidence and re-screen on the cadence required by your compliance program.