Is your center ready for LegitScript certification?

What to fix (24)

Critical gaps first, then the rest in checklist order. Each fix names the part of LegitScript's documents it comes from.

1. CriticalEach facility holds a current state license for every level of care it offers.

   Match every level of care to a current facility license, and stop offering or promoting any service that is not yet licensed. Standard 1 requires an applicant to be adequately licensed for the services it offers.

   Standard 1 and 2, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

2. CriticalEvery service on the site is one you offer and are licensed to provide, at the location the site names.

   Remove or reword any service, level of care or location you do not deliver. Standard 9 says website content must not misrepresent the scope or location of services.

   Standard 3 and 9, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

3. CriticalNo one with decision-making authority in your organization owns a lead generator, and you have no formal or informal tie to one, such as sponsoring or answering its hotline.

   End the ownership or affiliation before you apply. Standard 12 says co-ownership of, or affiliation with, a lead generator may be grounds for immediate denial.

   Standard 12, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

4. CriticalYou are not running addiction treatment ads on Google, Bing or Facebook without certification.

   Pause those campaigns until you are certified. Standard 13 says advertising on those platforms without certification may be grounds for denial.

   Standard 13, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

5. CriticalYou do not pay for patients' travel, rent or insurance premiums, and you can list every incentive you offer.

   Stop travel, rent and premium payments, and write down every incentive you offer. Standard 14 says applicants that offer to pay for travel will generally not be eligible, and names rent and insurance premiums as problematic too.

   Standard 14, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

6. CriticalEvery medication you use or promote is approved by regulators, or you do not offer medication.

   Remove any unapproved drug from treatment plans and from the website. Standard 11 says an applicant may not rely on unapproved drugs.

   Standard 11, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

7. Every location is run by a business entity registered in the state where it treats patients.

   Register the operating company where services are delivered. The licensure spreadsheet in the application asks you to list every addiction treatment business your company and its principals own, with its registration.

   Standard 1, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

8. Everyone who prescribes controlled substances has a current DEA registration you can copy, or no one on staff prescribes them.

   Collect a current DEA certificate for every prescriber. The US checklist asks for copies with the questionnaire.

   Standard 2, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

9. You can produce a deed or a lease for every address where services are delivered.

   Gather the ownership or lease documents for each address now. Standard 4 lets LegitScript ask for them on request.

   Standard 4, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

10. You have a list of your licensed clinical staff (doctors, nurses, counselors) with their credentials and addiction treatment training.

    Build the staff list the questionnaire asks for: every key treatment provider who must hold a state, federal or professional license, with evidence of addiction treatment training.

    Standard 6, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

11. You carry the liability insurance your state requires to operate, and can show proof of it.

    Ask your broker for current certificates for general liability and any specialized coverage your state requires for a treatment facility.

    Standard 8, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

12. Your website shows the physical address of every facility where treatment happens.

    Publish each facility's street address as text, in the footer and on each location page. The US checklist notes that some programs keep addresses off the site to protect patient privacy and that this can be acceptable, so if that is your choice, be ready to explain it.

    Standard 9, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

13. Every photo of a facility on the site shows your actual facility.

    Replace stock or borrowed facility photos with real photography. Standard 9 requires photos to truthfully and accurately depict your facilities.

    Standard 9, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

14. A privacy policy is easy to find on the site, and any form that collects health information goes to a vendor that has signed a BAA.

    Post a privacy policy that covers health information and link it beside every form. Move intake forms to a vendor that will sign a Business Associate Agreement. Standard 10 requires HIPAA compliance from US applicants that collect, store or transmit PHI.

    Standard 10, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

15. Every success rate, statistic or guarantee on the site cites its evidence, or the site makes none.

    Source every outcome claim or take it down. The US checklist says guarantees and statistics without supporting evidence could be considered misleading.

    US checklist, Standard 16, Addiction Treatment Certification US Application Checklist (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

16. The site does not send visitors to treatment centers or practitioners that LegitScript has not certified.

    Audit outbound links, partner pages and resource lists, and remove links to treatment providers LegitScript has not vetted. The US checklist names these links as problematic content.

    US checklist, Addiction Treatment Certification US Application Checklist (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

17. Every addiction treatment facility your website promotes is one you will put through certification.

    LegitScript certifies by website and prices per facility. Either include every facility your site promotes, or take the ones you will not certify off the site.

    US checklist, Addiction Treatment Certification US Application Checklist (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

18. You have a list of every domain you and your principals own, including sites you do not plan to certify.

    Pull the list from your registrar accounts and ask each principal for theirs. Standard 15 and the checklist ask for all of them.

    Standard 15, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

19. Your ads name your center, use no other business's name, and only advertise locations where you treat patients.

    Rewrite ads and their landing pages so the advertiser is clearly identified and every location advertised is one where you provide services.

    Standard 13, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

20. You can list every property and company you control or refer patients to, and the ones that provide treatment meet these standards too.

    Map every entity you own or refer to, including referral arrangements, and hold each one that treats patients to the same standards. Standard 5 requires that disclosure.

    Standard 5, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

21. Partners essential to care, such as a pharmacy that fills patients' prescriptions, are LegitScript-certified or accredited, or you have no such partners.

    Ask each essential partner for its LegitScript certification or its accreditation. Standard 15 allows exceptions only at LegitScript's discretion.

    Standard 15, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

22. You can disclose every prior criminal, regulatory or civil violation and any litigation from the past ten years, and there are no recent or repeated sanctions.

    Pull the records now and prepare a plain account of each. Standard 7 says applicants must not have been subject to recent or repeated sanctions, warning letters or similar regulatory action, and that prior offenses may be disqualifying.

    Standard 7, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

23. No one on staff is on the HHS Office of Inspector General exclusion list (LEIE), or you have proof of their removal.

    Check every employee against the OIG exclusion list and keep the documentation for anyone who has been removed from it. The US checklist asks about both.

    US checklist, Addiction Treatment Certification US Application Checklist (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)

24. You can describe in writing every service you offer, including therapies, whether medication is part of care, and programs for groups such as adolescents.

    Write a one-page services summary and have your written policies and procedures ready. Standard 3 lets LegitScript ask for them.

    Standard 3, Our 16 Certification Standards (LegitScript) (opens in a new tab)