# Healthcare & home care

> Caregivers, volunteers and vendors: which API applies to which decision, and how to keep the roster current.

- **HTML:** https://offendersearch.app/docs/solutions/healthcare-home-care
- **Base URL (live):** https://api.offendersearch.app — live keys (`os_live_…`)
- **Base URL (sandbox):** https://sandbox.offendersearch.app — test keys (`os_test_…`), never billed
- **Authentication:** `X-API-Key` request header
- **OpenAPI:** https://offendersearch.app/openapi.json · https://offendersearch.app/openapi.yaml
- **Docs index for agents:** https://offendersearch.app/llms.txt

## Which API for which decision

| Decision | Regulated? | Use |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hiring or retaining a caregiver or employee | Yes — a consumer report under the FCRA | [FCRA Partner API](/docs/fcra) through an approved partner |
| Admitting a patient or resident; screening a visitor or a vendor's on-site staff for facility safety | Facility policy and state rules; not a consumer report | [Sex Offender Search](/docs/sex-offender) and [Criminal Records](/docs/criminal) self-service APIs |
| Knowing when a screened person's record changes | — | [Monitoring API](/docs/monitoring) person watches |
| Knowing who is registered near a client's home before a visit | — | Sex Offender Search by address or radius; a location watch for changes |

> **Warning.** The self-service APIs carry a `legal.notice` on every response: not for employment, tenant, credit or insurance decisions. A home care agency screening its own hires must do so through the FCRA Partner API.

## Keeping a roster current

1. Screen once with the appropriate API and store the `searchId` with the person.
2. Create a person monitor (`POST /v1/monitors`) with the same name and date of birth; one monitor watches one dataset (`product: "sex-offender"` or `"criminal"`), so create two to watch both.
3. Receive alerts by email or webhook; each alert names the event (`new`, `changed`, `removed`) and the record. [Alerts](/docs/monitoring/alerts).
4. Cancel the monitor when the person leaves (`DELETE /v1/monitors/{monitorId}`).

## Related

- [Skilled nursing admissions](https://offendersearch.app/docs/solutions/skilled-nursing)
- [Monitoring API](https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring)
- [FCRA Partner API](https://offendersearch.app/docs/fcra)