With the latest Nursing Home Care Compare refresh at the end of February, CMS removed the display of complaint-allegation counts because the reported totals included duplicate allegations, unverified claims, and self-reported incidents. While CMS works to determine a more accurate way to present total complaint metrics, the underlying data still offers insights worth sharing.
Complaints Are Increasing Regardless of How They Are Counted
Complaint data against healthcare providers is initially collected by state agencies and later compiled by CMS. Insights from complaints gathered at the state level are occasionally included in the State Performance Standards System (SPSS) Findings report. The latest report, released in August 2025, notes that since FY19 the number of complaints requiring investigation has increased by 31.3 percent nationwide. While this increase reflects complaints across all provider types, including hospitals and home health agencies, the report also notes that the majority of complaints involve nursing homes, with more than 107,000 complaints filed in FY24.
Growth in Complaints Is Leading to Increased Complaint Surveys
The temporary removal of the total number of complaints from Nursing Home Care Compare did not apply to the reporting of official complaint surveys or the citations resulting from those investigations. The most recent data, currently displayed with a three-year lookback period, includes 59,255 Health Complaint surveys. This represents an increase of roughly 6 percent compared to the February 2025 release, which reported a total of 55,974 Health Complaint surveys.
Research Indicates Most Complaints Come from Families
Complaint records, including the identity of the individual who initiated the complaint, generally remain confidential and are not publicly disclosed, even when a complaint survey occurs. However, some organizations have been granted access to detailed complaint data for research purposes. Analyses of these studies indicate that when patients are 65 or older, family members often speak up on their behalf, filing between 54 percent and 73 percent of complaints.
This reinforces an important reality for healthcare providers. Families are often the primary voice raising concerns when something goes wrong. At Nexus, addressing family concerns is an important part of the work we support, and I would welcome hearing how others are navigating this issue.
