Deeper Than the Headlines: Nursing Home Health and Safety Complaints

The OIG recently released some data as it relates to trends in nursing home complaints. The OIG feels the nursing home complaint process is a critical safeguard to protect vulnerable nursing home residents.

CMS relies upon each State's survey agency to respond to health and safety concerns raised by residents, their families, and nursing home staff. State agencies must investigate the most serious complaints on-site within certain timeframes. However, a previous OIG report found that a few States fell short in the timely investigation of the most serious nursing home complaints between 2011 and 2015. To complement this report, the OIG published a map that displays details on nursing home complaint trends between 2011 and 2015.

This new data has updated the map for years 2016 through 2018. Specifically, it displays details on nursing home complaint trends between 2016 and 2018 for each State, including the number of complaints received and the number of the most serious complaints that a State investigated late. The OIG also published national trend data.

The OIG is continuing to analyze nursing home complaint and investigations data and trends. They plan to share the results of this work in a forthcoming report that examines whether States that fell short in timely investigation of the most serious nursing home complaints in 2015 have since improved their efforts.

Additionally, an ongoing OIG evaluation is examining CMS's oversight of State survey agencies' performance. Needless, to say, the OIG is staying focused on its oversight of nursing home complaints and those states that might not be reporting the way they should be.