The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in a Quality & Safety Special Alert Memo issued January 9, 2026 announced it will be addressing acknowledged data issues on Nursing Home Care Compare.

The issues stem from a recent transition of the Long-Term Care Survey Process from the legacy QIES system to iQIES in July 2025 and impact the Health Inspections domain.

CMS had previously frozen the health inspections domain after the July quarterly refresh in order to conduct data verification following the iQIES transition. The plan was to unfreeze the domain with the October quarterly refresh; however, the federal government shutdown delayed this update. When CMS released updated survey data in November, discrepancies were noted including those shared by LeadingAge shared with CMS. Updates were made within days, largely addressing the issue, though CMS has continued to encourage providers to notify them of any issues through the HelpDesk.

One outstanding issue related to the display of total numbers of complaints in the health inspections domain on Nursing Home Care Compare. Prior to the transition to iQIES, only complaints that were determined to be substantiated were counted in the total numbers of complaints displayed on Care Compare. However, CMS eliminated the distinction of substantiated vs. unsubstantiated from complaint investigation guidance and procedures in June 2022. As a result, with the transition to iQIES in July 2025, Nursing Home Care Compare began displaying significantly increased numbers that included not only complaints and facility-reported incidents that were validated through a complaint investigation, but also duplicate allegations, unverified claims, and self-reported incidents that do not necessarily reflect validated quality concerns or regulatory violations.

LeadingAge addressed this issue with CMS and the agency has decided to remove complaint totals from Nursing Home Care Compare in February as they work to identify a way to share more accurate information on nursing home complaints. It is important to note that complaint surveys and citations stemming from complaint surveys will still be publicly available on Nursing Home Care Compare.

LeadingAge is pleased with CMS’s attention and action to address these issues and their ongoing efforts to improve Nursing Home Care Compare.