The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updates to the State Operations Manual (SOM) on January 30, 2026, that impact complaint procedures and nursing home survey and enforcement processes. These updates, outlined in QSO-26-03-NH and reflected in Chapters 5 and 7 of the SOM, are said to be consistent with existing policies previously released through Quality, Safety, and Oversight (QSO) memos and represent no new changes to current policies, according to CMS.

LeadingAge will be reviewing these updates and providing further analysis in the coming days.