Nursing Home Complaints
Once a complaint / reported event has been filed with the Department of Health Services, information is entered into the central DHS ACLAIMS system to track the progress of the investigation and the outcome. Information on complaints for each facility includes the date, category and outcome of each complaint.
Because residents and family members are still reluctant to file complaints due to fear of retaliation, a high number of complaints, whether substantiated or unsubstantiated, can indicate potential problems in a facility. You should look to see if there is a pattern of certain categories of complaints, who filed the complaints, if the dates of the complaints are varied, and which complaints were filed under the current ownership or management.
Because a reported event investigation can result in other sanctions, such as deficiencies, citations and civil monetary penalties, always look at the complaint information in context with the other facility factors.
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