To report a nursing home in Indiana, file a complaint with the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH), which licenses and inspects every nursing home in the state. The fastest way is IDOH’s online complaint form; if you can’t get online, leave a voicemail complaint at 1-800-246-8909.1Indiana Department of Health. Reporting a Complaint About a Health Care Facility Depending on the situation, you may also need to contact Adult Protective Services or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 911 before anything else.
Call 911 First If Someone Is in Danger
If a resident is being physically harmed right now, has injuries that need emergency care, or is in any immediate danger, call 911. IDOH and Adult Protective Services are not emergency responders, and their investigations take days or weeks to begin. Once the immediate crisis is handled, you can still file a formal complaint with the agencies below.
What You Can Report
Federal regulations guarantee every nursing home resident the right to be free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation of property. Facilities also may not use physical or chemical restraints unless medically necessary, and then only the least restrictive method for the shortest time possible.2eCFR. 42 CFR 483.12 – Freedom From Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Any violation is reportable. In practice, that includes:
- Physical abuse: hitting, shoving, rough handling, or unwanted physical contact by staff or other residents.
- Emotional abuse: yelling, threatening, humiliating, or isolating a resident.
- Sexual abuse: any nonconsensual sexual contact or behavior.
- Neglect: poor hygiene, untreated bedsores, dehydration, malnutrition, unanswered call lights, or failure to assist with mobility.
- Financial exploitation: stealing a resident’s money, forging signatures, or pressuring a resident to change financial documents.
- Medication errors: wrong drugs, wrong doses, missed doses, or overmedication used as sedation.
- Unsanitary conditions: soiled linens, insect infestations, foul odors, or unsafe building conditions.
- Violations of resident rights: denying visitors, reading a resident’s mail, restricting phone access, or failing to respect privacy and dignity.
You do not have to be certain abuse is happening. A reasonable suspicion is enough, and IDOH investigates all complaints it receives.3Indiana Department of Health. Facility-Reported Incidents Indiana is also a mandatory reporting state for endangered adults: everyone, not just healthcare workers, is legally required to report suspected neglect, battery, or exploitation of an endangered adult to Adult Protective Services or law enforcement.4Family and Social Services Administration. Adult Protective Services
How to File a Complaint With IDOH
IDOH accepts complaints about any licensed or certified healthcare facility in the state. The online complaint form is the recommended route because it lets IDOH review and begin investigating as quickly as possible, and you can upload photos, videos, and documents directly through it.1Indiana Department of Health. Reporting a Complaint About a Health Care Facility
If you do not have internet access, call 1-800-246-8909 and leave a voicemail complaint. IDOH notes that most complaints are detailed enough that writing works better than speaking, so the phone line is really a backup.1Indiana Department of Health. Reporting a Complaint About a Health Care Facility
What to Include
A complaint missing key details may be closed without investigation. Include as much of the following as you can:
- Your contact information: name, email, phone, and your relationship to the resident. You can stay anonymous, but IDOH then can’t contact you for follow-up or share the results.
- Facility details: full name and address of the nursing home.
- Timing: the date and time of the incident, or how often it occurs if ongoing.
- People involved: residents, staff, witnesses, and alleged perpetrators, plus room numbers or locations inside the facility.
- What happened: injuries, whether the incident was isolated or part of a pattern, and whether the facility has tried to address it.
- Other agencies contacted: law enforcement, Adult Protective Services, or anyone else, and the response you got.
If you believe the situation is an immediate threat to a resident’s health or safety, say so explicitly. IDOH classifies these as “immediate jeopardy” and prioritizes them.1Indiana Department of Health. Reporting a Complaint About a Health Care Facility
Save a copy of everything before you submit. Screenshot the online confirmation page, keep copies of what you uploaded, and write down the date. If you called the voicemail line, note the date, time, and what you said. These records matter if you need to follow up or escalate.
Report to Adult Protective Services When the Victim Is an Endangered Adult
When the concern involves an endangered adult — someone 18 or older who cannot manage their own care due to a mental or physical incapacity and is being harmed or threatened with harm through neglect, battery, or exploitation — report to Indiana’s Adult Protective Services (APS) as well. Many nursing home situations meet that definition.4Family and Social Services Administration. Adult Protective Services
APS takes reports through its state hotline at 800-992-6978 or through an online reporting form on its website. It investigates neglect, battery, and exploitation, including financial exploitation and sexual abuse, and can coordinate with law enforcement when criminal conduct is suspected.4Family and Social Services Administration. Adult Protective Services
Reporting to APS does not replace reporting to IDOH. The two agencies do different things: IDOH evaluates the facility’s compliance with healthcare regulations, while APS focuses on the safety of the individual. For serious situations, report to both.
When to Call the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Instead
Indiana’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman is an advocacy resource for residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The ombudsman can investigate complaints, mediate between residents and facilities, and help residents understand their rights. This office is most useful when the issue is not outright abuse but a quality-of-life concern: problems with food, lost personal belongings, disagreements about care plans, or a resident feeling unheard.
Reach the ombudsman at 800-622-4484 or 317-232-7134.5Indiana State Government. Ombudsman Contact Information Unlike IDOH, which is a regulatory enforcement agency, the ombudsman works on the resident’s behalf. That difference matters: the ombudsman can often push a facility to fix a problem without triggering a formal regulatory action, which sometimes produces faster results for day-to-day issues.
What Happens After You File
IDOH reviews every complaint to assess its severity and confirm it falls within the agency’s jurisdiction. Investigations follow federal guidelines set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which require state survey agencies to investigate complaints against certified nursing homes. They commonly involve unannounced facility visits, interviews with staff and residents, and review of medical records and internal documentation.
Facilities found in violation of state or federal regulations can face deficiency findings, required corrective action plans, fines, or in serious cases loss of certification to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients. IDOH verifies whether the facility is meeting its legal obligations; it does not award compensation to the resident or family. If you provided your contact information, IDOH will inform you of the outcome. If you filed anonymously, there is no way for the agency to reach you with results.
Anonymity and Retaliation
You can file your IDOH complaint anonymously. If you choose anonymity, state it explicitly in your submission. The tradeoff is real: IDOH cannot ask you for clarifying details and cannot share the investigation outcome with you.1Indiana Department of Health. Reporting a Complaint About a Health Care Facility If the complaint involves a situation that needs back-and-forth, providing your contact information gives investigators more to work with while still keeping your identity out of the facility’s hands.
Federal regulations protect residents from retaliation for exercising their rights, including filing grievances and complaints. Residents have the right to present grievances “without discrimination or retaliation, or the fear of it.”6Indiana State Government. Ombudsman Residents’ Rights If a resident or family member sees negative treatment after a complaint — reduced care, hostile behavior from staff, threats of discharge — document every incident with dates, times, and names. Report the retaliation to IDOH as a separate complaint, because retaliation itself is a violation of federal nursing home standards.2eCFR. 42 CFR 483.12 – Freedom From Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
Check the Facility’s Record
Before or after filing, look up any Medicare-certified nursing home’s inspection history, complaint investigation results, staffing data, and overall quality rating through Medicare’s Care Compare tool at medicare.gov/care-compare. Search by facility name or location to see recent survey findings, the number and severity of deficiencies, and any penalties imposed. The information is public and updated regularly, and it can tell you whether what you’re seeing is isolated or part of a documented pattern.