Guides
Understanding CMS nursing-home data
Short, neutral explainers for reading the public CMS records on this site — so the ratings, penalties, and inspection signals are easy to understand and verify.
25 guides
Getting started
- How to check a nursing homeA practical, neutral checklist for researching a nursing home using public CMS data: ratings, inspections, federal penalty records, staffing, ownership, and how to verify with official sources.
- How to compare nursing homesA neutral, step-by-step guide to comparing nursing homes side by side using public CMS data: ratings, inspections, staffing, penalties, ownership, and location.
- How to choose a nursing homeA neutral, step-by-step guide to choosing a nursing home: identify care needs, build a shortlist with public CMS data, compare on the same fields, tour in person, and verify with official sources.
- Questions to ask when touring a nursing homeA neutral checklist of factual questions to ask when touring a nursing home — about care, staffing, services, costs, and how to see the latest inspection results. No good/bad answers implied.
Using the data
- How to compare home health agenciesA step-by-step, plain-language guide to comparing Medicare-certified home health agencies with public CMS data: star ratings, outcome and safety measures, services offered, and how to handle missing data.
- How to check a Medicare-certified home health agencyHow to confirm a home health agency is Medicare-certified and review its public CMS record — certification, quality measures, services, and how to verify with the official Medicare source.
Understanding the data
- How to read CMS nursing-home star ratingsA plain-language guide to the CMS five-star nursing-home rating system: what the overall, health-inspection, staffing, and quality-measure stars mean, and how to use them.
- What are CMS federal penalty records?A neutral guide to the federal penalty records CMS reports for nursing homes — federal fines (CMPs) and payment denials — what they are, and how to read them.
- What is the CMS abuse icon?A neutral explanation of the CMS abuse icon shown for some nursing homes on Care Compare — what it flags, what it does not mean, and how to verify it.
- How to find nursing home ownershipA neutral guide to finding a nursing home's ownership using CMS-reported ownership fields — what ownership grouping shows, what it does not, and how to verify.
- How to read nursing home inspection citationsA neutral guide to reading the CMS health-inspection citations for nursing homes: what a citation is, the severity/scope letters, and how to verify the details.
- What are payment denials?A neutral guide to the CMS payment-denial records for nursing homes: what a denial of payment for new admissions is, what it shows, and how to read it.
- What is a CMS Special Focus Facility?A neutral explainer of the CMS Special Focus Facility program: what the SFF designation is, how CMS publishes it, and where to find the official details on Care Compare.
- How often are nursing homes inspected?A neutral, general explainer of how often CMS-certified nursing homes are inspected by state survey agencies, plus complaint inspections, and where CMS publishes the results.
- Medicare vs. Medicaid and nursing home careA neutral, general explainer of how Medicare and Medicaid differ in the context of nursing home care, and where to find official coverage details.
- What nursing home staffing measures meanA neutral, general explainer of the staffing measures CMS reports for nursing homes, what they describe, and where CMS publishes them.
- What CMS quality measures meanA neutral, general explainer of the quality measures CMS reports for nursing homes, what they describe, and where CMS publishes them.
- How to report a concern about a nursing homeA neutral, general explainer of the official channels for reporting a concern about a nursing home, including state survey agencies and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
- Nursing home vs. assisted livingA neutral, general explainer of how nursing homes and assisted living differ in the kind of care they provide and how they are overseen.
- What is a skilled nursing facility?A neutral, general explainer of what a skilled nursing facility is, how it relates to the term 'nursing home,' and where CMS publishes ratings.
- What is long-term care?A plain-language overview of long-term care: what it means, the settings where it's provided (in-home, assisted living, skilled nursing), how it differs from short-term rehab, how it's typically paid for, and where CMS-rated nursing homes fit.
- What is a CMS health inspection?A neutral, general explainer of what a CMS health inspection is, who conducts it, and how the results feed into nursing-home ratings.
- What do CMS home health ratings mean?A plain-language guide to the CMS quality-of-patient-care star rating and the patient-outcome measures CMS publishes for Medicare-certified home health agencies — and what a missing rating means.
Understanding the system
Understanding senior care
SeniorCareRating.com summarizes public CMS data. It is not affiliated with CMS, Medicare.gov, or any nursing home. Data may lag current conditions. This is not medical, legal, or care-placement advice — always verify with official sources and qualified professionals.