Data sources and licence
Last reviewed:
All data on this site comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS publishes the files for nursing homes in its Provider Data Catalog.
CMS processed the files that the site shows now on . CMS publishes new files about one time each month.
The seven CMS files
| CMS file | CMS id | What the site takes from it |
|---|---|---|
| Provider Information | 4pq5-n9py | Name, address, ownership type, beds, chain, star ratings, staffing hours, turnover, survey dates, CMS flags. |
| Health Deficiencies | r5ix-sfxw | Each health citation of the last three survey cycles: F-tag, scope and severity letter, survey type, correction date. |
| Citation Code Look-up | tagd-9999 | The CMS text and the category of each F-tag. |
| Penalties | g6vv-u9sr | Fines and payment denials of three years, with dates and amounts. |
| Ownership | y2hd-n93e | Owners and managers with their roles. The site uses the rows for organisations only. |
| State US Averages | xcdc-v8bm | The state and national averages that CMS publishes for ratings, citations and staffing. |
| MDS Quality Measures | djen-97ju | The average of four quarters for the measures in the quality measure rating. |
Licence
The files are a work of the United States government and are in the public domain. The site does not change a CMS value. CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services do not endorse this site.
CMS documents behind the definitions
The glossary and the guides use three CMS documents. The site read them on 1 October 2026.
| Document | What the site takes from it |
|---|---|
| Five-Star Quality Rating System: Technical Users' Guide | How CMS calculates the star ratings, the criteria for the abuse icon, and the caveat on each page of a home. Edition of July 2026. |
| Nursing Home Data Dictionary | The meaning of each column in the CMS files. Edition of July 2026. |
| Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program | How the program works, with the monthly list of homes and candidates. |
Names of counties
The CMS files give the bare name of a county. The site shows the name that the U.S. Census Bureau uses, for example "Orleans Parish" or "Anchorage Municipality". The names come from two Census Bureau reference files, which are in the public domain.
Files from this site
Each state page and each chain page has a CSV file with one row for each home. Each table with eight or more rows has a link that gives the table as a CSV file.
You can quote a figure or a table from this site with a link to its page. Each page of a home has a citation to copy. For the full files, use the CMS catalog.