Methodology

Every fact on this site comes from public records published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This page documents exactly where the data comes from, what we add, and — just as important — what we deliberately do not do.

Data sources

We use the CMS Provider Data Catalog, the same public source behind Medicare's officialCare Compare. CMS refreshes these datasets monthly; we re-import each release in full. Current datasets and versions:

Currently 14,690 certified facilities and 419,479 inspection citations. Facility pages show the CMS processing date for their record. Because CMS publishes monthly, the records can lag real-world changes by weeks; always verify current conditions directly with the facility and Care Compare.

What we add

• Plain-language translations. CMS describes each citation with regulatory language and a code (like F-0600). We maintain a translation for every one of the 643 citation codes in the CMS lookup table: what the failure means, why it matters to residents, and a question a family can ask the facility. Translations are drafted with the help of AI tools, then reviewed by our editorial team against the official code descriptions before publication. They aim to stay strictly faithful to the official meaning — if you spot one that doesn't, tell us.
• Severity in plain words. The A–L scope/severity letters follow CMS's own grid; our wording for each level is fixed site-wide so a "J" means the same thing on every page.
• Fair staffing comparisons. Staffing hours come from payroll-based records facilities must submit. We display CMS's case-mix adjusted hours — the same basis CMS uses for its staffing star — because raw hours are not comparable between facilities whose residents need different amounts of care. Percentiles ("top 25% in Alabama") are computed within state and nation on that same adjusted basis. Weekend RN hours have no adjusted version, and are labeled accordingly.
• Context. State and national averages, distances to nearby facilities (straight-line, from CMS-published coordinates), chain affiliations, and month-over-month continuity (closed facilities stay visible, marked as no longer certified).

What we deliberately don't do

• We don't compute our own score. No composite rating, no ranking, no "best nursing homes" lists. We show the official ratings and the underlying facts, and leave the judgment to you.
• We don't recommend facilities. No facility can pay to appear, improve, or suppress anything on this site. Data display is and will remain fully separate from any commercial content.
• We don't editorialize individual facilities. Pages contain the records and fixed explanatory text — no per-facility opinions.
• We don't invent expertise. Content is credited to the The Care File Editorial Team; we never attach fictional experts or credentials to it.

Update cycle and corrections

Data refreshes monthly, shortly after each CMS release; every page footer shows the dataset version. If you find any number on this site that differs from Medicare Care Compare for the same facility, please report it with the facility's CCN — we check every report against the source data.

The Care File is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by CMS or medicare.gov. CMS data is in the public domain.