Care Compare

Both the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) maintain information on nursing homes that includes performance on quality measures, complaints, inspections results, and citation and enforcements actions, as well as any penalties imposed on the nursing home. CMS has created a tool called Care Compare to help consumers search for and select nursing homes and other health care providers.

According to CMS, the information it maintains on nursing homes should be used with other information you gather about providers and facilities in your area. In addition to reviewing the Care Compare information, you should talk to your doctor, social workers, or other health care providers when choosing a provider. Additional tips for selecting a nursing home can be found in CMS’s guide to selecting a nursing home.

The following websites can provide quality and compliance information:

• On the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) site, select the nursing home by name after selecting the appropriate Region/County from the dropdown menu, and open the Inspections tab to view any Complaints, Inspection results including any Citations, and any Enforcement actions against the nursing home.
• On the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Care Compare site, enter the name of the nursing home in the search box. Click on the name of the nursing home to view Inspection results as well as any penalties that have been imposed.