Nursing Home Inspection Reports & Survey Tracker

Track CMS nursing home inspection reports and survey activity across more than 14,000 skilled nursing facilities. The POCDesk Survey Tracker surfaces recent surveys, newly cited deficiencies, severity trends, and Immediate Jeopardy events by state — all sourced from the same official CMS Health Deficiency data that powers Care Compare.

How CMS Survey Data Flows — and Why It Lags

The survey activity shown here is never truly real-time because each survey moves through several steps before it becomes public. First, state surveyors conduct an unannounced on-site survey using the Long-Term Care Survey Process (LTCSP). Within roughly 10 working days of the exit conference, the state issues Form CMS-2567 listing each deficiency by F-tag with a scope-and-severity level (A–L). The facility then has 10 calendar days from receipt of the 2567 to submit an acceptable Plan of Correction, which the state must review and accept. Finally, the finalized survey flows into the CMS national database and refreshes on Care Compare on a monthly cycle. Because of this pipeline, the absence of a recent survey for a facility does not mean one hasn't happened — it may simply be working its way through the 2567 → POC → posting process.

How to Read Recent Survey Activity

Each survey entry shows the facility, its CCN (CMS Certification Number), the survey date, a deficiency count, and the top severity found. The deficiency count is the number of cited F-tags on that survey; a higher count signals broader non-compliance, but a single high-severity tag can matter far more than many low-severity ones. The top severity is the most serious scope-and-severity level cited — levels A–C are no-harm, D–F indicate potential for harm, G–I are actual harm, and J–L are Immediate Jeopardy. The survey date is the exit date of the on-site visit, not the date it was posted; cross-reference it with the 9–15 month window to gauge where a facility sits in its cycle.

Why Tracking Surveys Matters

Survey teams rarely inspect facilities in isolation. State agencies plan their workload by region and by which facilities are approaching their standard-survey window, so watching activity around you turns public data into an early-warning system. Survey windows cluster — facilities certified around the same time often come due together. States sometimes run themed waves (infection control, staffing under F725, or abuse prevention), and a pattern of similar citations regionally is a cue to self-audit those areas. Comparing your deficiency counts and severity against nearby facilities shows where you stand, and a complaint survey at one facility can prompt scrutiny of peers, especially under the same ownership group.

What to Do When Your Survey Window Opens

Once you pass roughly 9 months from your last standard survey, treat every day as a possible survey day. Keep your survey binder current and accessible, verify care plans and MDS assessments match the care delivered, secure medication carts and log storage temperatures, confirm every call light works and is within reach, re-read your most recent CMS-2567 to confirm prior corrections held, run a mock survey using the LTCSP care areas, and brief department heads on the entrance-conference workflow. If a survey results in citations, move fast — you have 10 calendar days from receiving the CMS-2567 to submit an acceptable Plan of Correction.

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Official Sources

POCDesk analyzes official government data. Verify any facility's record or read the underlying regulations at these primary sources: