Where the data comes from

Every row we show comes from CMS's public nursing-home files and links to its record. Here is what each source proves, what it does not, and how often it refreshes.

Data: CMS's Oct 2026 file, released Oct 28, 2026. Next file due Dec 2, 2026. StandbyBrief is not affiliated with or endorsed by CMS.

Source	Refresh	What it proves	What it does not prove
CMS Nursing Home Fire Safety Deficiencies ifjz-ge4w	Monthly. Oct 2026 file: processed Oct 1, 2026, released Oct 28, 2026, next file due Dec 2, 2026. 200,387 citation rows covering the last three inspection cycles.	A state inspector cited this home under this tag on this date, with this scope and severity. The status and correction date are as CMS lists them.	That anything is wrong with the equipment itself. That it is still uncorrected, or that it is fixed. The correction date is the date the home gave CMS. A date after the file's processing date (Oct 1, 2026) is a planned date, and our rows say so. Who the current vendor is, or the generator brand. Citations older than three inspection cycles. They drop off the file. That the file is complete. A 2023 federal audit found that Care Compare did not accurately report fire-safety deficiencies for 52 of 100 sampled homes (Dec 2020 data, OIG A-09-20-02007). So the file may miss some citations. That it is up to date. Inspections take 1–3 months to reach the file. This file's newest inspection is dated Sep 23, 2026.
CMS Provider Information 4pq5-n9py	Monthly. Oct 2026 file, released Oct 28, 2026, next file due Dec 2, 2026. 14,686 active homes.	Name, address, main phone, certified beds, chain and map point.	Who signs service contracts. Emails. The main phone is the only contact CMS publishes. An exact map point for every home. For some, CMS gives only a ZIP centre. We re-geocode those with the Census geocoder. When Census can't place one at its street address, we say "distance not stated".
CMS Inspection Dates svdt-c123	Monthly. Oct 2026 file, released Oct 28, 2026, next file due Dec 2, 2026.	The last standard fire-safety inspection date on CMS's file. Your list also has homes not cited for your trade whose date here is at least 15 months before the processing date (inspection-date rows).	When the next inspection will be. The law allows up to 15 months between standard surveys, and the statewide average may not exceed 12 months (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3(g)(2)(A)(iii)). That no newer inspection exists. CMS may not have uploaded it yet. When the file lists a newer standard health inspection, the row says so and comes after the other inspection-date rows.
CMS Ownership y2hd-n93e	Monthly. Oct 2026 file, released Oct 28, 2026, next file due Dec 2, 2026.	Owners and managers as CMS lists them, with role and "since" date. We show organisations only, not individual owner names.	Who runs the building day to day. "Operational/managerial control" can include banks and accountants. A purchase date. The "since" date is not one.
CMS Hospital General Information xubh-q36u	Released Aug 13, 2026. CMS lists no next update date. Not on the nursing-home monthly cycle.	A hospital listed at the same street address and ZIP as the nursing home.	That the generator belongs to the hospital. We say it "may be".
U.S. Census Geocoder Census 2025 Gazetteer Files	Addresses are looked up when needed, then cached. ZIP and city centres: Census 2025 Gazetteer Files.	Map points for shop addresses, ZIP and city centres, and homes CMS maps only to a ZIP centre.	Driving distance. Our miles are straight-line, shown as "about N mi".

What a row holds

Cited rows have: home, address, main phone, beds, chain and owners; tag, inspection date, severity with its meaning, status and correction date as CMS lists them; earlier citations; last fire-safety inspection date; links to the CMS record and Care Compare.

Inspection-date rows are homes not cited for your trade in the counting window whose last standard fire-safety inspection on CMS's file is at least 15 months before the processing date. They have the home details, that date and a link to its Inspection Dates record. The citation columns are empty. An old date is not a citation, and it does not say when the next inspection will be.

Inspection-date rows come after the cited ones. The Los Angeles generator sample has 170 cited rows, then 32 inspection-date rows.

The CSV

One row per home in your territory, cited rows first. Tags are written the way CMS writes them (K0918). CCNs and ZIPs keep their leading zero in Excel. Distance is text ("about N mi"); Miles (straight line) is a number you can sort.

All 33 columns

Rank · Finding · Home · Legal business name · CCN · Address · City · State · ZIP · Main phone · Beds · Chain · Owners and managers (CMS ownership file) · Distance · Miles (straight line) · Tag · Tag text (CMS wording) · Inspection date · Severity · Severity meaning · Status (as CMS lists it) · Correction date · Earlier citations · Last fire-safety inspection · Months before CMS's processing date · Hospital note · Notes · Summary · CMS record · CMS record (2nd tag) · Care Compare · Source · CMS release

Empty on inspection-date rows: Tag, Tag text (CMS wording), Inspection date, Severity, Severity meaning, Status (as CMS lists it), Correction date, CMS record (2nd tag).

Check one yourself

Two homes from our Los Angeles sample. Each value is shown with the CMS field it comes from.

Generator (K918)

STONEY POINT HEALTHCARE CENTER

CHATSWORTH, CA, about 25 mi from downtown Los Angeles

CCN: 555574cms_certification_number_ccn
Inspection date: 2026-07-16survey_date
Tag: K0918deficiency_prefix + deficiency_tag_number
Scope/severity: FCMS's meaning: no actual harm, potential for more than minimal harm, widespread.scope_severity_code
Status: "Deficient, Provider has date of correction"deficiency_corrected
Correction date: 2026-08-07correction_date

Care Compare page CMS raw record

Sprinkler and alarm (K353, K345)

GLENDORA GRAND, INC

GLENDORA, CA, about 21 mi from downtown Los Angeles

CCN: 056079cms_certification_number_ccn
Inspection date: 2026-08-14survey_date
Tag: K0345deficiency_prefix + deficiency_tag_number
Scope/severity: DCMS's meaning: no actual harm, potential for more than minimal harm, isolated.scope_severity_code
Status: "Deficient, Provider has date of correction"deficiency_corrected
Correction date: 2026-08-14correction_date
Tag: K0353deficiency_prefix + deficiency_tag_number
Scope/severity: ECMS's meaning: no actual harm, potential for more than minimal harm, pattern.scope_severity_code
Status: "Deficient, Provider has date of correction"deficiency_corrected
Correction date: 2026-09-04correction_date

Care Compare page CMS raw record, K0345 CMS raw record, K0353

Care Compare is the easy read. The raw record opens as data from CMS's own API (ifjz-ge4w): look for survey_date, scope_severity_code, deficiency_corrected and correction_date. Every cited row links to its record the same way. The severity meaning is from CMS's scope and severity grid; it is not a field in the row.

Before you call a home

Status is quoted as CMS lists it. In inspections from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, 94% of K918 citations and 95% of K353 and K345 citations say "Provider has date of correction" (CMS's Oct 2026 file): the home gave CMS a correction date.

So talk about the next test or a service contract, not the citation. More in Using citations responsibly.

These are public records. Other contractors can see the same homes. You pay for the finding, checking and mapping.

How we check it

Every fact in a row is re-read from the raw CMS file before it is shown. On Nov 6, 2026, a separate check, with code that shares nothing with our engine and its own copy of CMS's Oct 2026 files, re-derived 30 random findings: 30 of 30 matched. It also matched 486 of 486 findings in 3 test territories, with 0 false findings.

The four nursing-home files share the CMS Certification Number (CCN). We join them on it exactly, never on names. A hospital is matched to a home on house number, street and ZIP. Your shop is matched to homes by straight-line distance only. We leave out waiver rows and rows CMS marks as needing no revisit.

Near your radius edge we hold a home back instead of guessing: when it sits within 1 mile of the edge, when its CMS and Census map points fall on different sides of it, or when its only map point is CMS's ZIP centre (the Census geocoder can't place the address) within 15 miles of the edge, inside or out. A ZIP-centre home further inside is listed with "distance not stated".

If a row looks wrong, the "Wrong record?" button on it reaches us directly.

More: FAQ · Security and privacy.

Where the volume is

Every state code in CMS's file (53): the 50 states plus DC, Puerto Rico and Guam. Only Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing homes are in it, not assisted living. 13,909 of its 14,686 active homes have at least one fire-safety citation.

Nursing homes cited in inspections from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, within 60 miles of each city's downtown (lower Manhattan for New York); homes held back at the radius edge are not counted. CMS's Oct 2026 file.
Area (60 mi)	Generator (K918), at least	Sprinkler + alarm (K353/K345), at least
Los Angeles	170	330
Baltimore	84	104
Boston	83	107
Philadelphia	68	122
Dallas	59	84
Sacramento	59	72
New York	54	136
Minneapolis	46	62
Chicago	44	68
Houston	19	40
Orlando	14	24
Atlanta	4	45
Phoenix	4	8

Each count is a minimum. Atlanta and Phoenix have the fewest generator homes (4 each). Type your ZIP on the home page to see your own number before you pay.

See the homes near your shop

Enter your ZIP on the home page, or open the Los Angeles sample. 14 days free, no card.

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