Nursing Home Search Engine
If it ever becomes necessary to find a nursing home, you'll want to know that the home you select provides quality care in a safe environment.
Medicare's nursing home compare online tool is a place to start.
It has useful information that includes:
- Name and location of the home (including a map and directions).
- Whether the home accepts Medicare and/or Medicaid.
- Type of ownership.
- Health and fire safety deficiencies reported in state inspections.
- Amount of time staff spends with a resident each day.
- The percent of residents affected by certain quality measures (for example, the percent of residents with bed sores).
- Ratings for each nursing home and the ability to compare this home with an average of all homes in your state and across the U.S.
IMPORTANT: As you search, be sure to select "View all information about this nursing home" to get a complete picture of its performance.
Once on Medicare's nursing home compare web site, you can begin your search for a nursing home in one of three ways.
- You can search by geography by clicking on the appropriate state or county.
- You can search by proximity by typing in a city or zip code and selecting the distance you want to search. (A list of homes in the area you specified will appear on a new page.)
- Finally, you can search for a specific facility by entering all or some of its name.
Use the information from the Medicare site with:
- recommendations from family and friends,
- information from the state long-term care ombudsman or inspection agency (phone numbers are listed on the site), and, of course,
- observations made during your visits to the homes under consideration, using the AARP nursing home checklist to help guide your visits.
*AARP cannot guarantee that the information appearing in the Medicare nursing home compare tool is current or accurate. The information and data is the sole property and responsibility of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
