How to read a nursing home inspection report (CMS-2567)
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Key takeaways
- The official nursing home inspection report is Form CMS-2567, the "Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction." Each row has a tag, the inspectors' summary, the home's plan of correction and a completion date.
- An F-tag such as F550 points to a federal nursing home requirement in 42 CFR Part 483. Some tag numbers changed on April 28, 2025, so older reports may show tags that no longer exist.
- Each home must have an unannounced standard survey no later than 15 months after the previous one. Complaints can lead to additional surveys.
- A home with deficiencies must submit a plan of correction, generally within 10 calendar days under CMS's manual. It can dispute citations through informal dispute resolution, which does not delay enforcement.
- The home must post its most recent survey results and show reports from the 3 preceding years on request. On this site, each home's "Inspection history" section summarizes citations from its three most recent inspection cycles.
Short answer
A nursing home inspection report is a federal form called the CMS-2567, the "Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction." Read it in rows: each row starts with a tag that points to a federal rule, then the inspectors' summary of what was not met, then the home's plan to correct it and the date it gives for completing the correction.
To see a summary of any certified home's recent citations, search by name, city or ZIP code and open the "Inspection history" section of its page.
What is a nursing home inspection report (Form CMS-2567)?
It is the form state inspectors use to record the problems they find, and the form the nursing home uses to answer them. Its full title is "Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction." Federal rules define a deficiency as a nursing home's "failure to meet a participation requirement" for Medicare or Medicaid.
The top of the form shows the home's provider number and the date the survey was completed. Below that, the form is laid out in columns:
| Column on the form | What it shows |
|---|---|
| ID prefix tag | The tag number of the rule, such as F550 |
| Summary statement of deficiencies | What inspectors found that did not meet the rule |
| Plan of correction | What the home says it will do, matched to each deficiency |
| Completion date | The date the home expects the problem to be corrected |
The form's instructions say each deficiency should start with the full rule it relates to, and each corrective action should be cross-referred to the deficiency it addresses. They also say the plan of correction must show an explicit date for the expected correction.
What does an F-tag on an inspection report mean?
An F-tag is a number that points to a specific federal nursing home requirement. The requirements are in 42 CFR Part 483. CMS's guidance to surveyors, Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual, lists each F-tag with its regulation and guidance for inspectors. For example, Appendix PP pairs F550 with § 483.10(a), Resident Rights.
Some tag numbers changed when CMS's revised surveyor guidance took effect on April 28, 2025 (CMS memo QSO-25-14-NH). CMS deleted tags such as F622 to F626 and moved their content to new tags F627 and F628, and folded F758 into F605. So an older report may show tags that no longer exist.
Where is the severity level on a nursing home inspection report?
CMS gives each citation a scope and severity letter from A to L, which shows how serious the harm or risk was and how many residents were affected. The letters, and what "immediate jeopardy" means, are explained in what inspection severity letters A to L mean.
What is the difference between a standard survey and a complaint survey?
A standard survey is the routine, full inspection; a complaint survey is one the state does to look into a complaint. Federal rules describe a standard survey as "a periodic, resident-centered inspection." By law, standard surveys are conducted without any prior notice to the nursing home.
- How often. Each home must have a standard survey no later than 15 months after the last day of its previous one. Across each state, the average gap must be 12 months or less.
- Complaints. The state survey agency must review every complaint it receives. When a complaint may point to a deficiency that only a survey can confirm, the state conducts a standard or abbreviated standard survey. It does not survey complaints about matters outside federal requirements.
- Other visits. The state may survey as often as necessary, for example to confirm that cited problems were corrected.
To learn how to send a complaint to the state, see how to file a complaint about a nursing home.
How does a plan of correction work, and what do the dates mean?
A plan of correction is the home's written response to each deficiency, and the completion date is the date it gives for when the correction is expected. Federal rules say every home with deficiencies must submit a plan of correction for approval by CMS or the state. The only exception is when the deficiencies are isolated, carry only the potential for minimal harm, and no actual harm occurred.
- The deadline. CMS's State Operations Manual gives the home 10 calendar days to submit an acceptable plan of correction.
- Why it matters to the home. The CMS-2567 says that when deficiencies are cited, an approved plan of correction is required for the home to keep taking part in Medicare and Medicaid.
- Plan date vs. correction date. The completion date on the form is the home's own expected date. In CMS's data, a separate "Correction Date" field is the date the deficiency was corrected.
Can a nursing home dispute a citation?
Yes. A home can ask the state for informal dispute resolution (IDR), or ask CMS when the survey was federal. CMS's manual says the request must be made within the same 10 calendar days the home has for its plan of correction.
- Asking for IDR does not delay the effective date of any enforcement action.
- If the home shows a deficiency should not have been cited, the citation is removed, and any enforcement imposed solely because of it is withdrawn.
- When CMS imposes a civil money penalty that is collected and held in escrow, the home can ask for independent informal dispute resolution (IIDR). It is run by the state or an entity approved by the state and CMS, or by CMS or its agent when only federal surveyors did the survey, and must be completed within 60 days of the home's request.
CMS's data flags citations that are still under IDR or IIDR. The CMS data dictionary says such citations are not used for the health inspection rating. How inspections feed the star rating is covered in how to read CMS star ratings.
Where can I get a nursing home's inspection report?
You can read the most recent results at the nursing home itself, and older reports on request. Federal rules require each home to:
- Post the results of its most recent survey in a place residents, family members and legal representatives can readily reach.
- Make reports of surveys, certifications and complaint investigations from the 3 preceding years, and any plan of correction in effect, available for anyone to review on request.
- Post a notice that these reports are available.
Federal law also requires each state and CMS to make survey results public within 14 calendar days after they are made available to the nursing home. Under federal rules this includes statements of deficiencies, the home's comments and approved plans of correction. The information is available on request, and the state or CMS may charge fees for some services. To get the number of your state survey agency, call 1-800-MEDICARE, 1-800-633-4227. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.
Each home's page on this site also links to the home's page on Medicare.gov.
How does the report match the "Inspection history" on this site?
The "Inspection history" section on each home's page is a summary built from CMS's Health Deficiencies data, not a copy of the full CMS-2567. That data lists each home's health citations from its three most recent inspection cycles. Cycle 1 is the most recent. CMS counts standard inspection cycles one after another into the past and complaint inspection cycles by year.
For each citation it lists (up to the 30 most recent), the page shows:
- The date of the inspection.
- The requirement that was not met, in CMS's wording. This matches the rule behind the F-tag. The site does not show the tag number or the inspectors' full findings.
- The severity letter and what it means.
- The category CMS assigns to the citation.
- "Complaint investigation" when CMS marks the citation as found on a complaint inspection.
- The correction status from CMS's "Deficiency Corrected" field, which shows whether the deficiency has been corrected, a plan of correction has been devised, or it has yet to be corrected, with the correction date when CMS lists one.
The full narrative of what inspectors saw, and the home's own plan text, are only on the CMS-2567. You can also compare nursing homes side by side or browse this site's nursing home data reports. CMS places some homes under closer oversight because of their inspection record; see what is a Special Focus Facility.