In recent years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has rolled out several transformative updates to its Nursing Home Care Compare tool. These changes are designed to provide families with a clearer, more accurate picture of facility performance by leveraging better data and more modern technology.
If you haven't checked the site recently, here is an overview of the most significant upgrades and how they impact your search for quality care. You can visit the Medicare.gov Care Compare tool directly to explore it yourself.
1. New "Chain-Level" Transparency
One of the most significant upgrades (launched in late 2025) is the ability to see performance data for nursing home chains. Previously, users could only see data for individual facilities.
What's new: You can now see the average star rating and quality performance of all facilities owned or operated by the same parent company.
Why it matters: This helps consumers understand if a specific facility's quality is typical of its owner's broader track record, providing a new layer of accountability for large corporate operators.
2. Enhanced Long-Stay Antipsychotic Measures
CMS has drastically improved how it tracks the use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes.
The upgrade: For years, this rating relied solely on self-reported data from the nursing homes (Minimum Data Set). As of January 2026, the rating now incorporates Medicare and Medicaid claims data.
Why it matters: This change closes a "loophole" where facilities might under-report medication use during specific windows. By using actual pharmacy and medical claims, the tool provides a much more honest look at how often these powerful drugs are being prescribed to residents.
3. Shift to "Recent" Health Inspections
To make the Five-Star Rating more reflective of a facility's current state, CMS updated its inspection methodology.
The upgrade: The health inspection domain now places higher weight on the two most recent standard surveys rather than three.
Why it matters: Older data from three or four years ago is now less likely to skew the rating of a facility that has significantly improved (or declined) in the last 18 months.
4. Modernization via "iQIES"
The backend of Care Compare has moved to a new, cloud-based platform called the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).
The upgrade: While this is a technical change, it has led to the removal of the old "substantiated" filter for complaints.
Coming soon: CMS is currently redesigning the "Complaints" section to be more consumer-friendly. In early 2026, they temporarily removed certain raw complaint counts to prevent confusion while they build a better way to display validated quality concerns versus unverified allegations.
5. Removal of COVID-19 Vaccination "Front Page" Metrics
In an effort to declutter the main profile pages and focus on long-term quality indicators, CMS moved COVID-19 vaccination data off the primary dashboard in late 2025.
Where to find it: This data is still available, but it is now housed within the deeper "Quality Measures" or "Health & Safety" tabs rather than being the first thing you see.
6. Improved Risk Adjustment for Resident Mobility
The tool now uses more sophisticated "Section GG" data (which tracks a resident's functional ability) to calculate quality measures like the percentage of residents whose ability to walk independently worsened.
Why it matters: This ensures that nursing homes taking in more "high-needs" or medically complex patients aren't unfairly penalized in their star ratings compared to facilities with healthier residents.
How to Use the Upgraded Tool
When visiting Medicare.gov Care Compare, keep these tips in mind:
- Check the "Ownership" tab: Look for the "Affiliated Entity" or chain information to see the parent company's broader reputation.
- View "Quality of Resident Care": Look specifically for the "Long-Stay Antipsychotic" measure to see the impact of the new claims-based data.
- Read the "Health Inspection" details: Don't just look at the stars; click into the full reports to see the severity and scope of recent citations.
These upgrades represent a shift toward "big data" transparency. By combining facility self-reports with federal claims data, Medicare is making it harder for poor-performing facilities to hide behind paperwork and easier for families to find truly high-quality care.