Where our data comes from
Every fact on a CareWitness facility page comes from one of the two sources below. Both are authoritative, both are public, both are dated. Every piece of information is labeled with its source so you can see exactly where it came from.
Source of record — what facilities exist and what they are licensed to do
State licensing registries
Every facility on CareWitness starts here. Each state maintains a public registry of long-term care facilities it has licensed to operate. This is the authoritative answer to whether a facility exists and what it's legally allowed to do. If a facility isn't in a state registry, it doesn't appear on CareWitness.
What we pull from it
- —Facility name, address, city, county, zip, lat/lng
- —License number, status, effective + expiration dates
- —Program type (AL, NF, Hospital-based SNF, adult day care)
- —Total licensed capacity + memory-care capacity
- —Memory-care certification status
- —Licensee name, entity type, mailing address
- —Management company / operating brand
- —Administrator on file
- —Primary phone + email
Update cadence
Manually downloaded quarterly per state. Texas HHSC first; more states being added.
Important context
Every field pulled from state records carries the snapshot date of the file it came from. When you see "as of April 2026" on a listing, that's the date the state agency published the data.
Quality overlay — nursing facilities only
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
The federal agency that certifies nursing facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid. CMS publishes star ratings, staffing hours, inspection results, fines, and abuse flags on each one. We match every state-licensed nursing facility to its CMS record via the Medicare Provider Number (CCN).
What we pull from it
- —Overall, health inspection, staffing, and quality-measure star ratings
- —Reported nursing hours per resident per day
- —Total nursing staff turnover, RN turnover, admin turnover
- —Fines and total dollar penalties
- —Payment denials and infection control citations
- —Abuse icon flag and Special Focus Facility status
- —Inspection cycle dates and deficiency counts
- —Ownership type, chain membership
Update cadence
Monthly, following each CMS Care Compare release.
Important context
CMS covers nursing facilities only. Assisted living, memory care, and adult day care have no federal equivalent. CMS data is displayed exactly as CMS publishes it — no adjustment, no normalization, no editorializing.
What CareWitness stands behind
CMS data shown unaltered
Abuse flags, fines, and Special Focus designations appear prominently on every facility page that has CMS coverage, in the form CMS publishes them.
Every listing is real
Every facility on CareWitness is a real facility that appears in its state's licensing registry. No fabricated listings, no invented reviews.
Every fact is sourced and dated
Every field on a facility page carries the source that fed it and the date it was last verified.