The nursing home data CMS publishes is better than the widget that summarizes it — but it comes with rules, caps, curves, and asterisks that nobody prints on the label. These guides explain them, with every claim sourced.
The inspection star is a within-state percentile. Identical records can earn 5 stars in one state and 1 in another — and DC, MD, and VA are three different curves.
Three components, one composite — and four things the widget leaves out: the state curve, the shortened memory, the self-reported quality star, and the caps.
Some facilities show no stars by design. What the SFF program is, why 'withheld' isn't 'not rated,' and how to read an SFF's ledger fairly.
Every fine total is a ceiling, not a receipt: the 35% appeal-waiver discount, per-day vs. per-instance structures, and payment denials.
Guides are context; the record itself lives on the facility pages. Compare all DC facilities → or read the methodology for where every number comes from.