Frequently asked questions

CMS is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — the federal agency that certifies, inspects, and collects quality data on health care providers that serve Medicare patients. CMS summarizes that data as star ratings from 1 to 5, published on its Care Compare website. For home health agencies, the quality star rating (1–5 in half-star steps) is computed from measured patient outcomes like timely starts of care and improvement in walking. It is an official government measure, not a review-site score.

Every rating, survey score, and statistic on Care Considered comes from the CMS Provider Data Catalog (data.cms.gov) — the same public files behind Medicare's own Care Compare tool — refreshed quarterly. Population figures in our research come from the U.S. Census Bureau. We compute our state rankings and reports directly from those files with the methodology stated on each page. We do not collect our own reviews and we never adjust a provider's numbers.

No. CMS withholds ratings when a provider hasn't reported enough episodes or survey responses to produce a statistically reliable number — common for newer or smaller providers. About a third of home health agencies and two-thirds of hospices have no published survey star for this reason. Unrated means unmeasured, not unfit. For unrated providers, look at the measures that are published, and ask the provider directly about their experience and staffing.

The quality star is computed from measured care outcomes reported through CMS's assessment system. The patient survey star comes from CAHPS (the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) — standardized surveys completed by patients (home health) or family caregivers (hospice) about their actual experience: communication, respect, timeliness. A provider can score well on one and not the other; we show both so you can weigh outcomes and experience together.

Home health agencies and hospices tell CMS exactly which ZIP codes they serve. Our ZIP search matches your ZIP against those official service-area records — so results show providers that actually cover your home, not just ones with a nearby office. An agency based two towns over may serve you; one across the street may not.

Home health care is skilled medical care — nursing, physical therapy, wound care — ordered by a doctor and typically covered by Medicare through Medicare-certified agencies like the ones listed here. Home care (also called personal or custodial care) is non-medical help with daily living: bathing, meals, companionship. It is usually not covered by original Medicare and is licensed by states, not CMS. Many families need both; they are hired and paid for differently.

Every provider on Care Considered is Medicare-certified. For home health, Medicare covers eligible skilled services when a doctor orders them for a homebound patient. For hospice, the Medicare hospice benefit covers hospice care when a doctor certifies eligibility. Coverage always depends on individual eligibility — confirm specifics with the provider and Medicare (1-800-MEDICARE) before arranging care.

No. Every Medicare-certified provider in the CMS data appears here automatically, and rankings come solely from the official CMS measures — never from payment. If we ever carry clearly-labeled advertising, it will not affect listings, rankings, or ratings. That separation is the point of this site.

CMS refreshes its provider data files quarterly, and we reload the full dataset each cycle — every page shows the data vintage it was built from. Between refreshes, details like phone numbers or ownership can change; always verify current information with the provider or on Medicare Care Compare before making arrangements.

Our listings mirror the official CMS files, so the fastest fix for factual errors (address, phone, certification status) is correcting the record with CMS, which flows into our next quarterly refresh. If something on our pages doesn't match the current CMS record, or you'd like to reach us as a provider, use the contact information in the site footer and we'll review it promptly.

No — and be wary of any site that says it can. We give you the official quality data, organized so it's actually usable, plus the questions worth asking. The right choice depends on your situation, your doctor's guidance, and conversations with providers. Care Considered is information for that decision, not medical, legal, or financial advice.