Care Considered Research · 2026 edition · CMS data vintage Aug2026
Care Considered Inpatient Rehabilitation Report
Computed from CMS data covering 1,222 Medicare-certified inpatient rehabilitation facilities — where patients recover after a stroke, surgery, or serious injury. Methodology below. Cite freely with attribution and a link.
Free to quote and reuse with attribution and a link.
Care Considered. (2026). Care Considered Inpatient Rehabilitation Report. Own the Answer. https://careconsidered.com/research/inpatient-rehabilitation/ (CMS Care Compare data, Aug2026). Charts and figures on this page may be reproduced with attribution and a link to this page. For a custom data cut (a specific state, chain, or measure), or the underlying dataset, contact us — we're glad to help reporters and researchers.
Key findings
- The measure that matters most is whether patients recover enough to go home. On CMS's discharge-to-community measure, 21.9% of rated facilities beat the national rate and 17% fell below it.
- 1,222 inpatient rehab facilities operate nationally — far fewer than nursing homes, and often the better path after a stroke or major surgery (more intensive therapy).
- CMS withholds measures for facilities with too few cases: 121 facilities have no published discharge-to-community result.
- Arizona has the highest share of facilities beating the national return-home rate (61.9%).
How facilities compare to the national rate
Share of facilities rated Better vs Worse than the national rate on each CMS measure (of those with the measure reported).
| Measure | Better | No different | Worse | Not reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients discharged to the community (return home) | 241 | 673 | 187 | 121 |
| Readmissions within 30 days of discharge | 40 | 978 | 85 | 119 |
| Readmissions during the rehab stay | 19 | 1027 | 55 | 121 |
| Catheter-associated urinary tract infections | 7 | 461 | 35 | 719 |
| C. difficile infections | 291 | 677 | 3 | 251 |
States where the most facilities beat the national return-home rate
Methodology
Computed from CMS IRF public data files. IRFs have no single consumer star; CMS reports each facility as Better / No Different / Worse than the national rate on five measures. Percentages are of facilities with the measure reported (CMS withholds measures with low case counts). State rankings exclude states with fewer than 8 facilities reporting the discharge-to-community measure.
© Care Considered (careconsidered.com). Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog — Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (data.cms.gov), quarterly refresh. Reuse permitted — and encouraged — with attribution and a link.