I built CareGrade to make official hospital and nursing home quality data something a regular person can actually use.
CareGrade pulls public CMS data on every Medicare-certified hospital and nursing home in the country and turns it into something you can search, map, and compare in a few taps. The information is out there, but it is scattered and intimidating, and the moments when you need it are usually stressful ones.
Overview
CareGrade came out of realizing how much useful healthcare quality data the government already publishes, and how hard it is for an ordinary person to actually use it. CMS tracks star ratings, patient surveys, staffing levels, and inspection results, but it lives in spreadsheets and portals built for researchers, not for someone making a decision next week.
So I built the app around the questions people actually ask: what is near me, how is it rated, and how do a few options compare. You can search or drop a pin on a map, see the official ratings and the scores behind them, and put facilities head to head when you are trying to choose.
I also wanted it to respect the seriousness of the topic. CareGrade presents the official records plainly, keeps everything on device with no accounts or tracking, and is clear that it is a research tool rather than medical advice.
At a glance
Audience: Anyone choosing care for themselves or a family member, including people planning a procedure or trying to evaluate nursing homes for a loved one.
Built with: SwiftUI, iOS, CMS Data, MapKit
Project type: iPhone app
Key features
- Search 8,000+ facilities by name, state, or ZIP, or find them on a map near any address.
- See official CMS overall star ratings along with component scores for safety, staffing, and more.
- Dig into HCAHPS patient survey results and nursing home staffing and deficiency history.
- Compare up to four facilities side by side and export a shareable PDF profile.
- Use it with no account and no tracking, with all data kept on device.
Highlights
Searches every Medicare-certified hospital and nursing home in the US from official CMS data.
Shows official CMS star ratings with the underlying component scores.
Adds map-based discovery, patient survey results, staffing detail, and side-by-side comparisons.
How it is built
I built CareGrade as a native SwiftUI app that pulls official datasets from the CMS public data portal and refreshes them in the background. Search, mapping, star ratings, and comparisons all run on device, with no account required.
Why it matters
Choosing a hospital or nursing home is one of the higher-stakes decisions people make, often under time pressure. CareGrade tries to put the official numbers, ratings, and inspection history into one calm interface so those decisions can be a little more informed.