F164: Keep residents' personal and medical records private and confidential
F164 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Keep residents' personal and medical records private and confidential.
It sits in CMS's resident rights category.
CMS Health Deficiencies file, data as of September 1, 2026. The files hold each home's last three standard inspections and three years of complaint visits.
How seriously inspectors rate it
Every citation gets a letter for how much harm inspectors found and how many residents it touched (how to read the letters). 0.0% of F164 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: D 1, E 1.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F164 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, May 18, 2017, scope and severity EBased on observation and interview, it was determined that the facility staff failed to ensure that personal privacy and confidentiality was maintained for 6 residents (#2, #16, #189, #223, #289, and #300) of 44 residents selected for review in the Stage 2 sample. This practice created the potential for individuals other than those providing care for the residents to read specific confidential medical information that pertained to these residents.
Complete Care at Severna Park LLC, Severna Park, MD
Most recent F164 citations
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 16, 2017 | Ashland Place Health and Rehabilitation, LLC | Mobile, AL | D |
| May 18, 2017 | Complete Care at Severna Park LLC | Severna Park, MD | E |
Common questions
- What is F164 in a nursing home inspection?
- F164 is the federal requirement to "keep residents' personal and medical records private and confidential". CMS files it under resident rights. A home cited under F164 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F164 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 2 F164 citations at 2 nursing homes, 0 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F164 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F164 citations (100.0%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. None in the current files is at the immediate jeopardy level.
The interpretive guidance inspectors use for each F-tag is CMS's State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. NursingHomeClear reports the citations as CMS records them and is not affiliated with CMS. All F-tags · Methodology