F576: Ensure residents have reasonable access to and privacy in their use of communication methods
F576 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Ensure residents have reasonable access to and privacy in their use of communication methods.
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). 25.3% of F576 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: B 14, C 96, D 166, E 171, F 79.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F576 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, July 28, 2026, scope and severity DBased on interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure residents were provided with reasonable access to receive their mail in a timely manner for 1 of 3 residents (Resident #2) reviewed for resident rights. The facility failed to respect residents' right to privacy and opened their personal mail. (Resident #2) The facility failed to deliver financial mail to residents. (Resident #2) This failure could place residents at risk of a delay in residents' personal correspondence, financial information, or other time-sensitive materials.
Focused Care at Hogan Park, Midland, TX
Inspectors wrote, July 23, 2026, scope and severity DBased on policy review and resident and staff interviews, it was determined that the facility failed to ensure the resident has the right to privacy when receiving mail and packages for two of 29 residents reviewed (Residents 4 and 110).
Carlisle Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Carlisle, PA
Inspectors wrote, July 15, 2026, scope and severity FBased on interviews, the facility failed to ensure the residents rights to receive their mail on Saturday. This deficient practice has the potential to affect the census of 74 residents that reside in the facility.
Oak Lane Wellness & Rehabilitative Center, Eunice, LA
Most recent F576 citations
F576 citations by state
Counts depend on how many homes a state has and how often its inspectors visit, so a larger number is not by itself a worse record.
By inspection year: 2018 2, 2019 14, 2020 6, 2021 17, 2022 29, 2023 90, 2024 159, 2025 126, 2026 83.
Common questions
- What is F576 in a nursing home inspection?
- F576 is the federal requirement to "ensure residents have reasonable access to and privacy in their use of communication methods". CMS files it under resident rights. A home cited under F576 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F576 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 526 F576 citations at 502 nursing homes, 112 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F576 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F576 citations (79.1%) 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