F842: Safeguard resident-identifiable information and/or maintain medical records on each resident that are in accordance with accepted professional standards
F842 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Safeguard resident-identifiable information and/or maintain medical records on each resident that are in accordance with accepted professional standards.
It sits in CMS's resident assessment and care planning 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). 44.7% of F842 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: B 279, C 13, D 6,394, E 1,642, F 68, G 1, J 6.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F842 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, August 14, 2026, scope and severity EBased on record review and interview, the facility failed to maintain complete and accurately documented medical records for 2 of 2 sampled residents (#s 32 and 40), and 2 of 2 unsampled residents (#'s 6 and 30), reviewed for Advance Directive (AD - A written instruction, such as a living will or durable power of attorney for health care, recognized under State law, that relates to the provision of health care when the individual is incapacitated) and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST - a medical order that communicated a patient's wishes for emergency and end-of-life care) documentation. [...]
Maple Springs of Palmer, Palmer, AK
Inspectors wrote, August 6, 2026, scope and severity DBased on review of facility documents, clinical records, and staff interview, it was determined that the facility failed to make certain that medical records on each resident are complete and accurately documented for one of eight residents (Resident R84).
Asbury Health Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Inspectors wrote, July 31, 2026, scope and severity DBased on interviews and record reviews the facility failed to maintain medical records that were complete and accurately documented in accordance with accepted professional standards and practices for 1 (Resident #1) of 3 residents reviewed for medical records. The facility nurses did not document accurately on Resident #1's Medication Administration Record on 07/15/2026 regarding the resident's [NAME] Hose (medical stockings used to help prevent blood clots in people who are not moving much). This failure could place residents at risk for records not accurately documented.
The Heights of Gonzales, Gonzales, TX
Most recent F842 citations at the harm or jeopardy level
Newest first, all 7 in the current files. Each home's page shows the citation in full context, with its correction status.
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 8, 2025 | Stanford Crossing | Stanford, KY | G | Standard |
| June 23, 2025 | Sunny View Nursing Home | Warwick, RI | J | Complaint |
| May 17, 2025 | Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center | Salyersville, KY | J | Standard |
| September 19, 2024 | Heritage Trails Nursing and Rehabilitation Center | Cleburne, TX | J | Complaint |
| August 29, 2024 | Aviata at Palma Sola Bay | Bradenton, FL | J | Complaint |
| May 3, 2024 | Huntsville Post-Acute and Rehabilitation Center | Huntsville, TN | J | Complaint |
| May 5, 2019 | Attalla Rehabilitation and Nursing Center | Attalla, AL | J | Standard |
Most recent F842 citations
F842 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.
| State | Citations |
|---|---|
| California | 1,509 |
| Texas | 958 |
| Ohio | 603 |
| Maryland | 479 |
| Massachusetts | 420 |
| Florida | 390 |
| Pennsylvania | 365 |
| Virginia | 340 |
| Indiana | 276 |
| West Virginia | 245 |
| Connecticut | 219 |
| Michigan | 196 |
| North Carolina | 181 |
| New Jersey | 175 |
| Louisiana | 168 |
| Illinois | 136 |
| New York | 131 |
| New Mexico | 117 |
| Washington | 117 |
| Iowa | 116 |
| Missouri | 108 |
| Maine | 98 |
| Tennessee | 95 |
| Arizona | 85 |
| Rhode Island | 80 |
| Oregon | 67 |
| Georgia | 65 |
| Oklahoma | 64 |
| Utah | 62 |
| Minnesota | 60 |
| Wisconsin | 59 |
| Nevada | 43 |
| Alabama | 41 |
| District of Columbia | 41 |
| Delaware | 41 |
| Hawaii | 39 |
| Kentucky | 35 |
| Colorado | 31 |
| Idaho | 26 |
| Mississippi | 23 |
| South Carolina | 21 |
| New Hampshire | 16 |
| Montana | 12 |
| Nebraska | 12 |
| Alaska | 10 |
| Vermont | 10 |
| Arkansas | 5 |
| Kansas | 4 |
| Wyoming | 4 |
| South Dakota | 2 |
| Guam | 1 |
| North Dakota | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 |
By inspection year: 2017 1, 2018 50, 2019 247, 2020 75, 2021 224, 2022 397, 2023 1,072, 2024 2,281, 2025 2,425, 2026 1,631.
Common questions
- What is F842 in a nursing home inspection?
- F842 is the federal requirement to "safeguard resident-identifiable information and/or maintain medical records on each resident that are in accordance with accepted professional standards". CMS files it under resident assessment and care planning. A home cited under F842 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F842 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 8,403 F842 citations at 5,194 nursing homes, 2,289 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.1% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F842 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F842 citations (96.4%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. 6 were immediate jeopardy, the most serious 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