CMS’s Special Focus Facility (SFF) program identifies nursing homes with persistent quality problems, along with candidates eligible for selection.
The data is invaluable. The format — recurring PDFs — makes it much harder to explore.
So, with a little help from PBJ320 assistant Phoebe J., we turned those PDFs into something easier to use.
PBJ320’s Special Focus Facility database lets you browse facilities by state and status, sort the list, see months in the program, and jump directly to a facility’s PBJ320 profile for staffing, case-mix, ownership, and other context.
PBJ320 also adds a more granular facility history. The CMS PDF reports months in the SFF program; PBJ320 shows the observed status changes across individual postings — when a facility first appears as a candidate, enters the SFF program, graduates, or otherwise changes status.
CMS’s public SFF archive goes back to 2008. PBJ320 currently tracks postings from March 2023 forward.
Take Knollwood Healthcare in Mobile, Alabama, one of 7 Alabama facilities in the Sep. 2026 posting. CMS reports 25 months in the SFF program and a Met survey result dated Mar. 6, 2026. PBJ320 puts that snapshot in context: the facility currently reports 3.42 HPRD, and its history shows it first observed as an SFF Candidate in June 2024, then as an SFF in September 2024, with the latest posting shown at the top.
The goal is simple: make a useful federal dataset easier to explore — and easier to connect to the rest of the public record.
Current data: SFF status through Sep. 2026 · PBJ staffing through Q1 2026
Methodology & sources
SFF data. Current SFF and Candidate designations come from CMS’s Sep. 2026 SFF posting. CMS’s public SFF archive extends back to 2008; PBJ320 currently ingests postings from March 2023 forward.
Facility history. Each posting is treated as a dated observation. PBJ320 shows the latest observation, the first observed status, and actual status changes. SFF status continuity cannot be confirmed for months without a CMS SFF publication.
Facility matching. SFF records are linked to PBJ320 facility profiles using CMS Certification Numbers (CCNs).
Staffing. Staffing comes from CMS Payroll-Based Journal data and currently runs through Q1 2026. SFF status and staffing are published on different schedules and should be read as separate signals.