About Placet
A care directory with nothing to sell you.
Placet is a free, transparent directory of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, inpatient rehab centers, and more, powered entirely by public federal and state-agency data. We exist because the current system is designed to sell placements, not protect patients.
Who it's for
Navigating post-hospital placement under time pressure, often within 24 to 48 hours of a discharge decision.
Discharge planners and case managers who need quick, unbiased quality data to recommend safe options.
Professionals who manage ongoing care transitions and need a shared, collaborative shortlist tool.
Our principles
Public data, nothing manufactured
Every rating, inspection score, staffing ratio, and penalty record comes directly from CMS Care Compare or the relevant state licensing agency. We don't manufacture trust signals or wrap real data in AI-generated summaries.
Zero referral fees, ever
The senior care directory industry charges facilities up to 100% of a resident's first month's rent as a placement fee. We charge nothing. Facilities cannot pay for a better ranking, a badge, or preferred placement.
Built for Medicaid families too
Referral platforms quietly deprioritize families who don't generate a commission. We surface every Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facility equally, because patient safety doesn't depend on ability to pay.
Clinical perspective on quality
We surface the metrics that actually predict patient safety: staffing ratios vs. CMS expectations, inspection severity, complaint trends, penalty history, and Special Focus Facility status, not star ratings alone.
Where it comes from
Placet was built by clinicians who watched patients discharge from the hospital into facilities chosen from pay-to-play directories, then return weeks later sicker than when they left: pressure ulcers, infections, falls.
The billion-dollar senior care directory industry (A Place for Mom, Caring.com, and others) charges facilities $3,000–$12,000 per placement as a referral fee. Those costs are passed on to residents. And the platforms quietly deprioritize families who won't generate a commission. Placet doesn't participate in that system.
We use the same government data those platforms license (CMS Care Compare, the Payroll-Based Journal staffing system, penalty and enforcement records) and present it without manufactured trust signals or paid placement.
Our data
Federal-certified facilities (SNF, IRF, hospice, home health) draw from CMS public datasets; state-licensed facilities (assisted living, personal care homes) draw from the relevant state licensing agency. Rankings for skilled nursing facilities are based on CMS Provider Data only. Data may be delayed by weeks or months. Verify current details directly with each facility before making a decision.
Research briefs
Placet publishes long-form research briefs on the senior-care data landscape and the referral-fee directory industry. Every claim is anchored in primary government, court, or peer-reviewed sources.
Build log & resources
Two more places to look. We list every change we make, and we share the tools and articles that help families pick a good place.
Common questions
What is Placet?+
Placet is a free, transparent senior-care directory powered entirely by CMS public data. It indexes Medicare- and Medicaid-certified skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab centers, home health agencies, hospice providers, and (state-by-state) assisted living communities, ranking them on four independent quality signals: RN staffing hours, CMS Five-Star ratings, a Trust Index that incorporates penalty history, and 30-day hospital readmission rates.
Is Placet free to use?+
Yes. Placet is free for families, social workers, discharge planners, ombudsmen, and care coordinators. There is no paywall, no subscription, no gated content, and no required account. Optional supporter accounts unlock saved shortlists and shared lists, but every quality, ownership, and enforcement metric is freely accessible without login.
How is Placet different from A Place for Mom or Caring.com?+
A Place for Mom, Caring.com, and similar referral platforms charge facilities a placement fee, typically $3,000 to $12,000, often equal to a resident's first month of rent. Those fees shape which facilities get recommended and quietly deprioritize Medicaid-eligible families who would not generate a commission. Placet does the opposite: facilities cannot pay for ranking, badges, leads, or preferred placement, and we surface every Medicare/Medicaid-certified option equally.
Who runs Placet?+
Placet was built by clinicians who watched patients discharge from the hospital into facilities chosen from pay-to-play directories and bounce back weeks later with pressure ulcers, infections, or falls.
Where does the data come from? Can I trust it?+
For Medicare-certified skilled nursing, hospice, home health, and IRF facilities, every metric is derived from public CMS datasets: primarily CMS Provider Data (Care Compare), the Payroll-Based Journal staffing system, ownership disclosures (PECOS), penalty and enforcement records, and CMS claims-based readmission measures. For state-licensed assisted living and personal care homes, we ingest directly from the state licensing agency (currently CA, FL, NC, NY, OR, PA, TX, WA). We sync within 48 hours of each monthly CMS release; state cadences vary. Our open methodology hub at /methodology lists every dataset, refresh cadence, classification rule, and known limitation.
Does Placet accept paid placement, sponsored listings, or referral fees?+
No. Placet does not accept paid placement, sponsored ranking, "Verified Provider" badges for sale, lead-selling commissions, or any form of pay-to-play arrangement. Search results and rankings are based solely on CMS quality data. This is the foundational principle the project was built on.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or feedback: Contact us →
Feature suggestions: Build log →