Inside U.S. News & World Report Nursing Home Ratings: What Families Need to Know

Nicole Will
27 minutes ago
3 min read

Best caregiver podcast caregiver support dementia alzheimers

Inside U.S. News & World Report Nursing Home Ratings: What Families Need to Know with Ben Harder, Managing Editor and Chief of Health Analysis at U.S. News & World Report

For families navigating nursing homes, whether for short-term rehabilitation or long-term support, information can feel like a lifeline. With nearly 1.2 million people living in almost 15,000 nursing homes across the U.S., and one in eight Americans over 85 calling a nursing home home, the need for clarity has never been greater. We don’t often talk about the weight of those numbers or the responsibility behind them. But they shape the choices we make, the confidence families feel, and the expectations we set for what quality care should look like.

Today, I’m joined by Ben Harder, Managing Editor and Chief of Health Analysis at U.S. News & World Report, where he oversees the methodology and data analysis behind the nation’s most recognized patient decision-support tools. His leadership guides the development of rankings like Best Hospitals, Best Children’s Hospitals, Best Hospitals for Maternity Care, and what we’re focusing on today, the Best Nursing Homes ratings. Ben’s work sits at the intersection of science, transparency, and public trust, helping families make informed decisions with confidence and compassion. His work influences how people navigate some of the most critical health decisions of their lives.

In this conversation, Ben shares the updated methodology for the 2026 Best Nursing Homes ratings and what these changes reveal about quality, safety, and performance across the industry.

We talk about what makes this year’s top facilities stand out, and how families can use this information to make decisions that feel informed. We talk about the evolving landscape of long-term care and short-term rehabilitation, what Ben’s team is learning from the data, and how these insights support older adults and the people who love them.

More than anything, we look at how data, when done with integrity, can become a bridge between the care families hope for and the care they actually receive.

Most importantly, we ask a bigger question: how can data elevate dignity and empower older adults and families at a time when they need it most?

Listen to our episode HERE.

To view the US News and World Report for Best Nursing Homes, visit HERE.

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About Ben Harder

Ben Harder oversees methodology and data analysis for U.S. News & World Report's portfolio of data-driven patient decision-support tools, including the Best Hospitals and Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, Best Hospitals for Maternity Care, Best Nursing Homes ratings, and searchable Doctor directory.

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We are not medical professionals and are not providing any medical advice. If you have any medical questions, we recommend that you talk with a medical professional of your choice. willGather has taken care in selecting its speakers but the opinions of our speakers are theirs alone. Thank you for your continued interest in our podcasts.