This guide covers one job: turning a raw Google pull into a working list a family can read and check. A pull is a set of listing rows. A working list is the same rows, sorted into columns, with each cell marked by where it came from. Nothing in this guide ranks an agency. The list is a worklist, and every row on it still has to be checked against the public files before it means anything.

Step one: Save the pull as it came back

Copy the results into a new blank sheet before you change anything. At the top, write the search words used, the area searched, and who ran the pull. Keep this first copy unchanged. If a later column looks wrong, you can compare it against the original rows instead of trying to remember what the results said.

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Step two: Split the rows into three sorts

Editorial note: the desk works from three sorts of Google listing data, and the same split helps any family's sheet. Give each sort its own group of columns so you can always tell where a value came from.

  • Identity: the business name as listed, the category the listing uses, and the listed website if one shows.
  • Location: the street address, the city, the ZIP code, and the phone number as listed.
  • Public signal: the star count and the total number of reviews, written as two separate cells.

Step three: Mark each cell by its source

Use short tags in a column beside each value. Mark a cell FILE when it matches a public federal or state record you have opened. Mark it LISTING when it came only from the Google pull. Mark it NOTE when it is your own observation, such as a phone call or a website visit. A star count is always LISTING. A star count is never a FILE match, and it does not prove that an agency is certified, licensed, or staffed the way its listing suggests.

Step four: Pair duplicates without merging them

The same agency often shows up under two names, two addresses, or a branch and a main office. Do not merge those rows yet. Put them side by side, mark the match as PENDING, and note which fields differ. A merge is made only after the public file shows that both names or both addresses belong to one provider.

Step five: Hold rows that do not match a file

A row with no public-file match is not deleted. Move it to a hold section at the bottom of the sheet with a one-line reason, such as no file match under the name listed, or the listed address is a mailing address. A held row can come back when the file search is finished. A row can also drop off for good, and that is an acceptable outcome.

Step six: Hand the cleaned list to the file check

Once every surviving row has a source tag, take the list to the federal lookup steps. Run each agency through the same lookups in the same order, and write each result in the FILE column. The step-by-step lookup is in How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups. Keep the list as a worklist until every row has been looked up. Only then does the list tell a family anything.

What the finished list does not do

The finished list does not sort agencies from strongest to weakest, and it does not say which one a family should choose. It only shows which rows matched a file, which rows came from a listing alone, and which rows are still on hold. The family makes its decision from there, using the tours and the questions covered in the other guides.