CMS Open Data Scraper

CMS Open Data Scraper

Scrape CMS open datasets by search term, theme, publisher, or dataset slug, up to a million rows per run. Every row comes with the full dataset metadata and row-level data. No API key or login. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

CMS publishes thousands of public datasets on Medicare, Medicaid, hospitals, drug pricing, and more, but the official portal makes bulk access slow and manual. This Actor reads the public CMS Open Data catalog and dataset endpoints directly, filters by keyword, theme, publisher, access level, or modified date, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape CMS Open Data for
Healthcare analysts	Pull Medicare cost reports or hospital quality data for trend analysis
Data journalists	Download drug pricing or nursing home inspection datasets for investigations
Health tech startups	Build provider directories or cost transparency tools from CMS data
Academic researchers	Collect public health datasets for studies on utilization and outcomes

What it does

This Actor collects CMS dataset catalog entries or row-level records from a specific dataset slug, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🔎 Catalog mode: list CMS datasets matching a search term, keyword, theme, publisher, access level, or modified date.
• 📦 Dataset mode: pull every row from a specific dataset slug, up to one million records per run.
• 📅 Modified since filter: keep only datasets updated on or after a given ISO date.
• 🏷️ Keyword and theme filters: narrow the catalog by CMS keyword tags or theme categories.
• 📊 Flat row output: each dataset or record is returned as a single row with consistent fields.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with CMS Open Data data

📈 Track Medicare spending trends.

A health policy analyst runs catalog mode with searchQuery 'medicare spending' and modifiedSince '2024-01-01' to get the latest datasets, then pulls rows from the top slug to compare year-over-year costs.

🏥 Build a hospital quality dashboard.

A data engineer uses theme 'Hospitals' and keyword 'quality' to list relevant datasets, then schedules dataset mode on the Hospital Compare slug to refresh a public dashboard.

💊 Investigate drug pricing.

A journalist searches for 'drug spending' and filters by publisher 'Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' to find the latest drug cost datasets, then exports the rows for analysis.

📊 Monitor nursing home inspections.

A researcher uses keyword 'nursing home' and access level 'public' to find inspection datasets, then pulls all rows from the chosen slug to study citation patterns.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads public CMS endpoints directly, no registration or OAuth
Up to 1M rows	Collect up to one million records per run in dataset mode
Fixed schema	Every row has the same fields, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML
Filtered at source	Search, keyword, theme, publisher, access level, and date filters reduce noise

How it compares

This Actor is the only one in this group that scrapes CMS Open Data directly; the others target different sources and are not direct alternatives.

Feature	ParseForge	Company Research Intelligence Tool	Airbnb Scraper	Website Content to Markdown for LLM Training
Scrapes CMS Open Data	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Catalog mode with search and filters	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Dataset mode for row-level records	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Filter by publisher, theme, keyword, access level, modified date	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Up to 1 million rows per run	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a search term, keyword, theme, publisher, access level, or modified date in catalog mode, or a dataset slug in dataset mode, and filters run as each item is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10,
 "mode": "catalog",
 "searchQuery": "hospital"
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200,
 "mode": "catalog",
 "searchQuery": "hospital"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.005 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.50
1,000 results	$5.00
10,000 results	$50.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the CMS Open Data Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to CMS Open Data through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/data-cms-gov-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your filters. In catalog mode, try a broader search term or remove keyword, theme, publisher, or modifiedSince filters. In dataset mode, verify the datasetSlug is correct.

The dataset slug is not working.

Make sure you copied the exact 'identifier' value from catalog mode output. Slugs are case-sensitive and may contain hyphens.

I get an error about maxItems.

Set maxItems to a positive integer between 1 and 1000000. The default is 10.

The run is slow.

In dataset mode, large datasets can take time. Reduce maxItems or add filters in catalog mode to narrow the list first.

Some fields are empty.

Not all CMS datasets have values for every field. Empty fields are normal and reflect missing metadata in the source.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a CMS API key?	No. This Actor reads the public CMS Open Data endpoints directly, so no registration or key is required.
What is the difference between catalog and dataset mode?	Catalog mode lists datasets that match your filters. Dataset mode pulls every row from one specific dataset slug, which you can find in the catalog output as the 'identifier' field.
How do I find the dataset slug?	Run catalog mode with a search term or filter. The output includes an 'identifier' field for each dataset. Copy that value into the datasetSlug input and switch to dataset mode.
Can I filter by date?	Yes. Use modifiedSince with an ISO date like '2024-01-01' to keep only datasets modified on or after that date.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset.
How many rows can I get?	In dataset mode, you can collect up to one million rows per run. In catalog mode, the number of datasets returned depends on your filters.
Can I filter by publisher?	Yes. Use the publisher input to match the publishing organization name, such as 'Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services'.
What is the access level filter?	You can filter datasets by access level: public, restricted public, or non-public. Most CMS datasets are public.
Does this work for all CMS datasets?	It works for datasets available through the public CMS Open Data catalog. Some restricted datasets may not return rows.
Can I schedule this Actor?	Yes. You can schedule runs on Apify to refresh your data daily, weekly, or at any interval.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.