The federal government just published a list of more than 100 of the worst nursing homes in the country, based on how they fared during government inspections. The list is online here.

To make the list, facilities had to have been faulted for more “deficiencies” than most nursing homes, as well as sustain more serious problems and a pattern of problems over several years. The faults can include drug errors, failure to protect residents from falls or from wandering off facility grounds while incapacitated, and failure to provide sound physical, mental or psychological care.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that runs Medicare, published a portion of the list last year, but today was the first time the complete list has been made public. The homes on the list are known as “Special Focus Facilities,” which means they get inspected more often than other nursing homes and can be subject to more stringent penalties over time, up to being barred from receiving Medicare dollars.

The agency has been slowly pushing for more transparency. U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) applauded CMS “for moving toward increased transparency of this program in a responsible, methodical way.”