The stories of the last week seemed to have a subtle theme running through them - preparing for inspection. More than most industries, we in healthcare face a great deal of outside scrutiny. This makes sense, we are working to save lives. Whether it is the FDA, State health department, customers, JCAHO or a media outlet, we want to be sure to put our best foot forward when facing an inspection. One of the best ways to prepare for an inspection is to measure and document performance. By staying vigilant with the areas of operation that are critical to success, including recording results, the burden of preparing for an inspection is less. This is because the right things are being done. Best of all, when the outside agency arrives, they can be quickly and immediately supplied with key statistics of performance that they (hopefully) will be impressed with.