Mock surveys should feel like the real deal. Challenge your staff. Learn to speak the accreditation language. Target flaws in your clinical care and fix them. Above all, realize that patient safety is the driving force behind the mock survey process. You want to provide the highest possible level of care, not just maintain your accreditation status. Here are my top tips for running effective survey dress rehearsals, culled from putting my hospital's surgical teams through their accreditation paces. When actual surveyors show up in our lobby with dreaded clipboards in hand, we'll be ready. Can you say the same?