Anatomy of a prison commission.

Although the epidemiology of mental disorders in the prison system has been investigated in the past, delivery of health services to prison inmates has not received similar scrutiny. Members of a state prison commission describe the process by which they developed their assessment of health care delivery. A model is offered for defining such a mission, selecting standards against which to test prison health services, choosing a testable focus, refining a valid and reliable methodology, and piloting the result.