How Should a Clinic Use Revision Numbers and Change Logs?

Published September 23, 2026 · 2 minute read

Give every controlled document a revision number printed on each page, and keep a change log at the back that records each revision's date, what changed, why, and who signed it. Staff should be able to tell at a glance which version is current, and a reviewer should be able to see how the document got to its current form.

A numbering scheme that stays simple

Many practices use a whole number for each signed revision: revision 1, revision 2, and so on. Drafts in progress can carry a suffix, such as 2-draft, and never go into use. Avoid dates as the only identifier. Two versions can be edited on the same day, and dates in file names are easy to mistype.

Printing it on every page

A revision number only in the file name is lost the moment the page is printed. Put it in the footer of every page, next to the page number and the document title. If a single page is pulled from a binder, it can still be matched to its document and revision.

The change log

The change log is a short table at the end of the document. Each row is one revision. The description should be specific enough that a reader knows what to look at, such as "added lot number field to section 3," rather than "updates." The reason column is what makes the log useful months later.

What to record

• Revision number
• Date signed
• Summary of changes, specific
• Reason for the change
• Trigger: review, incident, verification, service change
• Signed by
• Previous revision retired on date

The governance method this belongs to is in How to Verify What Your State Actually Requires. Pair it with the review date field.