"When I started as a medical secretary, one of my first projects was printing new patient labels and updating paper charts. I grabbed a stack of charts, pulled all the labels out of the tabs then started putting my new labels in them. After about twenty files, I realized that I had assumed the charts had been correctly put in alphabetical order, and I had not double-checked based on the patient files inside. I quickly found that many charts had the wrong patient label, and I also realized that there were some patient charts on the shelf that were inactive and that I had not printed labels for those. I learned a few lessons from that mistake. I learned never to assume anything and to double-check everything I do concerning patient data. I also realized the importance of getting organized and having a process before taking on a large task to be more efficient and reduce the risk of errors. For the next set, I left the labels in while I organized the files to make sure they were in the order that my labels were, and each time I replaced a label in the tab, I opened the file to check the name on the first page matched."
