Digital intake forms replace the paper clipboard. Patients complete their history, consents and details on their own device before the visit, and the answers land in FrontDesk.
Forms are templates in your Template Library: open Settings → Template Library (in the Client Care group). The library covers intake forms, consent forms, scored measures and progress notes; see Manage your template library for everything it can do.
Start from a pre-built form
Click Browse pre-built for ready-made templates, such as standard intake, consents and scored measures. Add one to your library, then use Edit on its row to adjust the fields. Pre-built templates are for reference; check they meet your state's requirements.
Build or customize a form
Build new template opens the form builder:
- Fields: drag in Short Text, Long Text, Email, Phone, Date, Dropdown, Multi-Select, Radio Buttons, Checkbox, Signature, File Upload, and layout blocks (Heading, Paragraph).
- Form: arrange and reorder the fields in the middle.
- Properties: set the selected field's label, whether it is required, and its options.
Preview shows the form as the patient will see it; click Save Template when you are done.
Send a form
- One form to one person: click Send to patient on the row and choose SMS, Email or Copy Link. Pick an existing patient or type a name, phone and email. The link expires after 7 days. An SMS sent (or resent) between 9pm and 8am in the patient's time waits until 8am their time. One that couldn't go at all (the number replied STOP or is blocked, or the patient has texts turned off) is refused at once, with the reason, at any hour.
- Several documents through the Client Portal: use Send documents on the client's profile. See Send documents to a client.
- Anyone, no login: choose Public link in the row's ⋮ menu and switch it on, then copy the link to your website or booking confirmation.
Send intake automatically after booking
Under Settings → Shareable Documents, turn on Send automatically when a new client is booked by the AI or online. The forms in your Default intake package then go out through the Client Portal when the phone AI, web chat or your online booking page books a new client.
Review answers
Completed forms appear on the client's profile under Documents, and in Settings → Shareable Documents in the Sent documents table with a status of Sent, Opened, Completed or Overdue. Open a row's menu for View responses, Download locked PDF (completed forms), Resend reminder or Archive.
Good to know
- It's PHI. Submissions are protected health information, covered by your BAA, and never sent as email attachments.
- Editing a used form keeps history. Once a form has been completed, changing its fields creates a new version, and every past submission keeps the version it answered.
- Long answers have a limit. One answer holds up to 20,000 characters (about 3,000 words) and 500 lines, and a whole form up to 200,000 characters. A Long Text box stops at the limit and shows a count as the client nears it. If a form is still refused, the reason shows above Submit Form, naming the answer to shorten, and the client's answers stay on the page.