Front-desk checklist for online patient forms
A checklist for a practice manager who wants new patients to complete their paperwork on a phone before they arrive. It is general guidance, not legal or clinical advice.
1. List what you hand out today
- Every paper form a new patient receives, including the ones that are only for children or for certain treatments.
- Which forms are completed before the visit, and which at the desk.
- Which questions only matter if the patient answers yes to an earlier one.
2. Decide what stays on paper
Some patients will prefer paper. They can fill the form in on a tablet at the desk, or a staff member can enter it for them. You can also keep the paper form at the desk.
3. Check the wording before it goes online
An online form says what the paper form says. Review your consent, privacy and minors' forms first, and have your own adviser check them where needed. Our templates are examples only.
4. Decide who handles each completed form
Name one person at the practice for each form. What happens to a completed form afterwards is your own process. We set up how you receive the completed form when your form goes live.
5. Try a form on your own phone
Open a demo form on a phone and fill it in with made-up details. Ask a colleague to do the same, so you see it through a patient's eyes.
6. Tell patients before they arrive
Put the link in your booking confirmation and your reminder message, and put the QR code at the counter. The next guide covers where to put it and what to print.
7. Send us the blank forms
Send a blank copy of each form you want rebuilt. Never send a form a patient has filled in.
General information only. It is not legal, medical or clinical advice.