Cliniko allows you to create custom secure, digital intake forms to send to your patients, and you may be wondering how you can separate things so only new patients receive a "new patient" form, rather than sending that to everyone! (You can send forms to existing patients, too, but in this guide, we'll show you how to set things up so that only patients visiting you for the first time receive that "new patient form".
There will be a few steps to follow:
This ensures that anyone booking into one of the "new patient" appointments will receive a "new patient" form! (And your existing/returning patients won't receive these same forms, as they would most likely be booking into a return appointment!)
This guide assumes that you already have your forms set up, including one for new patients specifically, and are now wanting to send them to your new patients. If you haven't set forms up yet, you can learn how to do so here!
Here's how to set it all up 👇
Create different appointment types for new patients and returning patients
You may already have set up appointment types for various purposes, including some specifically for new patients. If you've done that, you can skip this step, but we'll show you how it works!
Head to Settings, and then Appointment types:
Click the Add appointment type button:
Give your appointment type a name—if it's for new patients specifically, something indicating that it's for first-timers might be good! (This will help you keep track of things easily, and if you offer online bookings, the name and description will be shown to the patient as they're selecting their appointment.)
Add the rest of the appointment details (such as how long it will be, who the practitioner is, etc.) and be sure to save!
Repeat this process for any other appointment types you have, taking note of any additional ones that might be specifically for new patients (this will come into effect later on!).
Create confirmation and reminder templates that include a placeholder for the new patient form
Next up, you'll want to create confirmation and reminder templates that are specifically for the new patients. These will get sent to new patients because you will link the template with the "new patient" appointment type, and Cliniko will automatically include the form with the outgoing message (more on that later!).
The process will be the same for both email confirmations and reminders!
Head to Settings, and then either Appointment confirmations or Appointment reminders:
Add a new template (or select an existing one, if you already have a template specifically for new patients):
Within the template, when creating and editing, you'll see a new placeholder menu called PATIENT FORM:
If you select this, a drop-down menu will appear with all available forms:
Select the one you want, and wherever your cursor is located within the template, it will automatically drop it into your confirmation template as a placeholder:
The placeholder means that Cliniko "knows" which form to send along with this particular appointment confirmation—so you don't need to manually copy and paste any links!
After you add the placeholder feel free to add any text around the placeholder to add context for your patients. For example, this email includes a "Forms" heading and the text "Please fill out the following form and submit before your appointment" before the placeholder:
If you want to get a rough idea of what your patient will see in the email, you can select the View sample button. This will share a preview of the email with you (note that the email will appear differently for patients depending on what type of email application they use, but the general idea is the same):
Note that while forms can be included in SMS reminders, the link may exceed the character count allowed for 1 credit, so your SMS reminders may use more credits if you choose to include forms.
Now that you've created your templates, it's time to link them up with the "new patient" appointment types, which will ensure that only people booking into those receive the new patient form!
Add your templates to the "new patient" appointment types
Onto the final step! Head back Settings, and then Appointment types:
Select the "new patient" appointment type you want to add the templates containing the "new patient" forms to, and select the relevant template under Appointment reminder email, Appointment reminder SMS, and Booking confirmation email:
In the example above, the SMS reminder is not specifically for new patients (it's just a "regular" reminder), but the other two have "new patient" templates, which include links to the new patient forms.
Save the appointment type (and repeat the process for any other appointment types that might also be specifically for new patients), and you're all finished! 🎉 Now, when new patients book into appointment types that are specifically designed for them, they'll receive the forms in their communications. Existing/returning patients won't get the "new patient" forms, as you would have created separate templates for "return patients" and, presumably, those won't include links to new patient forms!
Have more questions about forms? We're here to help!
Even more info about secure patient forms can be found right here, but if you have any specific questions, our support team is here to help! 🤗