Overview

What are Patient Forms?

The Patient Forms feature lets you create and customize electronic intake forms that patients can complete at any point in their care journey.

You can build forms in several ways:

Use pre-built templates, sections, and questions.
Create your own questions and sections from scratch.
Covert a PDF or image of a form into a structured form.

Patient Forms integrate seamlessly with features like Appointment Reminders and the Booking Site giving you flexibility in how and when forms are shared. You can send patient forms automatically with scheduled appointments or manually by emailing them directly to patients.

Once a form is completed, Elation automatically tracks it and stores a copy in the patient’s chart. You can easily reference the responses in the Clinical Profile or within your Visit Notes.

What are the benefits of Patient Forms?

The Patient Forms feature helps you collect essential information from patients electronically—reducing the administrative burden of manual data entry and making intake faster, more accurate, and more convenient for both your staff and your patients.

Because forms can be completed anytime during the care journey, patients can fill them out at their convenience—whether they’re coming into the office or receiving virtual care. This streamlines the intake process and supports more efficient, high-quality care. Most practices send forms ahead of a scheduled visit to ensure everything is ready when the patient arrives.

What kind of forms can I create?

Common use cases for Patient Forms include:

First encounter intake: demographics, insurance information, and clinical history
Consent forms: signatures for various services or treatments
Pre-visit screening: health questionnaires and history updates before appointments

The question formats available are:

Question Format	Use Case	Example
Short answer	A single-line text field where the patient can type a brief, free-text response.	“What is the name and address of your preferred pharmacy?”
Patient signature	Allows patients to provide their electronic signature.	“Please sign below to consent to treatment.”
Dropdown Select	A list of options that appears when the patient clicks the dropdown menu. The patient can choose only one answer from the list.	“Select your primary language.”
Radio Select	A set of visible options displayed as circles. The patient can choose only one answer.	“What is your current smoking status?”
Checkbox	A list of options with checkboxes. The patient can choose one or more answers.	“Which symptoms are you experiencing?”
Free-text list	Allows patients to enter several responses, saved as individual items.	“List any supplements you’re currently taking.”

Click here to view sample uses cases for Patient Forms.

Setup

Creating & managing Patient Forms

You must first create your Patient Forms before you can send forms to patients. Click here for step-by-step instructions about creating and managing Patient Forms.

Adding report categories for completed forms

By default, completed Patient Forms are filed under the Patient Form Report category. However, you can always reassign them to a different report category that better fits your workflow. For instance, signed consent forms can be stored under the Patient Consent Report category.

If you need more report categories for organizing completed Patient Forms, an Admin Level User can add them by following these steps:

1	Go to Settings -> Report & Visit Note Categories.
2	Click + Add Report Category.
3	Click the dropdown menu that appears on the left side of the page.
4	Scroll through the list or type in search words to find the desired report category.
5	Select the report category that you want to add and click Save.