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Step 6 — Intake Forms

Intake forms are the questionnaires, consents, and health-history documents a client completes before their first visit. Setting them up here means the information (and the signed consents) is waiting on the client's record when a provider opens it — no clipboard, no chasing paperwork on the day.

You'll build each form once, then decide when it's required — either before a client can book a specific service, or as part of the onboarding flow every new client goes through.

Ask Atlas

Say "Atlas, create an intake form for new clients" and it will draft the questions and consents for you to review, so you're editing a starting point instead of building from a blank page.

A. Build a form​

A form is a set of fields grouped into sections. Start simple — a single intake questionnaire — and add consents and policies as separate forms once the basics work.

Go to Settings → Forms → New Form, give it a clear name (this is what the client sees, so "New Client Intake" beats "Form 1"), and add your fields. Each field is one question, and the field type controls how the client answers:

  • Short text / long text for names, notes, and history.
  • Multiple choice / checkboxes for structured answers you can scan quickly.
  • Date for things like date of birth or symptom onset.
  • Signature / consent for anything the client needs to agree to — this captures a legally meaningful acknowledgment, not just a checkbox.
  • File upload for a photo of an insurance card or a referral letter.

For a longer intake, group related fields into sections (health history, consents, policies) so the form doesn't read as one endless list.

B. Require a form before booking or at onboarding​

A form only helps if it's completed at the right moment. Ready Practice gives you two triggers, and you can use both:

  • Required for a service — attach the form to a service, and a client must complete it before they can book that service the first time. Use this for service-specific intakes (for example, a health-history form required before an initial consult).
  • Part of onboarding — attach the form to the onboarding flow, and every new client completes it when they're invited, before they ever book. Use this for the forms everyone needs (general intake, practice policies, consents).

You set the service requirement on the service itself; you set the onboarding forms under Settings → Onboarding.

Forms are versioned to the submission

When a client submits a form, you capture their answers as of that moment. Editing the form later changes it for future clients — it doesn't alter or erase a submission a client already made.

C. Review submissions​

Once a client submits, their completed form appears on their profile for the provider to read before the visit. There's nothing to file — it's already attached to the right client.

Your intake-forms checklist​

  • Your core intake form is built with the fields you need
  • Consents and policies added (as their own forms)
  • Forms attached to the right services and/or the onboarding flow
  • A test client has completed the flow end to end so you've seen what they see

Next steps​