How can I automatically ask a client to fill out a form before an appointment?

Who is this article for?

You want every new client to complete your intake form before their first session, without sending it by hand each time. In Colib, you link forms to an appointment type: as soon as an appointment of this type is booked, the client receives the forms to complete.

This article explains this automatic sending, and a simpler alternative: adding the link of the form to the appointment notification.

Before you start: the forms must exist in your Templates (www.colib.io/forms), and you need access to Settings > Appointments (www.colib.io/settings?show=appointments).

Method 1 (recommended): send the forms with the appointment confirmation

This is the more secure way to ask your clients to complete a form: each client receives the forms in a separate email, sent alongside the appointment confirmation, and the forms are linked to their record. You can also turn on automatic reminders for the forms that are not completed.

1Open the appointment type

1. Go to www.colib.io/settings?show=appointments. You can also click the Settings icon (gear) in the top bar, then Appointments.
2. Click the pencil icon (Edit) of the appointment type concerned, for example your first session or initial assessment.

2Turn on the automatic sending of forms

1. Open the Forms automation section.
2. Turn on Send forms with initial notifications.
3. Optionally, turn on Prevent sending if client has already submitted this form type: clients who have already completed one of these forms do not receive it again.
4. In Forms, select one or several forms.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the window.

3What your clients receive

• Right after the appointment is created, the client receives an email in their language, in addition to the appointment confirmation.
• When several forms are selected, they are grouped in a single email, with one link per form.
• The email uses the default message of each form, if you set one (How to set up a default email message for my forms?).
• The forms are linked to the client: you follow them in the Forms tab of the client record and in the Results page (www.colib.io/forms?show=results).

Important: the forms are sent only when the appointment is created, not when it is moved, and only to clients who have an email address (or whose notifications go to the responsible holder of their client group, see Appointment with a parent and a child below).

Method 2: add the link of the form to the notification

You can also paste the link of a form in the text of the appointment notification. It is quick, but the link is the same for every client: Colib does not know which client the form was sent to, and you cannot follow its status for this client.

1. In www.colib.io/forms, click Copy next to the link of the form.
2. Open the appointment type (step 1 above), then the Notifications section.
3. Under Initial notification, paste the link in Additional content for the initial email notifications, with a short sentence. You can do the same in Additional content for the email confirmation reminders.
4. Click Save.

Appointment with a parent and a child

With method 1, the forms are sent client by client: each client added to the appointment receives the forms of the appointment type, linked to their own record.

• Child in a client group — if the child belongs to a client group whose responsible holder receives the notifications (Send notifications related to appointments and general info. to resp. holder), the email with the child's forms goes to the responsible holder, but the forms stay linked to the child's record. This also works when the child has no email address.
• Parent also added to the appointment — the parent then receives their own forms as well: they get two emails, one for themselves and one for the child.
• No grouping between parent and child — Prevent sending if client has already submitted this form type checks each client separately: a form completed by the parent does not prevent sending it for the child, and the other way around.

To send the forms only once: add only the child to the appointment. The responsible holder of the child's group still receives the appointment notifications and the child's forms. To set up the group, see How to communicate with child clients using client groups.

Good to know

• Automatic reminders — if the client has not completed the form after a few days, Colib can remind them by email: How to automate form reminders?
• Link the answers to the record — with Link every completed form to a client record in Settings > Forms (www.colib.io/settings?show=signature), Colib links each completed form to the matching client record (first name, last name and date of birth), even when the form was filled out from a generic link.
• Multi-clinic practices — the list of forms of an appointment type shows the forms of your clinics.
• Other ways to send a form — How can I send the form to my clients?

Still have a question?

Write to us at support@colib.io, we will be happy to help.