Building an Intake Form Template

Form templates define the forms your patients fill out, from intake questionnaires to screening tools and consent forms. Thrive Clinical gives you two ways to create them: use AI to convert existing forms instantly, or build from scratch with full control.

Getting to the Form Builder

1. Click Form Templates in the left sidebar
2. Click New Form
3. Choose your creation method

Option A: AI Form Generator

Upload an existing PDF, Word document, or image of a form and let AI automatically extract the questions, field types, and sections.

Best for: Digitizing forms you already use on paper or in other systems.

How to Use It

1. Click Build with AI
2. Upload your file (PDF, DOCX, or image)
3. Add a name for the form and any contextual information
4. Review the output. Verify question wording, field types, and conditional logic
5. Make any edits needed
6. Click Save

Important: Always review AI-generated content for accuracy. The AI may occasionally misinterpret field types or miss implied conditional logic.

Option B: Manual Form Builder

Build forms from scratch using a visual drag-and-drop editor. This gives you precise control over every element.

Best for: Creating new forms, building complex conditional logic, or when you want exact control over field types.

How to Use It

1. Click Create Manually, then enter a form name and optional form description
2. Drag question types from the left panel onto your form
3. Organize questions into sections (e.g., Demographics, Medical History)
4. Set up conditional logic to show or hide questions based on previous answers
5. Mark required fields and add help text where needed
6. Preview your form
7. Click Save All

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Tip: The form description appears in the email patients receive when the form is assigned to them. Use it to explain the purpose of the form — for example, "Please complete this form before your first appointment."

Available Question Types

Type	Use For
Text	Short answers (name, address, etc.)
Multi-line Text	Longer responses (symptoms, notes)
Single Choice	One answer from a list (radio buttons)
Multiple Choice	Multiple answers from a list (checkboxes)
Dropdown	One answer from a dropdown menu
Date	Date selection
Number	Numeric values (age, dosage, etc.)
Yes/No	Simple yes or no questions
File Upload	Lets whoever fills the form attach files (e.g., insurance cards, referral letters, photos). Attachments flow through to summaries and the encounter Attachments section
Address	Address fields with autocomplete
Medication Select	Medication names with search and autocomplete
Signature	Signature capture pad
Panel	Groups related questions under a shared heading. Use panels to organise long forms into sections (e.g., "Medical History", "Current Medications")
HTML	Adds formatted display text to the form, such as instructions, callout boxes, or section notes. Drag it onto the form and type your text directly using the toolbar — no coding knowledge required. Cannot be used in logic or summaries

Using Conditional Logic

Conditional logic lets you show or hide questions based on how a patient answers a previous question. For example:

• If a patient answers "Yes" to "Do you have allergies?" → show the allergy details section
• If they select "Other" from a dropdown → show a text field for additional details

This reduces patient burden and improves completion rates by showing only relevant questions.

Previewing Your Form

Before saving, click Preview to see exactly what patients will see. The preview is fully interactive: you can fill in fields, navigate between pages, and test conditional logic to make sure everything works as expected.

Reviewing and Managing Visibility Rules

The Logic tab shows all conditional visibility rules on the form in plain language — for example, "If 'has_allergies' equals 'yes', make question 'allergy_details' visible." This gives you a readable overview of all branching logic in one place.

You can create and edit rules directly in the Logic tab, or set them per-question in the form builder using the Visible If field on each question. Setting logic per-question is recommended when editing — it keeps each rule close to the question it applies to and is simpler to manage.

ℹ️ Note: The Logic tab shows visibility rules only. Calculated value fields (used for scoring) are configured in the form builder and do not appear here.

Saving Your Form

Thrive Clinical does not auto-save. Click Save All in the top right after any changes. Each save increments the form's version number shown in the Form Templates list.

Viewing Forms in Encounters

Forms display directly within the encounter details panel. Clicking Back from a form returns you to the encounter details, so you won't lose your place.

The form list in an encounter shows who submitted each form. For forms completed by the patient, it shows their name. For forms completed on a patient's behalf by a staff member, it shows the staff member's name.

File Attachments on Forms

When a form includes a File Upload question, anything attached — by the patient, by staff filling on the patient's behalf, or by an external referrer submitting a referral form — surfaces in two places:

1. In the clinical summary for that form, listed by filename — so reviewers know supporting materials exist
2. On the encounter's Attachments section, where attachments can be opened, downloaded, or shared

Attachments are bound to the form submission, so you always know which form a file came from. See Creating Clinical Summaries for how to reference attachments in summary templates.

Configuring a Form for Referrals

A regular form can be turned into a **referral form** — a form with a public link that any referrer (or self-referring patient) can submit to send a referral to your clinic.

Marking a Form as a Referral Form

1. Go to Clinic Settings → Templates
2. Find your form in the list
3. Click the Form Usage cell on that row
4. Select Referral from the dropdown
5. The change saves automatically

Once a form is marked as a referral form, it gets a **public URL** that you can share with referrers (or post on your clinic website).

How the Public Link Works

• Viewing the form doesn't require an account. Anyone with the link can see the form preview.
• Submitting the form requires the submitter to sign in or create a Thrive account first. This keeps every submission traceable to a real person.
• Every submission appears in your clinic's Referral List with status Ready for Review (or Incomplete if any required fields are missing).

ℹ️Note: If you don't see Form Usage as an editable column on your Templates page, referrals haven't been turned on for your clinic. Contact Thrive support to enable them.

For the full referral triage and accept/decline workflow, see **Handling Referrals**.

Form Versioning

Forms are automatically versioned. Every time you save changes, the system keeps the previous version.

Viewing Version History

1. Open the form in Form Templates
2. The version history table shows all saved versions with timestamps
3. The most recent version is marked as Latest

Restoring a Previous Version

If you need to go back to an earlier version of a form:

1. Find the version you want in the history table
2. Click Restore this version
3. Confirm the action

The restored version becomes the new current version. The version you were on is still saved in the history, so nothing is lost.

Advanced Settings

Default Values

You can set default values on form questions so they come pre-populated when a patient opens the form. This is useful for fields where a common answer applies to most patients, saving them time. Select a question in the builder and look for the Default Value setting in the question properties.

Advanced Conditional Logic

Beyond basic show/hide logic, the form builder supports more complex rules:

• Calculated values: Automatically compute scores or results based on patient answers (e.g., screening tool scores, BMI calculations, unit conversions). See Configuring Clinical Scores  for a full guide on setting up score and category expressions that feed into summaries and automations.
• Dynamic defaults: Set default values that change based on context (e.g., default the date field to today's date)
• Validation rules: Add custom validation beyond required fields (e.g., format requirements, value ranges)

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Tip: Calculated values are especially useful for standardized screening tools (like GAD-7 or PHQ-9) where you want scores calculated automatically from patient responses

Multi-Page Forms

Forms can span multiple pages. Patients see a progress bar and can navigate between pages. You can also enable a table of contents for longer forms and show a preview of all answers before submission.

Copying a Form

Thrive does not offer a one-click duplicate for forms. To copy a form, you can use the code view, which is called JSON. Navigate to the JSON tab on the form you want to copy, copy the JSON from that form, create a new blank form, paste the JSON into the JSON tab, and save. Update the form name and description before sharing with patients.

JSON Tab

The JSON tab gives direct access to the underlying form structure. It is useful for making bulk changes, copying form structures, or configuring options not exposed in the visual builder. This is intended for technical users or when working with Thrive support.
 

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Note: Editing the JSON directly can break your form if the structure is invalid. Always make a copy of the JSON before making significant edits so you can restore it if needed.