Intake packets

An intake packet is a link you send a patient or guardian so they can complete paperwork before the first visit. They do not need an account. Open the chart and choose Intake packets in the side menu.

Sending a packet#

Click New Packet and fill in:

• Send to: the patient or one of the chart's contacts.
• They confirm with: the patient's date of birth, or an access code you give them separately (by phone, say).
• Episode (optional): limits the forms to that discipline.
• Link works for (days): how long the link stays open.
• Remind them: how often NeatPractice sends the link again while items are left, every 2, 3 (the default), 5 or 7 days, or Do not remind.
• Items: patient forms, consents to sign, handouts to read and requested files to upload, in the order you want.
• Note to the family (optional).

Click Create Link. The dialog shows the link (and the access code, when you chose one) with copy buttons. Send the link yourself the first time. The packet list shows each packet's progress, its reminders and when the link expires. Show Link opens it again, Extend gives it more time (and a fresh round of reminders), and Revoke stops it working at once.

Reminders until it is done#

While a packet has items left, NeatPractice sends the recipient a short reminder with the link by email and text, on the schedule you chose, up to five times. The reminder names only your practice; the family still confirms who they are before they see anything. Reminders follow your clinic's messaging rules: they go only to an email address or a textable phone on the chart, respect text consent and opt-outs, and wait out quiet hours. They stop as soon as the packet is completed, revoked, locked or expired.

To nudge the family yourself, open the packet's menu and click Remind Now. One message covers every item still open. If the recipient has no email or textable phone, or has opted out, NeatPractice tells you so you can call instead. Every reminder appears in the reminder log and on the chart's timeline.

When the family finishes the last item, whoever sent the packet gets a notification in NeatPractice.

What the family sees#

The page names your practice only until they confirm the date of birth or code. After five wrong tries the link locks; revoke it and send a new one. They then see each item with a check mark once done:

• Forms open in the same editor staff use. They can save and come back, attach files where asked, and sign by typing their name and drawing a signature.
• Consents show the form to read, then take the same signature. A signed consent is added to the chart's consents.
• Handouts open as a file; I Have Read It records that they read it.
• Requested files show your note, if any, and take a PDF or photo of up to 10 MB with Upload. The file lands on the chart and the request turns Received.

Signed forms are filed on the chart like forms signed in the clinic.

Reviewing chart updates#

Form fields can be bound to the chart (name, address, guardian, insurance) in templates. When a family signs a form, its answers never overwrite the chart. Instead the Chart updates list on this page shows a proposed change. Click Review to see the chart's value beside the family's, field by field, and choose Accept, Reject or Later for each. Files they attached can be filed to a document category. Social Security numbers stay masked, and every accepted change is recorded in the chart's history.

Sending packets needs permission to update charts.