- What is HotDoc Forms?
- What are the main benefits?
- Why did HotDoc build this feature?
- How does HotDoc Forms work?
- Do HotDoc forms send at all hours throughout the day?
- Are HotDoc forms secure?
- If the patient submits a new patient registration form, will this create a new patient file in my practice management software?
- What happens if the patient is already an existing patient of the practice?
- Can I choose what fields to collect and in what order?
- Does all the information the patient provides in the form appear automatically on their file in the practice management software?
- What are the statuses of a form and what does each one mean?
- How long does a form stay in the HotDoc Sidebar for?
- Can the reception or front-desk team see confidential clinical information the patient submitted on the form?
- Are you going to increase the number of fields and answers that can write back into the patient's file?
- My form submissions are showing as 'Processed'. What does this mean?
- Can I set up a form to complete automatically?
- Can a QR code be generated for a form?
- Can I filter form submissions in the Sidebar?
- Why do some form submissions not show an appointment time in the Sidebar?
- Can I create an additional form?
- How will I know the type of form that has been submitted in the Sidebar?
- Can I remove the signature field or make this optional?
What is HotDoc Forms?
HotDoc Forms is feature that allows you to create and customise secure, digital forms such as new patient registration, transfer of records, assessments, and vaccine consent. This allows patients to fill out their details prior to their appointment.
What are the main benefits?
It ensures information required by a practitioner in a consult is filled out before the patient arrives at the practice. The digital form minimises the likelihood of clerical errors, provides the practice with an online version and provides an added layer of security. The form also provides a modern touch to the patient experience and reduces the time a patient spends in the waiting room.
Why did HotDoc build this feature?
To provide a streamlined experience for patients and all staff members at the practice.
How does HotDoc Forms work?
Patients are sent a notification to fill in and submit a form (or forms) via email, push notification or SMS before their appointment time. This redirects them to a secure HTML link to fill in their form and submit this to your practice. Forms can also be accessed via the HotDoc app, sent in an appointment confirmation email or filled in on a touch-screen tablet device provided to the patient by your practice team. Notifications to fill in forms can be sent to patients regardless if they booked online, or directly through your practice.
For more information about how a patient receives a form, please see: How will a patient receive their form?
Do HotDoc forms send at all hours throughout the day?
No, we will restrict forms to reasonable sending times only, ensuring that patients will only receive a form between 7am and 9pm each day.
Any forms that we sync to send to patients after 9pm will be sent from 7am the next day.
Are HotDoc forms secure?
Yes, all information HotDoc services interact with is immediately de-identified and encrypted. All information is inputted via HTTPS webpages.
If the patient submits a new patient registration form, will this create a new patient file in my practice management software?
*Best Practice, Medical Director (Pracsoft), Zedmed & Dental4Windows practices only
By the time a patient is submitting a new patient registration form, it is very likely that a patient file will have already been created. This may have happened automatically if the patient booked through HotDoc or you may have created the file when booking the patient directly into your software. There is still an option to create a new patient file in your software when processing the form submission in the HotDoc Sidebar. This could be used if a file doesn't already exist. For more information, please see How to process form submissions in the Sidebar.
What happens if the patient is already an existing patient of the practice?
*Best Practice, Medical Director (Pracsoft) & Zedmed practices only
If an existing patient of the practice books online and selects that they are new, HotDoc will identify this for you automatically and show the existing patient file match in the Sidebar. If you select the matching file, HotDoc will not prompt the patient to fill in a new patient form. If you don't select the matching file and instead choose to create a new file, the patient will be sent a new patient form to fill in. For more information, please see How to process appointments using the HotDoc Sidebar.
Furthermore, HotDoc provides an option for practices to decide how we will treat existing patient form submissions in relation to key field updates. More information on this setting can be found here: How to edit a Form
Can I choose what fields to collect and in what order?
Yes, each form is entirely customisable by you. Practices will often copy the format of their existing paper-based forms. For more information, please see How to edit a Form.
Does all the information the patient provides in the form appear automatically on their file in the practice management software?
*Best Practice, Medical Director (Pracsoft), Zedmed & Dental4Windows practices only
No, however the majority of the demographic fields can automatically write back into the file. Any details that cannot be automatically put into the file will appear in the list of fields to manually copy shown in the Sidebar. For more information, please see:
- What form fields can be automatically transferred into in a patient file?
- Why didn't some fields transfer from the form to the patient file?
What are the statuses of a form submission and what does each one mean?
Please see What does each Form Status mean? for more information.
How long does a form stay in the HotDoc Sidebar for?
This information will stay in the Sidebar for 30 days, then we will permanently delete this. This allows enough time for your practice team to ensure all information has been automatically inputted or manually copied into your practice management software.
Can the reception or front-desk team see confidential clinical information the patient submitted on the form?
Yes, any team member who has access to your HotDoc Sidebar will be able to view all form submissions. If you prefer that some of your team do not see this type of information, we recommend removing these questions from your form. For more information on how to do this, please see How to edit a Form.
Are you going to increase the number of fields and answers that can write back into the patient's file?
*Best Practice, Medical Director (Pracsoft), Zedmed & Dental4Windows practices only
Potentially, but this is dependant on whether we have the right permissions to write those fields into to the file on your practice management software. Please contact us via the Support button if you have specific fields you would like to nominate to be automatically written back.
My form submissions are showing as 'Processed'. What does this mean?
HotDoc will automatically write back certain fields but some fields, including any custom questions, will not be automatically added to the patient's file. To add these, you will need to copy and paste from the Sidebar into the file. For more information, please see How do I copy manual form fields?
Can I setup a form to complete automatically?
Yes! You may wish to set up a form to complete automatically if there are no fields in the form that will need to be copied to the patient's file, eg Consent Forms. You can switch this on via Forms > Forms > Edit > Settings > Automatically mark forms as complete after actioning in the sidebar:
Can a QR code be generated for a form, so that patients can easily access it when arriving at the practice if they haven't already filled it in?
Yes. Please see How to generate a QR code for a form to see how to easily do this from the HotDoc Dashboard. Note that if the form is filled out via a QR code, it will be not be automatically linked to a patient file when it comes through to the Sidebar. This means you will need to manually link the form submission to the file. For further instructions, please see How to process form submissions in the Sidebar.
Can I filter form submissions in the Sidebar?
Yes. You can filter form submissions in the Sidebar by submitted time (oldest or newest), appointment time (oldest or newest), first and last name (A-Z or Z-A). Please s ee How to process form submissions for more information.
Why do some form submissions not show an appointment time in the Sidebar?
If you have filtered by appointment time but the expected forms are not appearing, it could be due to the patient submitting the form through a QR code, a URL that was manually sent to the patient, or via a touch-screen tablet at your practice. In this case, we're unable to associate the submission with the patient's appointment time, so these submissions will appear at the bottom of the list when it's filtered this way.
Can I create an additional form?
Yes! You can now add multiple forms in the Forms section of your Dashboard. Here you can choose from existing templates or completely customise your own form. Please see How to create a Form for guided instructions on how to do this.
How will I know the type of form that has been submitted in the Sidebar?
The title of the form as named in your Dashboard, will be included in the form submission in the Sidebar. Below is an example of a New Patient Registration Form and a Patient Details Update Form:
Can I view my form to see what it looks like for patients?
Yes! This can be done in the Forms section of your HotDoc Dashboard. Please see How can I preview my form? for quick steps on how to do this.
Can I remove the signature field or make this optional?
Yes! You can remove the need for a signature field on your form, as well as make this field optional or required for patients. This can be done in the Form Settings, please see How to edit a Form for how to amend this.