Patients usually complete forms outside the staff workspace, on their own phone or computer, using a patient-facing forms link.
There are two common link styles:
- a form share link for one specific form
- a patient forms link that opens the general patient-facing forms flow
The difference is simple:
- a form share link points to one chosen form
- the patient forms link opens the shared forms entry point and shows whatever is currently relevant for that patient after sign-in
How patients receive forms
From circleOS, your team can send patients to the forms flow in a few different ways:
- a form share link copied from a form detail page
- a patient forms link sent by email or SMS from a required-forms list
- a QR code shown in clinic from the same required-forms tools
In practice, the QR code, email action, and SMS action all send the same shared patient forms link. The patient signs in there and then sees the forms that are currently relevant to them.
What patients do
- The patient opens the link you shared.
- If it is the shared patient forms link, they sign in and then see the forms currently required for them.
- They complete the one form you sent, or the set of forms that are currently relevant to them.
- circleOS records the result as a form submission.
What staff sees after submission
Once the patient submits:
- The required form moves from missing to complete when circleOS has a valid submission.
- The submission appears in Patient → Form submissions when it is linked to that patient.
- If the submission is linked to a booking, it can also be reviewed from that booking workflow.
Depending on the form's settings, submissions can also:
- create linked documents
- publish those documents for patient access
- trigger follow-up workflows such as draft plan creation
If staff need to record a completed paper form, they can upload a PDF as a manual form submission from a missing requirement in the patient workflow.
Which link to use
- Use the form share link when you want the patient to open one specific form.
- Use the patient forms link when you want circleOS to show whatever is currently required for that patient.
The patient forms link is the one used by the QR, email, and SMS actions in required-forms lists and in Live Mode.
If you are unsure which individual form link to send, the patient forms link is usually the safer choice. If email or SMS delivery is not ready in your workspace, QR is the simplest fallback in clinic.
Good everyday use cases
This flow works especially well for:
- intake before a first appointment
- consent forms
- pre-visit questionnaires
- follow-up forms the patient should complete at home