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Collecting demographics & payment info

Two intake options turn first-session admin into client homework: the demographics form (identity, contact, emergency contact, optionally insurance) and a separate credit card request. Both live in the same intake wizard step, and both flow back to the chart automatically.

In this guide, we'll cover:

Setting up the demographics form​

  1. Go to Settings → Shareable Documents → Intake Questionnaires — the Demographics form card sits at the top (it's a system form).
  2. Include in intake controls whether it's pre-checked when you send intakes. Preview shows the form as clients see it.
  3. Edit chooses what the form asks: which additional fields appear (Name they go by, Gender identity, Insurance) and which fields clients must answer. Legal name and email are always required; phone number, address, birth date, and the emergency contact's name, phone number, and email are up to you. Click Save.

The Edit demographics form dialog: additional fields to include and fields clients must answer

Out of the box the form is minimal — only legal name and email are required, and no additional fields are switched on.

The insurance section turns on automatically once you bill insurance, when you enroll with your first insurance payer. Practices that don't bill insurance start with it off. If you have already saved your own choice in Edit, that choice is kept either way. When on, clients are asked for their payer, member ID, and photos of the front and back of their insurance card ("Optional — if you plan to use insurance…"), and only when they have no coverage on file yet, so a client's form can't overwrite coverage you've already verified.

Requesting a card on file​

Request credit card on file is its own checkbox in the intake wizard's Demographics & Credit Card section — it isn't part of the demographics form. To have it pre-checked every time, switch on Include in intake on the Credit card on file card, just below the Demographics form card. (For a client who already has a card saved, the checkbox reads Request a new credit card.)

The intake wizard's Select Documents step, with the Demographics & Credit Card section at the bottom

When checked:

  • The client sees an Add Payment Method item in their portal to-do list (it appears alongside their forms — clients can do it first or skip it: "You can add a payment method later in Account Settings").
  • Card entry is handled by Stripe — numbers never touch your records.
  • For minors, the card saves to the guardian, who is the payer — see Minor clients.
  • The client's intake status card on their profile shows Payment ✓ or Payment Pending, so you know before the first session whether a card is on file for AutoPay.

Sending it​

Both options ride the standard intake workflow: check them in the wizard's Select Documents step (the demographics form is pre-checked when "Include in intake" is on) and send. The client completes everything in the portal.

What the client sees​

The portal's demographics form is pre-filled from the chart — "Please review and complete your information" — so returning clients correct rather than re-type. It covers client information (with consent checkboxes for email and text contact), emergency contact, and the insurance section when applicable.

The portal's Documents page with the Demographics form open beside the checklist (guardian view)

On submit: "Thank you — your information has been shared with your practice and your profile will be updated automatically."

How answers flow back​

  • Profile fields update automatically — and blank answers never erase data you've already entered, so a half-completed form can't damage the record.
  • Emergency contact answers create or update the contact on the chart.
  • Insurance details create the client's coverage (only when no active plan exists), with the card photos attached — see Client coverage. When the client says the policy belongs to someone else (a parent or spouse), the form also asks for that person's name, date of birth and sex, and they're saved as the policyholder on the coverage, so a claim can be filed without you chasing a parent's birth date first.
  • The completed form shows on the client's Files tab, and you're emailed when a client finishes the last of their intake forms.

FAQ​

The client says the form didn't ask about insurance. Two gates: the insurance section must be enabled on the Demographics form card, and the client must have no active insurance plan on file already. Self-pay and cancelled plans don't count.

A student on a parent's plan: do I still need the parent's details? Not from you. Once the client picks Client's parent (or spouse, or other) under Client's relationship to insured, the form requires the policyholder's first and last name, date of birth and sex. They land on the chart as a contact (labelled Parent, Spouse or Other) and as the policyholder on the coverage, and claims bill under them. If the client names the same person as their emergency contact on the form, one contact is created, not two. If the form was completed before this existed, add the policyholder in the client's insurance details instead.

Why is the card request "pending" when their forms are done? The card step is separate from the forms and clients can skip it. Ask them to add it under Billing → Payment Methods in their portal, or take the card at the first session.

Can I require a card before booking? Not through intake — the card request is skippable by design. Card-on-file enforcement is a conversation, not a gate.