First impressions matter, especially in healthcare, when patients decide about their health and well-being. In the digital age, a patient's first impression often happens through your online patient onboarding form, and only afterward will the patient come to the clinic.

This is why patient onboarding forms are the most important medical forms. You can improve business metrics significantly as a healthcare service provider if onboarding forms have higher conversion rates.

Patient Intake Forms vs. Patient Onboarding Forms.

These two names are often used synonymously but could mean different things. Patient onboarding forms are usually set up on your website, which allows a patient to learn about your healthcare organization and do a quick signup.

They learn what healthcare services you offer, the credibility of your physicians, which insurance companies you are connected with, and whether you’re HIPAA compliant.

On the other hand, patient intake forms are used when a patient visits or is booking an appointment to visit the healthcare unit for the first time.

Here, the information is collected via medical history forms, and patients are given medical consent forms if they want to go for a treatment or procedure.

After this, patients are made aware of the medical release forms sharing information about their data privacy.

Making Top-Notch Patient Onboarding Forms.

Now you know that designing online patient onboarding forms that lead to higher conversion rates is necessary for any healthcare services organization. Failing to do this could lead to fewer patient visits, a lack of inbound leads for the sales team to convert, and, overall, less business.

Time to see the nitty-gritty of making top-notch patient onboarding forms.

1. Streamline Patient Flow.

This is to reduce the cognitive load on the patient who is filling out the form. How to do it?

• Have Pre-fill: Leverage the user's saved data (like address, phone number, or email) to eliminate unwanted submissions that delay the visibility of the much-awaited “submit” button.

• Use conditional logic: Implement the standard “If-Else” statements to extract deeper information when needed and move ahead when not. For instance, if a user says yes to “Insurance”, only then ask them the service provider's name.

• Show Progress: Show patients how far they've come and how much is left. A visual nudge like a progress bar or a % age tracker does wonders.

2. Ensure Data Quality.

Low-quality data will not benefit patient treatment planning. The best three ways to capture quality data are:

• Smart validation: Stop errors before they happen and understand what they mean. Don’t press a patient for DOB in the DD/MM/YYYY format if they have shared their age. Understand the utility of a “datapoint,” and don’t be hung up on the “input type.”

• Real-time feedback: Prompt users to correct inconsistencies or share missing information as they go instead of re-asking a question when the patient is waiting to see the “Submit” button. Use question descriptions and placeholders to educate a user.

• Multiple formats & modalities: Let the patients juggle between text, date calendar, radio buttons, and checkboxes. Also, add voice and image input fields whenever needed.

• Integrate data into your CRM: Patient data is only valuable when you see it populate into your CRM software. Set up integrations with relevant HIPAA-compliant CRM tools like LeadSquared to monitor the quality of inputs and new leads.

3. Build Trust and Rapport.

Without the patient trusting you, they’ll not reach the end of the patient onboarding form and most likely drop off. To prevent this, keep in mind to:

• Explain the "why": Don't just ask for information; explain how it benefits a patient’s care once they visit your clinic or hospital.

• Respect boundaries: Offer patients to opt out of sections for sensitive topics like mental health or substance abuse. When they book an appointment, and you’re sure they’re highly intent, you can ask them these “Big Ask” questions in the medical history forms.

• Personalize: Address patients by name and use no medical jargon. Keep it conversational yet sincere.

4. Go Tech Friendly.

Since the patient will be filling the form via a device (smartphone or laptop), a tech-friendly form is a must:

• Digital signatures: In a patient onboarding form, a sign at the is mandatory. So, add an option to upload, share links, or drag and drop digital signatures, making it easier for the user to add it however they feel comfortable.

• Integrations: Connect your form to your EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system for accurate data transfer. This information can later be used to send them reminders and newsletters, book appointments, and share health reports.

• Live chat support: Offer on-demand help via bots and let users share if they find any difficulty. Either the customer support team or AI voice support can be used to interact with the patient via the bot.

5. Keep Improving.

Conversion rates of forms are never 100%. But striving to reach there will require you to focus on two key things:

• Use data for feedback: Actively understand the point of maximum drop-offs, which questions are skipped, and where patients initiate a chat or call customer support. Then, remove their pain points to make your forms as seamless as possible.

• A/B testing: Try different designs, page layouts, sections, and question flow to see what resonates best with your audience. Check out WorkHack’s AI-driven forms that enable you to set up experiments for quantifying the user journey and pain points during it.

Patient Onboarding Forms: What Is the Content?

Now that you know the best practices of streamlining flow, aiming for quality inputs, and optimizing for maximum conversion rates, let’s understand what exactly goes in a patient onboarding form.

1. Start with essential demographics and contact information. Pre-fill wherever possible and keep it concise and conversational.

2. Collect insurance details accurately. Allow easy access to upload insurance docs (digital and scanned) and images.

3. Understand the "why" of their visit. Use open-ended questions such as "What brings you to see us today?" to better know your patient.

4. In case you’re asking for medical history via subsequent medical history forms, map their medical history to current health status, any ongoing medications, and allergies of any kind.

5. Gain a preliminary glimpse into lifestyle and habits without being intrusive. Once they visit and have enough trust, these questions can be asked in more detail.

6. Leave space for additional information. Allow patients to express concerns or ask questions at the end - related to treatment or physicians and concerning other things (insurance, fee, accommodation) that customer support can answer.

Patient Onboarding Forms: Wrapping Up.

Well-designed patient onboarding forms set the stage for a positive and efficient healthcare journey. Not to mention, move the business metrics.

You can transform this crucial entry point for a first-time patient into a path that leads to higher conversion rates to the clinic or even for the telemedicine service.

Respect patient privacy, show you’re HIPAA compliant, and don’t go too deep to make it a health survey or a medical history form. Build trust before asking for data. Never stop experimenting to determine which form (visuals, sections, question sequence) works the best.

If you do it right at the stage of patient onboarding forms, then patient intake and medical consent forms are the next in line.