Create a Digital Form | Instinct Science Help Center

In Instinct EMR, you create a Digital Form in Admin → Practice → Forms by building it from scratch or importing a PDF or chart document template. You must have the admin_manage_digital_forms permission. A new form starts as a draft, and nothing is saved until you manually save the draft. Drafts then need to be published manually before they are available to send.

Build a form from scratch

Go to Admin → Practice → Forms to start a new form.
Select Add New to create a new form.
Choose Start from scratch to manually create forms from scratch.
Enter a form name.
Add sections and elements to the form as needed.
Toggle Required on for each area that the client must fill out/answer.
To enable sending the form to new clients without an account, select the gear icon at the top of any draft, and toggle the Enable account creation toggle on.
Select Save as draft, then Publish when the form is completed.

Note: When the Enable account creation toggle is on, you must include the Client name, Patient name, Species, and either the Client email or Client phone number fields. These fields must also have the Required toggle on.

Add Text, Choices, and Presets

Text Input/Choices (Elements)	What the client does
Text	Types a short answer, such as a name or phone number.
Long text	Types a longer answer, such as a description or comments.
Select	Picks one option from a list you define.
Multi-select	Picks one or more options from a list you define.
Yes / No	Picks Yes or No.
Date	Types a date or picks it from a calendar. You can allow any date, past dates only, or future dates only.
Typed signature	Types a full name that acts as the signature.
Drawn signature	Draws a signature with a finger or mouse.

Presets pre-fill existing information when you send a form for an existing patient. When staff accepts a submission, any preset answer the client changed is updated in the record. Each preset can be used once per form. Answers to all other questions are saved with the submission, but never change the record.

Preset	Record field	Required
Pet Name	Patient name	Always required if included
Species	Patient species	Always required if included
Client Name	Owner first and last name	Always required if included
Sex	Sex, including spay/neuter	Optional by default
Breed	Patient breed	Optional by default
Color / Markings	Patient color and markings	Optional by default
Date of Birth	Patient birth date	Optional by default
Microchip	Microchip number and provider	Optional by default
Insurance	Policy ID and provider	Optional by default
Owner Email	Owner email	Optional by default
Owner Phone	Owner phone	Optional by default
Owner Date of Birth	Owner birth date	Optional by default
Owner ID Number	Driver's license or government ID	Optional by default
Mailing Address	Owner address	Optional by default

Import a PDF

Go to Admin → Practice → Forms to start a new form.
Choose Upload a PDF to upload a PDF up to 20 MB.
Wait 30 to 90 seconds while the sections and fields are auto-drafted.
Review the warnings banner, which lists anything that did not get mapped.
Correct the draft, then save it.

Note: Pet and owner questions become presets and keep the document's wording as the label. Drop-down options often need manual correction. Signature fields in the PDF are not imported and must be added manually.

Import a chart document template

Go to Admin → Practice → Forms to start a new form.
Choose Use a chart document template to import information from an Instinct chart template.
Search for and select a template, then select Import.
Correct the draft as needed, then save it and publish it when done.

Note: Section headers become sections. Recognized labels become presets, with one of each per form. Choice lists keep their options. A template that requires signatures creates that many signature fields. Drawings, tables, and file uploads are dropped. Locked text containing merge fields is left out, ensuring clients never see raw placeholders.

Next steps

See Add Notification Recipients to a Digital Form. When the form is ready, see Publish, Duplicate, or Archive a Digital Form.

Still need help?

Contact support via live chat or email [email protected].