What actually matters
Intake software changes how your front desk runs, how fast patients move through check-in, and whether your team spends the afternoon chasing missing signatures.
Practice managers comparing options ask the same questions: Can I customize the forms? Will patients finish them before they arrive? Does it work with my EHR? How does pricing grow with my team?
Here's an honest look at five platforms.
The contenders
Formisoft
Built around the path from booking to visit. Formisoft combines digital intake forms, e-signatures, online booking, reminders, and payments in one platform. The builder handles anything from a demographics form to a scored PHQ-9, starting from intake templates if you like.
Where it stands out: a new patient can book, complete intake, sign consents, and pay a copay before walking in. Formisoft calls that patient readiness, and the dashboard shows who is ready today and tomorrow. Everything is included, with a signed BAA, and our team sets it up with you.
IntakeQ
An established intake platform with custom forms, e-signatures, reminders, a client portal, insurance card capture, and integrations with several EHRs.
Where it stands out: a mature builder with conditional logic, good for complex branching questionnaires.
Where it falls short: booking and payments sit in higher plans rather than the core, and per-practitioner pricing adds up in multi-provider clinics.
Phreesia
Enterprise intake for large health systems: check-in kiosks, insurance verification, clinical screenings, and payments.
Where it stands out: strong eligibility checks and screening tools for complex registration workflows.
Where it falls short: quote-only pricing, a platform sized for large organizations, and setup measured in weeks.
Klara
A patient communication platform with intake forms alongside messaging, call routing, and reminders, aimed at cutting phone volume.
Where it stands out: if phone calls are overwhelming your front desk, its communication tools are strong.
Where it falls short: communication comes first and intake second, so deep form logic and scored assessments are more limited.
SimplePractice
Popular with solo practitioners and small mental health practices: intake, scheduling, billing, telehealth, and notes in one system.
Where it stands out: for solo therapists it covers a lot in one subscription.
Where it falls short: built mainly for behavioral health. Medical, dental, and multi-specialty practices find the templates and workflows narrow.
What to check in any platform
Customization. Conditional logic, scored fields, your branding. Basic text fields will frustrate you within a month.
E-signatures. Legally valid e-signatures under the ESIGN Act, not an "I agree" checkbox.
Insurance card and ID capture. Photo upload from the patient's phone saves typing at the desk.
HIPAA. A signed BAA, encryption in transit and at rest, audit logs, and access controls. Non-negotiable.
Pricing that doesn't punish growth. Ask whether staff logins cost extra and how pricing changes as you add providers. Per-provider pricing can multiply fast as you grow.
Scheduling and payments. The fewer systems your team juggles, the less falls through the cracks. Intake connected to appointment scheduling and payments removes duplicate work.
Picking the right fit
A solo therapist and a five-location dermatology group need different things. List your top three frustrations with your current intake, then match them against what each platform actually solves.
The new patient intake workflow page walks through the full flow from booking to check-in.
Get every patient ready before they walk in.
- Forms, consents, and signatures before the visit
- Your paper forms converted by AI
- BAA included