# Forms should update patient profiles automatically > Typing data from a paper form into a computer is a waste of time and a risk for errors. Digitize your anamnesis and consent forms so patient answers update their profiles instantly. Source: https://www.medicasimple.com/features/patient-documents ## Key benefits - **Automatic Data Updating**: Use 'Field Binding' to instantly update the patient's ID, phone number, or address in their profile based on their form answers. Choose to 'overwrite' or 'fill if empty'. - **Customizable Question Types**: Build your own clinic forms with Google Forms-level flexibility. Add short text, multiple choice, checkboxes, dates, and signature fields. - **Anamnesis Grouping**: Automatically assign patients to specific risk groups (e.g., 'Diabetic Patient') based on specific answers they provide on their medical history form. - **Treatment-Linked Consent**: Convert any treatment plan into a detailed PDF proforma with one click, ready to be sent via SMS for the patient to securely sign. ## Patient paperwork should not create a second admin system When forms and signatures sit outside the patient record, every appointment creates extra checking work. The team has to chase missing details, retype answers, and search for consent paperwork when the clinical conversation has already moved on. - **Typing the Same Data Twice**: When a patient fills out a paper form in the waiting room, your front desk staff has to manually type all that information back into the system, creating a massive operational waste and risking typos. - **Overlooked Risk Patients**: When critical medical history (anamnesis) stays locked in a physical paper folder, the system cannot warn your doctors with risk tags on the appointment screen, leading to dangerous clinical blind spots. - **Disconnected Consent Forms**: Keeping legal consent forms in binders instead of linking them directly to the digital treatment plan makes it incredibly difficult to find the right document when a legal or clinical dispute arises. ## How it works in Medicasimple ### Design your own custom forms Build anamnesis, patient experience, or intake forms perfectly tailored to your clinic's needs with short answer, multiple choice, and signature fields. ### Field Binding capabilities Map form questions directly to the patient profile. When the patient submits the form, their ID number, phone, and address update automatically. ### Check treatment plan consent See which treatment plans have an approved consent form and hover over the approval indicator to check the recorded date and time. ## From form request to patient profile in one connected workflow Medicasimple turns document collection into a repeatable process: create the form, collect the answer before the visit, and keep the result in the patient record. 1. **Create the forms your clinic needs**: Build custom forms for intake, anamnesis, and consent using choices, text fields, and signatures. 2. **Collect details before the appointment**: Send the form to the patient so they can fill out important details before they arrive at the clinic. 3. **Let patients verify and sign**: Collect signatures and verify patient details for consent records linked to the treatment plan. 4. **Find completed paperwork in the patient profile**: Review completed forms instantly inside the patient profile instead of searching through physical folders. 5. **Update profile fields automatically**: Form answers can fill empty patient fields or update existing information based on your clinic setup. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between patient documents and digital dental forms? Digital dental forms collect structured information from the patient, such as intake details, anamnesis answers, consent information, or feedback. Patient documents are the broader records and media that need to stay connected to the patient context. ### Does this replace every document workflow in the clinic? This page is about dental forms and patient-document workflow inside Medicasimple: collecting structured answers, reviewing signed paperwork, and keeping documents easier to find in patient context. Broader archive-automation requirements should be discussed during a demo. ### Will form answers automatically update the patient's profile? Yes. Using the 'Field Binding' feature, you can map form questions (e.g., ID number, address) to profile fields. You can configure rules to 'fill if empty' or 'overwrite' existing data, eliminating duplicate data entry. ### Can patient answers be used to automatically group them? Yes. If a patient answers 'Yes' to 'Do you have diabetes?' on their anamnesis form, the system can automatically assign them to a 'Diabetic' risk group and apply the relevant tags. ### How do we send consent forms to patients? You can generate a PDF proforma or a consent document directly from the treatment plan and send it to the patient via SMS. Patients verify their identity with their date of birth to view and sign the document.