Responses via the iPad app are always processed (i.e. sent to Cliniko) automatically — without any further steps on your part. That's because, at the time they're started, we already know the appointment, patient & practitioner.

Responses captured via the web, on the other hand, trigger a search in Cliniko for any patient that matches the entered information. After the matching process has run, the system looks at your Inbox settings to determine if we should process the Response through to Cliniko automatically.

This article dives into the details of how it works, and in which situations automatic processing cannot occur.

The image below shows two Responses in the Inbox. The first has one partial match. The second has two matches — the form probably matches one of two different patients in Cliniko, with the same name.

How the first Response is processed is fairly simple. There's only one match. Even though it's a only partial match, that's the record in Cliniko that will be selected for automatic processing. Information from the Response will update it, a PDF will be attached to it, and a Treatment Note created for it.

The second Response has two matches. The first one will be chosen for automatic processing. The reason the first is always chosen is because that's usually the one that is the best match. We take all factors into consideration — name, DOB, email & whether or not it has a next appointment.

If there were no matches found for the Response, and automatic processing is enabled, then automatic processing will schedule a new patient to be created.

Sometimes automatic processing can't occur. For instance, if it's not enabled in the Inbox settings. There are a couple of other special cases worth mentioning.

When a practitioner signature is required on a Response, automatic processing cannot proceed.

Forms are configured to create a draft Treatment Note by default during their processing:

Because only practitioners can create Treatment Notes in Cliniko, we need to use on of your connected practitioner API keys to create the Treatment Note from the Response. For iPad app Form filling, we already know the practitioner, so this is easy enough to do.

For Forms filled via the web, we do an extra check for the patient's "next appointment" during the matching process. The image below shows a next appointment that's been found for a particular match.

If we find a next appointment, and we have a connected API key for the practitioner on that appointment, we know we can use the practitioner from that appointment to create the Treatment Note, and thus automatic processing can go ahead.

In the case that we don't have a next appointment, and a Treatment Note should get created, then the Response will still be processed automatically if you're the only practitioner in your clinic:

If there's more than one practitioner in the clinic, a Treatment Note needs to be created, and there's no next appointment, then automatic processing will not occur.

When a Treatment Note is to be created, and we know which practitioner to use to create the Note, but they don't have their API key connected via the Finger-Ink portal, treatment note creation will be skipped.

This can still be performed manually at a later date, and you'll get notified via email when/if this happens.