Medical intake
A medical intake is the structured questionnaire that collects a patient’s history, medications, allergies, and condition-specific details — the clinical substrate an asynchronous visit is built on.
- The structured data a clinician reviews in async care
- Owned clinically, optimized like product
- Branching logic balances depth against drop-off
- Disqualifiers belong early — fail fast beats fail at checkout
What a good intake captures
Identity and demographics, current medications and allergies, relevant history and contraindications, condition-specific screeners, and the measurements the protocol needs (weight, blood pressure, prior labs). In async care the intake is not paperwork before the visit — it effectively is the visit, so completeness determines whether the clinician can decide or must chase follow-ups.
The conversion–completeness tension
Every additional question costs signups; every missing answer costs clinician time and safety margin. The programs that thread it use branching logic (ask depth only when triggered), put disqualifying questions early so patients fail fast rather than at checkout, and treat the intake as a living product surface with drop-off analytics — while the clinical team, not growth, owns the question set.
Compliance handled, so you can build
Lithos runs the clinicians, pharmacies, and 50-state rules behind your care program — one API.
Frequently asked questions
Is an intake form a medical record?
Yes — once tied to care it is part of the clinical record and PHI, versioned and stored accordingly.
How long should a telehealth intake be?
As short as clinical completeness allows — branching keeps the median path fast while capturing depth where answers trigger it.
Can AI help with intakes?
Adaptive questioning and summarization help; the clinical question set and any decision remain with licensed clinicians.