> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Send a document for signature

> Email a consent form or agreement to a patient, track whether they opened and signed it, and file the signed copy to their chart.

export const AuditNote = ({action = 'This action'}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--info" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      {action} is written to your workspace's audit log with your name, the
      record touched and the time — a HIPAA requirement, and one you can review
      yourself under <strong>Audit Log</strong>. See{' '}
      <a href="/platform/security/audit-log">Audit log</a>.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Starter and above" roles="Any staff member with access to Documents" note="This screen is the same on every plan. Your workspace calls the people it serves clients (Solo & Team) or patients (Enterprise) — the guide uses both." />

Send a consent form, an intake pack or an agreement to a patient by email, watch its status change as they open and sign it, and keep the signed copy on their record. Nothing is printed and nothing comes back by post.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Solo and team">
    <Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Documents']} />
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Enterprise">
    <Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Records', 'Documents']} />
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<TaskHeader before="An active document template, and a patient with an email address on file" time="Under a minute per document" after="A document sent, tracked by status, and filed to the patient's record once signed" />

The dashboard has four tabs — **Overview**, **Documents**, **Analytics** and **Templates** — a period filter of **Today**, **This Month** or **All Time**, and a split **New Document** button offering **Create Document** or **Upload Document**.

## Send a document

<Steps>
  <Step title="Make sure a template exists">
    Everything you send is built from a template. If there is none you will be stopped with "No active document templates found. Please create a template first." — build one on the **Templates** tab before you go further.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start from the patient">
    Find the person in your patient or client list, open the row's **⋯** menu and select **Send Consent**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in the send sheet">
    The sheet is headed **Send Document for Signature**. Choose the **Document Template** — it is required — and add **Additional Notes (Optional)** if the patient needs context about why they are being asked to sign.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send it">
    The patient receives an email with their own link. The document appears in your **Documents** list at **Pending**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Track what happens next

| Status        | What it means                             |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**   | Sent, not yet opened                      |
| **Viewed**    | The patient has opened it but not signed  |
| **Signed**    | Done — the signed copy is on their record |
| **Expired**   | The link ran out before they signed       |
| **Declined**  | The patient refused to sign               |
| **Cancelled** | You withdrew it                           |

Each row's **⋯** menu offers **View Details**, and two actions that only appear when they make sense: **Resend Document** on an expired document, and **Cancel Document** on one that is still **Pending** or **Viewed**. Cancelling asks "Cancel Document?" and lets you back out with **Keep Document**.

<Warning>
  **Cancelling a document kills the patient's link for good.** They cannot open it again, and there is no undo — you have to send a fresh one. If you are only chasing a slow signer, leave the document where it is and ring them.
</Warning>

## Documents on the patient's chart

The **Files** tab of a patient's chart holds two things.

**Health Records** is a vault for files you hold about the person. An empty one says "Vault is empty"; select **Select files to upload** to add to it, and each file's **File Options** menu can download it, move it or send it to trash.

Below that is the shared-forms section — "No shared forms" until something has been sent — with **Send documents to sign** as a second route into the same send sheet.

Patients see and sign these from their portal; that side is described in [Documents to sign](/portal/patients/documents).

## Check it worked

The document is in the **Documents** list against the right patient, at **Pending**. When the patient opens it the status becomes **Viewed**, and once they sign it becomes **Signed** and the signed copy is on their chart. The **Overview** and **Analytics** tabs count the same documents over your chosen period.

<AuditNote action="Sending or opening a signed document" />

## If something goes wrong

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="No active document templates found">
    Nothing can be sent without a template. Create one on the **Templates** tab, make sure it is active, then send again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The patient has no email address">
    The document is delivered by email, so the patient needs one on their chart. Add it in [Register patients](/practice/daily/clients) and send again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Send Documents is locked behind an upgrade">
    Sending documents for signature needs the Starter plan or above. See [Change your plan](/platform/plans/change-plan).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The document expired before they signed">
    Use **⋯** → **Resend Document**. It is offered only on expired documents, and gives the patient a fresh link.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The patient says they never got the email">
    Ask them to check their spam folder first. If it is genuinely missing, confirm the email address on their chart is right, cancel the outstanding document and send a new one. Patients with portal access can also open it from the portal without the email — see [Turn on the patient portal](/portal/setup/features).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot cancel a document">
    **Cancel Document** only appears while a document is **Pending** or **Viewed**. Once it is signed, declined or expired there is nothing to withdraw.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck />