> ## 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 intake pack to a client, watch its status as they open and sign it, and keep the signed copy on their record.

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 — sharing outcome measures needs Essential" roles="Any staff member with access to Documents" note="These screens say Patient where the rest of your practice says Client. It is the same person." />

Send a consent form, an intake pack or an agreement to a client 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.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Documents']} />

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

## What you're looking at

**Clinic Documents** — "Manage and send documents for clinic signatures" — has four tabs: **Overview**, **Documents**, **Analytics** and **Templates**. Across the top sit four counters — **Total Documents**, **Pending**, **Signed** and **Viewed** — a period filter offering **Today**, **Last 7 Days**, **This Month** and **All Time**, and a split **Send Document** button whose caret also offers **Create Document** and **Upload Document**.

The **Documents** tab adds a **Status** filter and a **Search documents...** box. A practice that has sent nothing sees "No documents found — Send your first document to get started", and **Templates** reads "No Templates Yet".

| Status        | What it means                             |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**   | Sent, not yet opened                      |
| **Viewed**    | The client 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 client refused to sign                |
| **Cancelled** | You withdrew it                           |

## Send one document

<Steps>
  <Step title="Make sure a template exists">
    Everything you send is built from a template. Build one on the **Templates** tab first — the **Create Document Template** form asks for a **Template Name**, a **Document Type**, the **Document Content** and whether it **Requires Witness**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the send form">
    Select **Send Document**. The page is headed **Send Document to Patient**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the client">
    Under **Patient Details**, use **Select Patient** ("Search for a patient..."). Somebody with no email address triggers a warning: "This patient does not have an email address. Please update their profile before sending documents."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose what to send">
    **Select Template** — "Choose a template or create a custom document" — has four sub-tabs: **Saved**, **Intake**, **Measures** and **Custom**. Then fill in **Document Details**: **Document Title**, **Document Type**, the content, and **Internal Notes (Optional)**, which the client never sees.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send it">
    Select **Send Document**. You get a **Document Sent!** confirmation, the client gets an email with their own link, and the document appears in your **Documents** list at **Pending**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Send an intake pack from the client's chart

For a new client it is usually faster to send everything at once. Open their chart and select **Intakes** in the header. The **Send intakes** sheet walks through three steps — the client, **Compose email**, then **Review & send**.

Step one groups the library into **Consent documents** and **Clinical outcomes & measures**; tick what you want. An empty consent list reads "No consent templates found", and the measures section needs the Essential plan. Move on with **Continue to email**, write the **Email subject** and **Email message**, then **Review & confirm** and **Send documents**.

The review step states the deadline plainly: documents stay signable **for 30 days**, and every interaction is logged.

## Track what happens next

Each row's **Actions** menu offers **View Details** always, plus two that only appear when they make sense: **Resend Document** on an expired document, and **Cancel Document** on one still **Pending** or **Viewed**.

<Warning>
  **Cancelling kills the client's signing link for good.** The dialog says so — "This will cancel the document and the patient will no longer be able to sign it. This action cannot be undone." Back out with **Keep Document** if you are only chasing a slow signer; ring them instead.
</Warning>

## Documents on the client's chart

The **Files** tab of a chart holds two things. **Health Records** is a vault for files you hold about the person — an empty one reads "Vault is empty", **Select files to upload** adds to it, and each file's menu can download it, move it or **Move to Trash**.

Below that sits the shared-forms list. Until something has been sent it reads "No shared forms", with **Send documents to sign** as a second route into the same intake sheet. Clients with portal access can also open and sign from there — see [Documents to sign](/portal/patients/documents).

## Who can do this

Role decides whether **Documents** opens. Permission decides whose documents you may see and whether you may send at all.

| Action                                         | Who can do it by default     | Governed by                                   |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Open **Documents** and read the counters       | Any staff member with access | Role                                          |
| See documents belonging to colleagues' clients | Owner, manager               | Permission — **View all documents**           |
| Send a document or intake pack                 | Owner, manager, scheduler    | Permission — **Share documents with clients** |
| Create or edit a template                      | Owner, manager               | Permission — **Edit note and form templates** |
| Cancel or resend a sent document               | Owner, manager               | Permission — **Share documents with clients** |

Two behaviours surprise people:

* **Enforcement is opt-in, per person.** A colleague never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted; the sheet warns **"Saving starts enforcing"**.
* **A denied action is recorded; an allowed one is not.** Hiding **Documents** from a sidebar is a convenience, not a security boundary.

See [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).

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

## Check it worked

The document is in the **Documents** list against the right client at **Pending**. When they open it the status becomes **Viewed**, and once they sign it becomes **Signed** and the signed copy is on their chart's **Files** tab. The **Overview** and **Analytics** tabs count the same documents over whichever period you have chosen.

## Common issues

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

  <Accordion title="This patient does not have an email address">
    Documents are delivered by email. Add an address to their chart in [Clients](/practice/work/clients) and send again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Send Documents Limit Reached">
    Sending documents for signature needs the Starter plan or above, and **Client Intake Sharing** on the intake sheet needs it too. Sharing scored outcome measures needs Essential. See [Change your plan](/platform/plans/change-plan).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The document expired before they signed">
    Use **Actions** → **Resend Document**. It is offered only on expired documents and gives the client a fresh 30-day link.
  </Accordion>

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

  <Accordion title="Cancel Document is not in the menu">
    It only appears while a document is **Pending** or **Viewed**. Once it is signed, declined, expired or already cancelled there is nothing to withdraw.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How long does a client have to sign?">
    30 days from sending. After that the document goes **Expired** and needs resending, which issues a fresh link.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I send several documents at once?">
    Yes — use **Intakes** from the client's chart and tick everything in one pass. The **Send Document** button sends one at a time.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the client need a portal account?">
    No. The emailed link is enough. A portal account simply gives them a second way in, and somewhere to find it again later.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I edit a document after sending it?">
    No. Cancel it and send a corrected one — the client's link dies with the cancellation, so tell them another is coming.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where does the signed copy live?">
    On the client's chart, under the **Files** tab, alongside anything you have uploaded about them yourself.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck />