The Pending Forms section in Practice by Numbers offers multiple tabs to manage online forms throughout their lifecycle. Understanding how to use the Pending Forms, Messages Sent, and Not Sent tabs helps ensure your patients receive and complete the necessary documentation on time, and that your team has full visibility into communication attempts.
Pending Forms: Track Incomplete Patient Forms
The Pending Forms tab displays a real-time list of forms that were sent to patients but have not yet been completed. It’s designed to help staff monitor outstanding form requests and follow up accordingly.
Key Columns
Patient Name: Name of the patient who has a pending form.
Form: The specific document requested (e.g., Medical History, Financial Policy).
Sent: Timestamp indicating when the form was sent.
Viewed: Shows if the patient opened the form (a timestamp appears if viewed).
Actions:
🔔 Send Reminder: Resends the form to the patient via their preferred communication method.
✔️ Mark as Submitted: Manually flags the form as completed (use this only if the form was filled out externally or on paper).
❌ Cancel Invite: Voids the request if the form is no longer needed.
Why It Matters
Timely follow-ups: Identify which patients need a reminder before their appointment.
Form status transparency: Know which forms were viewed vs. ignored.
Manual control: Easily resolve edge cases where the patient completes forms offline.
Messages Sent: Monitor Delivery and Engagement
The Messages Sent tab shows a history of automated messages triggered by form invites. This includes both text messages and emails automatically sent by the system when a patient is due to complete a form.
Key Columns
Type: Text or Email.
Recipient: Patient initials.
Message: Preview of the sent content, including email subject lines.
Status:
Sent: Message was dispatched.Delivered: Confirmed receipt by the messaging system.
Sent: How long ago the message was sent.
Opened: If/when the patient opened the message.
Clicked: If the form link was clicked.
Filters
Message Type: Toggle between Text and Email.
Search Bar: Find messages by patient name.
Time Range: Narrow results using the date selector at the top.
Why It Matters
Audit communication success: See whether patients received and engaged with their form invites.
Prevent no-shows: If patients aren’t opening or clicking links, staff can follow up manually.
Segment by channel: Determine if SMS or Email is more effective for your patients.
Not Sent: Understand Why Forms Failed to Send
The Not Sent tab displays failed delivery attempts. These are patients for whom the automated form invite was not sent due to specific conditions.
Common Failure Reasons
The patient opted out: They declined to receive automated communications.
No recommended forms: The system didn’t detect any applicable forms for that patient at the time of invite.
Missing contact info: The patient’s record lacks the required phone number or email.
Invalid contact details: An error occurred during transmission.
Key Columns
Type: Shows if the message would’ve been a text or email.
Recipient: Patient initials.
Reason: Detailed explanation of why the message wasn’t sent.
Filters
Message Type: Sort by Email or Text.
Search Bar: Look up patients by name.
Date Range: Customize the time frame to find recent failures.
Why It Matters
Prevents assumptions: Just because a patient is in the system doesn’t mean they were contacted.
Highlights opt-out compliance: Shows which patients have communication restrictions.
Improves process: Allows staff to correct missing or invalid contact info proactively.
Best Practices
Daily Checks: Assign a team member to monitor these three tabs daily to ensure all patients are receiving and completing required forms.
Use Filters: Narrow down searches by date, message type, or patient to troubleshoot faster.
Leverage the “Not Sent” Tab: This is often overlooked but vital for identifying gaps in outreach and patient data hygiene.
Summary
Tab | Use Case | Key Actions |
Pending Forms | Track incomplete forms and send reminders | Remind, Cancel, or Manually Mark as Submitted |
Messages Sent | Audit what was sent, when, and whether it was opened or clicked | Confirm delivery success and follow up if needed |
Not Sent | See why messages didn’t go out to some patients | Correct data, note opt-outs, and improve workflows |