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Populating Form Answers Into a Note

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Bring a client's form answers into a session note in one of two ways: map and import the answers into the client's file and pull them into the Note with placeholders; or use “Create Notes” on a completed form to copy that submission into a new note. 

In this article:

Before You Begin

  • Placeholders live in Note Templates, in text sections only. Learn more about Building and Using Note Templates →
     
  • Placeholders read the client's record, not the form itself. The client record updates only when you import a form's answers, either manually or with an automation. Completing a form or creating a mapping alone leaves the client record unchanged. Learn more about Mapping and Importing Form Responses into Client Records →
     
  • Each Note is a snapshot. When you create a Note from a template, Practice Better fills every placeholder in the template with the data in the client's record at that moment. 
     
  • This article covers placeholders for client file data and completed form answers. For AI Session Summary placeholders, see Automatically Create Notes From Recorded Sessions →

Choosing a Method

Use client record placeholders when you want a template to fill itself with a client's current file data, such as Medical History or Diet & Lifestyle, each time you create a note. Answers from a Form need to be mapped and imported first.

Use Create Notes on a completed form when you want a snapshot of one specific submission, exactly as the client submitted it. No form mapping is required.

📍 Note: The two methods can work together. When you use “Create Notes” with a template that also holds client file placeholders, those placeholders still pull in any data in the client's file.

Pulling Client File Data Into a Note

This method has three parts: 

  1. Map and import the form data
  2. Add placeholders to a note template
  3. Create the note

Once it's set up, every note created from that template fills itself in.

Mapping and Importing Form Data

A form mapping sends answers from specific form questions to fields in the client's record. You can map form answers into sections such as Basic Information, Medical History, and Diet & Lifestyle.

After the client completes the form, import the answers into the client's file in one of two ways:

  • Import manually: In the client's Forms & Waivers section, click the More Options menu (3 dots) beside the completed form and select Import into file.
  • Import automatically: Set up the Import completed forms into client files automation to import each submission as soon as the client submits it.

If you import the same form more than once, the mapping's Overwrite Existing Data setting decides whether new answers replace or add to the existing entries.

Learn more about Mapping and Importing Form Responses into Client Records → including the full list of importable sections.

💡 Tip: To bring answers from two forms into one note, map both forms to the same free-form fields, such as Diet & Lifestyle or Medical History, and leave Overwrite Existing Data off so each import adds to the last.

Adding Placeholders to a Note Template

Placeholders tell a note template which parts of the client's record to pull in.

  1. Go to My Practice > Note Templates.
     
  2. Click Edit beside an existing template, or click Add template to build a new one.
     
  3. In a text section, click the </> button in the toolbar.

     
  4. Select the placeholder you want, such as Medical History or Diet & Lifestyle. The placeholder appears in the editor as a token, such as %BASIC_INFORMATION%.

     
  5. Move the token to where you want the data to appear. You can format it or place it inside a table.
     
  6. Save your template.

📍 Note: If the client's file has no data for a placeholder, Practice Better removes the token from the note. Any label you typed above the placeholder stays, with nothing after it.

Learn more about Building and Using Note Templates → including the full list of available placeholders.

Creating a Note From Your Template

Create the note from any template path: the Note Templates page, a client's Notes & Recordings section, My Bookings, or the Session Details page. Practice Better fills each placeholder with the client record’s data as it stands at that moment. The filled-in text is fully editable before you save.

Learn more about Building and Using Note Templates → for step-by-step instructions for each note creation path.

✅ Your note now shows the client record’s data in place of each placeholder. Edit the text as needed, then save.

Pulling a Completed Form Into a Note

“Create Notes” copies one completed form, including any private annotations you added, into a new session note. Use it when you want a snapshot of that specific submission.

  1. Go to your client's Forms & Waivers section.
     
  2. Click the More Options menu (3 dots) beside the completed form.
     
  3. Select Create Notes.

     
  4. In the pop-up, select the questions, answers, and aggregates to include.
     
  5. To start from a note template, select it from the pick list. Otherwise, Create Notes builds a plain note.

     
  6. Click Create. A new, editable session note opens with your selections in place.

Learn more about Creating Notes from Completed Forms →

📍 Note: Create Notes works only with forms built in Practice Better's Form Builder, not PDF Form Uploads. Each use creates a brand new note. 

Choosing Where the Form Appears in the Note

Add the Completed Form Answers placeholder (%COMPLETED_FORM%) to a text section of your note template to control where the form content renders. Without it, the form content is added at the bottom of the note in a new text section.

  1. Go to My Practice > Note Templates.
     
  2. Open a template and click the </> button in a text section.
     
  3. Select Completed Form Answers and move the token where you want the form to appear.

     
  4. Save your template, then select it in the Create Notes pop-up.

📍 Note: The Completed Form Answers placeholder fills only when you create the note with Create Notes from the completed form. In a note created any other way, Practice Better removes the token and leaves an empty text section where it was.

Fixing a Placeholder That Shows Nothing

Find your situation below.

  • You imported the form after creating the note. Create a new note. Existing notes keep their original content.
  • The client's file has no data for that field. Practice Better removes the token. Check the matching section of the client's file.
  • You added the placeholder after creating the note. Create a new note from the updated template.
  • The Completed Form Answers placeholder is empty. It fills only through Create Notes on a completed form.
  • An AI session summary placeholder is empty. The placeholder must match your AI Summary Format. See Automatically Create Notes From Recorded Sessions →

Still stuck? Contact our Support team and we'll help you find the cause.

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