Printing and filing, specifically

This is the same form covered in detail on the massage intake form page. This page is about the paper workflow, because a form that works on screen and fails in a filing cabinet is a form you will stop using.

It is A4 across three pages. Page one is client details, reason for visit and preferences. Page two is health history. Page three is therapist notes and consent.

Print it single-sided

The temptation is to duplex to save paper. Do not, at least not for the copy the client completes.

Clients miss the reverse side. You will get forms back with a completed page one and a blank page two, and page two is the health history. Single-sided costs more paper and produces complete forms.

Once completed, duplex the filing copy if you want. The problem is only at completion.

Keep the therapist notes page separate

The third page continues across visits. If you file all three pages together as one document and the notes page fills up, you end up either cramming or starting a second form and splitting the history.

The workflow that holds up: pages one and two are the intake, completed once and filed. Page three is printed fresh as needed and stapled to the front of the file, so the most recent session is the first thing you see.

Photocopying

The form uses ruled lines and bordered tables rather than shaded blocks, which is deliberate. Shaded form fields go grey and muddy after two generations of photocopying, and handwriting in a grey box is hard to read.

If you are copying rather than printing, copy from the PDF each time rather than copying a copy.

Filing and retention

Completed intake forms hold health information. Store them in a locked cabinet, not a tray on the desk. Set a retention period and apply it. Check what your professional association and jurisdiction require rather than defaulting to keeping everything indefinitely, because a cabinet of fifteen-year-old client health records is a liability rather than an archive.

If you scan and destroy the paper, the scan is now the health record and needs the same access control the cabinet had.