Medical Spa Management
What to Include in a Medical Spa Client Intake Form
What to include in a medical spa client intake form: contact details, health history, goals, consent to communications, and privacy — plus how to go digital.
Key takeaways
- An intake form gathers the information your practitioners need — it doesn't replace their assessment or treatment-specific consent.
- Have your clinical lead decide which health questions to ask; collect only what you need.
- Separate consent to marketing from consent to treatment and appointment communications.
- Digital intake forms completed before the visit save time and keep sensitive information off clipboards.
A well-designed med spa intake form makes every first visit smoother. It gives practitioners the background they need before the consultation, gives the front desk accurate contact details, and records client preferences from the start. Knowing what to include in a medical spa client intake form — and what to leave out — is a small task that pays off at every appointment.
This guide covers the sections most clinics use, how intake differs from consent, privacy points to check, and how to move your forms online. The health questions themselves should be decided by your clinical lead; this article covers structure, not clinical content.
Intake form vs consent form
These are often bundled together, but they do different jobs.
- Intake form: collects who the client is, how to reach them, their health background, goals, and preferences. Usually completed once and updated periodically.
- Consent form: records the client's informed consent to a specific treatment after the practitioner has explained it. Usually treatment-specific and repeated as required by your clinical policies.
A signed form supports, but doesn't replace, the consent conversation with the practitioner. Our guide to injectables consent documentation covers consent in more depth.
What to include in a medical spa client intake form
1. Personal and contact details
- Full legal name and preferred name.
- Date of birth (and a way to flag clients who may be minors, according to your clinic policy).
- Phone number, email, and mailing address.
- Preferred contact method for appointment communications.
- Emergency contact name and phone number.
- How they heard about the clinic.
2. Health history
Your clinical lead should decide exactly which questions to include for your services. Many clinics ask about areas such as:
- Current medications and supplements.
- Allergies and sensitivities.
- Relevant medical conditions and past procedures.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding, where relevant to the services offered.
- Previous aesthetic treatments and when they took place.
- Skin history relevant to laser or skin treatments.
3. Goals and expectations
- What the client would like to improve or address.
- Treatments they're interested in.
- Any concerns or questions for the practitioner.
Open-ended questions here help the practitioner prepare and give the consultation a natural starting point. They also help the front desk book the right appointment type: a client who mentions several concerns may need a longer consultation than one asking about a single treatment.
Avoid leading questions or lists of treatments to tick, which can feel like a sales menu. The aim is to understand what the client wants, so the practitioner can discuss what's appropriate — including the possibility that no treatment is the right answer.
4. Photography consent
Clinical photos for the client record and photos used for marketing are separate permissions. Ask for each one separately, explain how photos are stored and used, and make it clear that declining marketing use won't affect care.
5. Communication preferences and marketing consent
Ask whether the client agrees to receive appointment reminders by email and text, and separately whether they'd like to receive promotional messages. Use an unticked checkbox for marketing consent and record when and how it was given.
6. Policies and acknowledgements
- Acknowledgement of your cancellation and deposit policy — see our medical spa cancellation policy template.
- Acknowledgement of your privacy notice.
- A statement that the information provided is accurate, and a request to tell the clinic about changes.
- Signature and date.
Privacy considerations for intake forms
Intake forms collect personal health information, which carries legal obligations. Depending on your clinic's structure, Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) (opens in a new tab) or federal privacy law under PIPEDA (opens in a new tab) may apply.
- Collect only what's needed for care and running the clinic.
- Explain why you collect it and how it's used in a short privacy notice.
- Store completed forms securely, with access limited to staff who need it.
- Avoid sending completed forms by ordinary email.
- Decide how long records are kept and how clients can request access.
For a fuller overview, see our guide to privacy compliance basics for Canadian medical spas.
Designing a med spa intake form clients will finish
- Keep it as short as clinically appropriate; long forms get skipped or rushed.
- Group questions into clear sections with plain-language headings.
- Use yes/no questions with a follow-up box for details.
- Make essential fields required, but don't force answers that don't apply.
- Make it work well on a phone — most clients will complete it there.
- Send it with the booking confirmation so clients can complete it in advance.
Common med spa intake form mistakes
- Copying a template from another clinic without checking it against your services and your clinical lead's requirements.
- Collecting information you never use, such as full health questionnaires for services that don't need them. Every extra question is information you must protect.
- Pre-ticked marketing boxes or marketing consent bundled into a general signature.
- Mixing clinical and marketing photo consent into one checkbox.
- No process for reviewing answers. A form nobody reads before the appointment provides little value.
- Paper forms left at reception, where other clients can see them.
- Outdated versions in circulation. Keep one current version, date it, and retire old copies.
A short annual review with your clinical lead and privacy lead — checking each question still serves a purpose — keeps the form lean and current.
Keeping intake information up to date
Health information changes. Ask returning clients to confirm or update their details at regular intervals set by your clinical policy, and before new types of treatment. The front desk can prompt the update; the practitioner reviews any changes.
- Send an update request with the booking confirmation for returning clients when their information is due for review.
- Ask a short "Has anything changed since your last visit?" question at check-in, and pass any changes to the practitioner privately.
- Keep previous versions in the record rather than overwriting them, so there's a clear history.
Moving intake forms online
Digital forms save time at check-in, avoid illegible handwriting, and attach directly to the client record. With MedClinora, clinics can send digital forms with booking confirmations, store responses in the client record (CRM), and keep a consent and treatment-photo timeline in one place. See the features page for details, or read our guide to moving from paper to digital intake and consent forms.
What should be on a med spa intake form?
Usually contact details, an emergency contact, health history questions approved by your clinical lead, goals and concerns, photography and communication preferences, policy acknowledgements, and a signature.
Is an intake form the same as a consent form?
No. An intake form collects background information; a consent form records informed consent to a specific treatment after the practitioner has explained it. Many clinics use both.
Can med spa intake forms be completed online?
Yes. Many clinics send digital forms before the visit. Choose a system that stores responses securely, limits access, and attaches them to the client record.
How often should clients update their intake form?
Follow your clinical lead's policy. Many clinics ask clients to review their information periodically and before new treatments, and to report changes such as new medications at any time.
A thoughtful intake form sets up every visit for success: better-prepared practitioners, faster check-in, and cleaner records. Keep it focused, let your clinical lead own the health questions, and protect what you collect. For the next step, see our med spa front desk procedures.
Sources and further reading
General information only. This article is educational and isn’t legal, tax, financial, or clinical advice. Requirements depend on your province, your professional college, your role, and the treatments you offer — confirm them with the relevant regulator or a qualified adviser.
