> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.pravatherapy.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.pravatherapy.com/client-intake-process.md).
# Client Intake Process
Prava will take care of collecting the necessary information from clients in order to start care and bill insurance.
After a client is added to the system (via any of the mechanisms list [above](/adding-clients.md)) and an appointment is scheduled we will do the following:
* Run their benefits to see what their expected out of pocket expenses will be
* For out of network payers we will share the out of network vs in network benefits with you to decide which to offer the patient
* Email the client their benefits coverage and expected costs along with a link to confirm their personal information and provide a credit card if they have expected out of pocket costs.
* See [Client’s Benefit Summaries](#clients-benefit-summaries) for example of what this looks like.
* Note that this includes the [Client Consent Forms](#client-consent-forms) and also collects payment information
* If the client doesn’t fill out the form, we will send them reminders via phone call, SMS and email
* If the client doesn’t fill out the form even after our reminders, we will send you a notification to fill the form out with the client during their first visit. You can find the link to the form in the benefits review that you were cc’ed on
* See [Reviewing Client Benefit Summary](#reviewing-client-benefit-summary) for detailed information on this experience.
* After this - we have all the necessary information we need to begin care
## Client’s Benefit Summaries
We will send out a benefits link for the client to review their benefits coverage & cost estimate prior to their first visit. The page will look like this:
And this is where we will also collect payment information and any other critical information we need for billing purposes.
## Reviewing Client Benefit Summary
If the client hasn’t acknowledged their benefits before the first appointment you will receive a task to review it with them on the first appointment. This will be shown directly on the home screen of the mobile app or website where you can easily click on the action item to bring up the benefits form for the client to fill out.
## Checking on the status of cost estimates
If you’d like to access or check the status of a client’s cost estimate without the assigned task you can also do so via the Billing/Insurance section of the Client Profile on [app.pravatherapy.com](http://app.pravatherapy.com):
Or on the Prava Provider Mobile App:
## Self Pay Cost Estimates
If a client will be paying directly for services we also send out cost estimates in this case so they are aware of the cost and agree ahead of time.
There are 2 ways this can typically get set up. Please email to have us set this up for you.
1. Charging the entire visit as a cash pay visit
Here we’ll send out a single cost estimate with your desired rates:
2. Adding an additional cash pay charge to an insurance visit
Here we will send our our [insurance based cost estimate](#clients-benefit-summaries) and also an additional cash pay cost estimate with whatever additional services you will be charging:
Please also see [Documenting Self Pay Services](/charting.md#documenting-self-pay-services) for how to properly document any self pay services.
## Sending out Intake Forms
By default, we don’t send out any intake forms to patients besides the [cost estimate](#clients-benefit-summaries). However, if you would like to send out forms you can do so by following these steps:
* Open the client’s profile from
* Go to “Documents” and then click on “Intake Forms”
* Select “Send intake form” in the top right corner and select the specific intake form you would like to send.
At the moment, we don’t support automatically sending out these forms for each new client, but this is something on our roadmap. If you’d be interested in this, please let us know via .
## Collecting/Editing Credit Cards
If you need to collect the credit card outside of the process mentioned above or edit the credit card on the client’s behalf you can always edit directly as well. See [Updating a Client’s Payment Information](/client-billing.md#updating-a-clients-payment-information).
## Client Consent Forms
We have all clients agree to our consent forms when they fill out our sign up form either during initial appointment booking or when we send out the benefits review.
You can find all of these agreements linked off of our main website:
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## Late Cancellations/No Show Fees
If you'd like to enact a late cancellation policy, you can set your own fees from your profile. Go to the Billing/Insurance menu on web or mobile, then edit Cancellation Fees. You can set different amounts for late cancellations and no-shows.
Once configured this will automatically show on all cost estimates for your clients. It will also result in us asking for a credit card for every client (even if they have no expected out of pocket costs):
Here is an example:
**Important:** We never automatically charge a client a late cancellation fee as many providers only choose to enforce these for repeat offenders.
### Charging late cancel fees
You can charge a late cancellation or no show fee directly when cancelling an appointment:
Select “Cancel appointment”:
On the confirmation page, select that you would like to charge a late cancellation fee. The fee amount will pre-fill with whatever you have configured on your profile, but can be modified here:
### Charging late cancel fees on already cancelled appointment
If you’d like to go back and charge a late cancel or no show fee on an already cancelled appointment you can do via the “3 dots” option in the top right of the cancelled appointment:
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