Create a Contact Field

Last updated 5 days ago

Contact fields store patient information in Subflow. Each field you create is shared across your entire account, which means you can use these fields in any form create. This guide walks you through creating a new contact field for your forms.

Get started

Follow the steps below to open the contact field creation page.

  1. Select Contacts from the application menu in the left sidebar.

  2. Select Contact Fields to view all contact fields in your organization

  3. Click the Create Field button at the top right corner of the page, you will be redirected to the contact field creation page.

    The creation page is organized into four tabs: Details, Field Type, Rules, and Preview. You will move through each tab in order to configure the field before saving it.

Enter the field details

The first tab in the contact field creation form is Details. This tab captures the field's identity information.

  1. Select a Property Group from the dropdown to organize how this field appears on contact records. To create a new group, type its name in the search box and select Create.

  2. In the Property Label field, enter the name for this field. This is the label that appears to users in forms and contact records.

  3. Review the Internal Name field. This is automatically filled in based on the property label you entered, but can be edited before saving.

  4. In the Description field, enter a short explanation of information the field collects. The description appears as helper text below the field label to guide patients or staff when they fill in the field.

  5. Click Continue to move to the Field Type tab.

⚠️ The internal name cannot be changed after the field is saved. Choose a clear, descriptive identifier, such as primary_language or surgery_date, so the field is easy to identify in integrations and exports.

Choose a field type

The Field Type tab determines how information is entered and stored for this field.

  1. Select the type that best matches the kind of information this field will capture. To learn more about each available field type, see the Contact Fields Reference.

  2. Click Continue to proceed.

⚠️ A field's type cannot be changed after the field is saved. If you need a different type, you will need to create a new field.

Add options for choice-based fields

If you selected Dropdown Select, Multiple Checkbox, or Radio as the field type, an options table appears on this tab before you can continue. Each row in the table represents one selectable answer the patient can choose.

  1. Click + Add Option to add a new row to the options table.

  2. In the Label column, enter the text patients will see for this option (for example, "English").

  3. In the Value column, enter the stored identifier for this option (for example, "english"). The value is used in integrations and workflow conditions.

  4. Turn the Highlight toggle on if this option should be treated as an alarming answer. An alarming answer is displayed in red on the form submission view and can trigger an escalation path in a workflow when a patient selects it.

  5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 for each answer option you want to include.

  6. Click Continue once all options are added.

Set visibility and validation rules

The Rules tab shows visibility and validation options for the field. For most fields, you can leave everything on this tab as-is and click Continue.

✏️ We recommend leaving the Required and validation rules (character limits, no special characters) unset at this stage. These are better configured inside the form builder, where they apply only to that specific form. Setting them here applies them at the contact level, which can cause issues when saving a contact record outside of a form.

Click Continue to move to the Preview tab.

Preview and save the field

The Preview tab shows how the contact field will appear in a form before you save it.

  1. Review the field label, description, and answer options in the preview. Confirm that everything looks correct.

  2. If you need to make a change, click the tab that contains the setting you want to update, make your edits, and return to Preview to verify again.

  3. Click Save to create the contact field.

The field is now saved to and is available to add to any form.

Related articles

  • Contact fields reference: Browse all available contact field types, their descriptions, and examples to help you choose the right type for each piece of patient information you want to collect.

  • Build a Form: Learn how to add contact fields to a form, set conditional logic so fields appear based on patient answers, and configure the form for delivery to patients via SMS link.

  • View and Manage Form Submissions: See how to open submitted form responses, identify alarming answers highlighted in red, and follow up with patients whose responses require clinical attention.