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OutSmart Guide

Expiries And Link Timing

Every Smart Form V2 link a patient receives has a time limit. The limit works on two clocks: a link-click clock that tracks how long the patient has to open the link, and a fill clock that tracks how long they have to finish once they’ve started. A grace window protects a patient who’s mid-session when the deadline passes, and a patient who’s racing the clock can grant themselves one extra day from the form itself. Staff can extend any assignment — pre or post expiry — from the Assignments tab.

The two clocks

ClockHow longStarts whenApplies to
Link-click clock60 daysThe moment you click Send on a direct-send assignmentDirect-send assignments only
Fill clock90 daysThe first time the patient opens the form (the first page load on their link)Both direct-send and guest assignments, once started

For a direct-send assignment, the link-click clock is active until the patient opens the form. The instant they open it, the link-click clock is replaced with a fresh 90-day fill clock starting at that moment.

For a public guest link, there’s no separate link-click clock — the public URL doesn’t expire from your side. Each patient’s individual assignment is created the instant they enter their name, email, and date of birth on the landing page and click Start. That moment is the “first open” and the 90-day fill clock starts there.

Once a patient is on the fill clock, the timing is identical for both paths: 90 days from first open to submit.

Why expiry exists

Two reasons:

  • Security. A patient’s link is essentially a private key to their record. If it lived forever, an old email forwarded by accident or a leaked phone could let someone fill the form as the patient long after the legitimate session.
  • Hygiene. In-progress forms that never get submitted clutter the assignment list. Time-limiting them lets old abandoned starts age out without you having to clean them up.

The two-clock design splits those concerns: the link-click clock contains the security concern of an unopened link, and the fill clock gives a patient who’s already started a working window to finish.

What the patient sees in their browser

While either clock is still live and there’s plenty of time remaining, the patient sees the form normally and can fill, save progress, and submit. The form header carries two lines:

  • Primary: Please complete this form before your visit.
  • Secondary (smaller, grey): This form will expire on [date] (N days from now) — please submit before then or before your visit, whichever comes first.

Deadline banner inside the last hour

When less than an hour remains on the patient’s active clock, a coloured banner appears at the top of the form. The banner updates itself every minute without the patient reloading the page.

Banner stateBackgroundWhat it saysSelf-extend link
Almost out of timeWarm orangeAbout N minutes left to submit”I need more time” — available if the patient hasn’t already used it
Past the deadlineLight redSubmission window has passed; the patient can still submit for the next N hours as long as they stay on the page”I need more time” — available if the patient hasn’t already used it
Time is upDeep redThe page is no longer accepting saves or submissions; contact the clinic for an extensionNot offered — see staff Extend below

The 48-hour grace window

Once a patient has opened the form for the first time, a 48-hour grace window runs past the calendar expiry date. During the grace, auto-save and submit keep working as long as the patient stays on the page. This protects a patient who’s mid-session when the deadline ticks past — they don’t lose hours of typed answers because the date rolled over.

The grace only applies once the form has been opened. A patient who never clicks the email link before the calendar deadline doesn’t get a grace — there’s no in-flight work to protect.

The patient’s one-time self-extend

Inside the deadline banner, the patient sees a “I need more time” link. Clicking it adds one extra day to their deadline, with no clinic call required. The note next to the link reads: “Adds 1 day. One-time use. Please still submit before your visit.”

This is a one-time action per assignment. Once they’ve used it, the banner replaces the link with: “You have already used your one-time extension. If you need more time, please contact your clinic. Please still submit before your visit.”

A staff Extend (see below) does not reset the patient’s one-time self-extend quota. The patient gets exactly one self-extend per assignment, ever — staff extensions are an additional tool for clinic-issued extensions on top of that.

Once the calendar expiry and the 48-hour grace have both passed, and the patient was not on the page when grace ran out, the link is hard-expired. Clicking it shows:

“This form link has expired. Please contact your clinic to request an extension if you’d like to continue. Any answers you had saved will still be there.”

At this point the patient cannot reload the form, see their saved answers, or self-extend. Reopening the form requires a staff Extend.

Giving a patient more time — the Extend action

Beside the bell (Send Reminder) icon on each in-progress assignment is the Extend icon. Extend gives the patient more time and works in two slightly different ways depending on whether the assignment is still live or already expired.

Assignment stateIcons visibleWhat you can do
Pending / In progress (still inside its clock)🔔 bell + 🔄 ExtendSend a reminder (same link, same clock) or push the current clock out so the patient has more time before it expires.
Expired🔄 Extend onlyThe bell is gone — a reminder for a dead link makes no sense. Extend issues a new link to replace the dead one.
Submitted / Revoked(no bell or Extend)Nothing to send or extend.

You can extend the same assignment as many times as you need to — there is no limit. Each extension is recorded in the assignment’s audit trail.

Pre-expiry Extend — same link, more time

Triggered when you click the Extend icon on an assignment that is still live.

  • The patient’s existing link keeps working — any bookmark or saved URL they have is unchanged.
  • Whichever clock the patient is on (link-click if they haven’t opened the form yet, fill if they have) gets reset to a fresh full window from now: another 60 days on the link-click clock, or another 90 days on the fill clock.
  • The patient gets an email with the subject “More time to finish your form for [Practitioner Name]: [Form Name]” so they know why they just received another email from you.

Use this when a patient tells you they need more time before they actually run out — for example, the patient calls to say they’ll be travelling for two months and want the form held for them.

Post-expiry Extend — new link, the dead one stays dead

Triggered when you click the Extend icon on an assignment that has already expired (including past the 48-hour grace).

  • A brand-new link is issued. The old expired URL stays dead — if it had leaked or been forwarded by accident, that copy stops working forever.
  • The patient is put back on the link-click phase: 60 days to open the new link.
  • The patient’s partial answers are preserved — when they open the new link, their auto-saved progress is right where they left it. They continue, not restart.
  • The patient gets an email with the subject “A new link for your form for [Practitioner Name]: [Form Name]”.

Use this when a patient missed the original deadline but you still want their answers — most expired assignments where the patient started filling have at least a few questions answered that you don’t want to throw away.

How to use Extend

From the Smart Forms > SmartForms 2.0 > Assignments tab, or from the patient’s workspace Smart Forms tab:

  1. Find the patient’s assignment.
  2. Click the Extend icon (🔄).
  3. The system handles the pre-expiry vs post-expiry decision automatically based on the assignment’s state. The email goes out and the audit log records the extension.

Reminder, patient self-extend, and staff Extend — when to use which

Three different actions for three different situations.

SituationWho actsUse
Patient hasn’t started, link is still live, you want to nudge themStaffBell icon — sends a reminder email with the same link; clock doesn’t change
Patient is mid-form, link is still live, you want to nudge themStaffBell icon — sends a reminder; saved progress is preserved
Patient is filling the form and sees they’re running out of timePatient”I need more time” link in the deadline banner — adds 1 day, one-time per assignment
Patient tells you they need more time before the link diesStaffPre-expiry Extend — pushes the clock out, same link
Patient ran out of time and used their self-extend; needs another extensionStaffPre-expiry Extend (if still live after the patient’s +1 day) or post-expiry Extend (if it ran out again)
Link expired, patient has no partial answers worth keepingStaffPost-expiry Extend — new link, 60 days to open, patient restarts cleanly
Link expired, patient already filled half the form before letting it expireStaffPost-expiry Extend — new link, partial answers preserved, patient continues

In all cases, the patient stays on the same assignment row in the Assignments tab — you don’t need to recreate the form or the patient record.

What happens to in-progress data when a form expires?

The patient’s saved progress is kept on the assignment row.

  • During the 48-hour grace (immediately after the calendar expiry date, only if the patient had opened the form): the patient can still open the form, see their saved answers, save more answers, and submit — all unchanged.
  • Once the grace runs out: the link is hard-expired. The patient can no longer open it, so their saved answers become invisible to them. The data itself isn’t deleted.
  • When you post-expiry Extend: those preserved partial answers come back into the patient’s view automatically when they open the new link. They continue from where they left off.