Understanding Copied Fields in Healthie

Healthie’s Copied Fields allow you to carry responses from one form into another — saving time and reducing the need for repeated data entry. Unlike Smart Fields, which sync directly with a client’s profile, Copied Fields work by pulling the latest response to a specific question — no matter which form it originally appeared in.

Walk through the article below, or watch our quick tutorial here.

What are Copied Fields?

Copied Fields are a feature in Healthie's Form Builder that allows you to reuse responses to specific questions across intake forms, charting notes, or programs. This is especially useful when a question appears in multiple forms and you want to auto-fill the latest response.

Note: Copied Fields are not meant to simply duplicate a question for building purposes. Doing so incorrectly can break functionality.

How Copied Fields Work

Copied Fields pull data from the latest form — intake, charting, or program — that includes that same question.
You can copy fields across forms (e.g., pull an answer from Intake Form A into Charting Form B).
Prefill and Copied Fields can be used together — but they behave differently.

Copied Fields vs. Prefill vs. Smart Fields

Feature	Description	Works Across Forms?	Pulls from Client Profile?
Copied Fields	Pulls specific question responses from the most recently completed form (of any type).	✅ Yes	❌ No
Pre-fill	Pulls entire charting note responses from last chart (same template). Learn More.	❌ No	❌ No
Smart Fields	Auto-populates from client profile (e.g., name, DOB, gender, medications). Learn More.	❌ No	✅ Yes

How to Use Copy Fields in Your Forms

Providers often use Copied Fields to pull specific information that a patient entered in their intake form directly into their charting notes.

For example, if you want the answer to the question “What is your chief complaint?” from the patient’s intake form to automatically appear in your charting note, simply copy that question from the intake form template and include it in your charting note template.

When the note opens, the patient’s most recent answer will pre-fill into your charting note—saving you time and eliminating the need to toggle between tabs.

Best Practices for Using Copied Fields

Use Copied Fields for non-profile related questions you want to reuse across forms.
Do not copy Smart Fields (found under Question Bank > Client Info) — these already sync with the client profile.
Never copy the same question more than once — duplicating copied fields can break functionality.
Don’t change the field label. Even if you rename the field, the data will still pull from the original label it was copied from — which can lead to confusion for you or your client when filling out the form.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What happens if I enable pre-fill on a charting note that also includes Copied Fields?

It depends on the client’s form history:

If no previous charting note exists, it will pull from the intake form (if that’s the last place the copied field was used).
If a previous charting note exists, pre-fill will override the copied field and pull from the last charting note using the same template.

What happens if I delete a Copied Field from a form?

The copied behavior will continue unless the original question is also deleted. To fully remove the copy logic:

Delete the copied field.
Delete the original question.
Recreate the question fresh (without copying).

If a field is copied into multiple forms (Form A, B, C), where does the data pull from?

The most recently completed form (of any type) containing that field. If Form B was completed after Form A, Form C will pull the answer from Form B.

Do Copied Fields pull into another Healthie provider’s question bank if shared?

No. If you share a form with another practice, they will not see the copy field in their copy field question bank.