How to build a matrix-scored clinical assessment tool for therapists in Formaloo

A client-facing clinical assessment that clients fill out from their own portal login before a session or check-in. Each item uses a four-point frequency scale, and advanced logic adds up the points behind the scenes into one total score and a severity band the moment the client submits. Your clinical team gets an automatic notification with the score, a generated PDF summary for the client's file, and a portal where each therapist only sees their own assigned clients.

Note: This workflow handles protected health information. Formaloo is HIPAA-ready with a HIPAA BAA available, and supports GDPR compliance alongside role-based access, so you can restrict every page and field in this portal to the right team members.

Start with the form itself. This is where clients answer a short set of frequency-scale questions about their wellbeing over the past two weeks, plus a few intake details and a consent question. The fastest way to build it is with Magic Create: describe the form in plain text and Formaloo generates the fields for you.

1. Open Magic Create: From your Formaloo homepage, click Magic Create.

2. Describe your form: Paste a prompt describing the intake fields you need: client name, date of birth, email, reason for assessment (dropdown), 8 frequency-scale items (each a single-choice field with the options "Not at all," "Several days," "More than half the days," and "Nearly every day"), a consent yes/no question, and a long text field for additional notes. In the same prompt, describe the admin-only fields: a status dropdown, an assignee field, and an internal notes long text field. Click Create.

3. Verify your fields: Your form should look like the table below. Magic Create will have generated most of it. Verify each field and field ID matches exactly, since logic, emails, and the PDF template all reference these IDs later.

4. Replace the example items with your own instrument: The 8 items above are placeholders. Swap in your practice's own validated assessment questions. Formaloo handles the scoring mechanics; the clinical content is yours to define.

This is the part the whole workflow depends on: turning each answer into points and adding them up into a single total, without anyone doing math by hand. Formaloo's advanced logic can do this on any single-choice or dropdown field, which is why this guide uses individual frequency-scale fields instead of one combined matrix field. More on that trade-off after the steps.

1. Add your scoring variables: In the form editor, add an Integer variable field named Total assessment score with the field ID total_score, and set its default value to 0. Add a Text variable field named Score band with the field ID score_band.

2. Open advanced logic: In the form settings panel on the right side of the form editor, click Advanced logic, then open the Logic tab.

3. Generate the scoring rules with Magic Logic: Click Magic Logic in the top right corner. Describe the scoring in plain text: "For each of the 8 assessment items (mood, interest, sleep, energy, appetite, concentration, anxiety, social), if the answer is 'Not at all,' add 0 points to the total_score variable. If 'Several days,' add 1 point. If 'More than half the days,' add 2 points. If 'Nearly every day,' add 3 points." Click Generate rules and review the preview.

4. Add the score band rule: In the same Magic Logic prompt, add: "If total_score is between 0 and 6, set score_band to 'Minimal.' If between 7 and 12, set it to 'Mild.' If between 13 and 18, set it to 'Moderate.' If between 19 and 24, set it to 'Elevated.'" Approve the rules, make any manual adjustments, and click Save.

5. Gate the assessment behind consent: Add one more rule: if the consent question is answered "No," hide all 8 assessment items and show a message asking the client to contact their therapist directly. Assessment items stay required only while consent is "Yes."

Note: Setting the Total assessment score variable's default value to 0 keeps the total accurate even if a client leaves an item unanswered.

Three emails run this workflow: a confirmation to the client, a notification to the clinical team, and a follow-up once the assessment has been reviewed.

1. Open the email templates panel: Click your profile icon, go to Apps & integrations, then Email templates, and click + Add new template.

2. Build the "Assessment received" template: Name it, then set the subject and body below. This one only confirms receipt, it never mentions scores or results.

Subject: We've received your assessment, @client_name

Body: Hi @client_name,

Thanks for taking a few minutes to complete your assessment. Your therapist will review your responses before your next session.

If anything urgent comes up before then, please reach out to your therapist directly.

Talk soon, [Practice name]

3. Build the "New assessment for review" template: Name it, then set the subject and body below. This one is internal, so it includes the score and band using answer piping.

Subject: New assessment submitted by @client_name

Body: Hi team,

@client_name just submitted a new assessment (reason: @assessment_reason).

Total score: @total_score / 24 Score band: @score_band

Review the full submission and clinical summary PDF in the portal before the client's next session.

4. Build the "Assessment reviewed" template: Name it, then set the subject and body below. Keep it warm and free of any score or clinical detail, since this one goes straight to the client.

Subject: Your therapist has reviewed your assessment

Body: Hi @client_name,

Your therapist has reviewed your recent assessment and looks forward to discussing it with you at your next session.

See you soon, [Practice name]

With the templates built, wire them to the right moments in the workflow.

https://app.arcade.software/share/D9BMECRNk7ww5bquNuc6

1. Trigger the client confirmation: In advanced logic, open On submit, add a rule, and set it to send the "Assessment received" template to @client_email.

2. Trigger the team notification: Add another On submit rule that sends the "New assessment for review" template to the assigned team member.

3. Trigger the conditional review email: Switch to On update. Add a rule: if Status is changed to "Reviewed" or "Discussed in session," send the "Assessment reviewed" template to @client_email.

4. Generate a PDF on every submission: Still in On submit, add a Generate PDF rule using the clinical summary PDF template from Part 5 so a document lands on every submission automatically.

Every submission generates a clean, print-ready summary for the client's file: intake details, each item's response, the total score, score band, risk flag, and a sign-off line for the reviewing therapist.

1. Open the PDF template panel: Click your profile icon, go to Apps & integrations, then PDF templates, and click + Add new template.

2. Switch to HTML view: Toggle the editor to the HTML view so you can paste custom code directly.

3. Paste the template code: Use the HTML below. It already references the field IDs from Part 1, so it works as soon as you paste it in.

4. Name and save: Name the template "Clinical assessment summary" and click Save.

The last piece is a portal: one place where clients submit assessments and track their own history, and where your clinical team reviews submissions without digging through a shared inbox.

1. Activate the portal: Open your project, click the gear icon in the top-right corner, and select Activate client portal.

2. Set up the user directory: Click Manage users, then Setup wizard, and create a new user directory for clients. Configure login options and add your practice's branding.

3. Restrict clients to their own history: On the "My assessments" page, restrict data by the client_email profile field so each client only ever sees their own past submissions, never anyone else's.

4. Restrict therapists to their own caseload: On the "My assigned clients" and similar pages, restrict data by the Assignee field so each therapist only sees the clients assigned to them.

https://app.arcade.software/share/qGLc214BtB3zzF1uqiDL

5. Set up roles: In the user directory, add Client and Therapist/admin roles so each group lands on the right set of pages after logging in.

A client-facing clinical assessment that scores itself the moment someone submits it. No paper scoresheets, no manual tallying, and no two clinicians scoring the same instrument differently. Every submission produces a total score, a severity band, and a print-ready clinical summary PDF, automatically. Your clinical team gets notified immediately and only sees the clients assigned to them, and clients can track their own assessment history from a portal that carries your practice's branding.

Don't build this from scratch — we've already put it together for you.