Feature
Informed consent with a legally auditable e-signature
Send a versioned consent form before the visit. The patient signs it on their own phone, with no account and no app. What you keep afterwards is not a tick in a box: it is the exact text they read, the timestamp, the IP address, the browser, the language and the signature — archived as a signed PDF that names both parties.
What is stored with every signature
A consent record is only as good as the evidence around it. Storing a reference to a template is the mistake this design exists to avoid: two years and three edits later, nothing would say which text the patient agreed to. So the text itself is copied in.
The exact text
The full wording is copied into the record at signing time, not referenced. Edit the template afterwards and the signed record does not move.
The template version
Which version of which consent family was shown, so two records from different years remain distinguishable.
Both parties, as named at the time
The patient and the practice name as the patient saw it. A practice that renames itself later cannot rewrite what an earlier patient agreed to.
Timestamp
The moment the signature was given, in UTC.
IP address and browser
Where the signature came from and what device it was made on.
Language and method
Which language the text was read in, and whether the patient typed their name or drew a signature.
The legal basis: eIDAS art. 25
Within the EU, eIDAS art. 25 is explicit that an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence solely because it is electronic. Informed consent is the textbook case for a simple electronic signature — a qualified signature (QES) is not required for it. The legal weight comes from what surrounds the signature, which is why the audit trail above is the substance of the feature rather than a detail of it.
Which procedures require written consent, and how long records must be kept, is set by your own national and professional rules. Vitena does not decide that for you; it gives you a record that holds up when you are asked to produce one.
How it works
Write the consent once, version it forever
Build a template per procedure, in each language you work in. Editing it creates a new version; records already signed are untouched.
Attach it to a service
Link a consent to a treatment in your service catalogue and it goes out by itself whenever that treatment is booked. No one has to remember.
The patient signs before they arrive
A one-time link opens a single screen: the text, and a decision bar that stays in view while they scroll. The approve button stays closed until they have reached the end — the load-bearing word in "informed consent" is the first one. Declining is a real answer, with a button of its own.
Or on a tablet at the desk
Walk-ins and last-minute changes sign in the clinic. Where your rules or your insurer want a handwritten mark, the template can require a drawn signature instead of a typed name.
The signed PDF is archived
It names both parties, carries the frozen text and the evidence trail, and sits in the patient's file and in their portal. Withdrawal is recorded as a new entry pointing back at the one it revokes — the original is never edited.
Who uses it
Dentistry
Extractions, implants, root canals, orthodontics and anaesthesia — the treatments where a signed form before the chair is not optional. Attach the consent to the treatment in your price list and it is sent with the booking.
Vitena for dentistsBeauty and aesthetics
Injectables, laser, peels and permanent make-up, where the record of what was explained beforehand is the practitioner's protection as much as the client's.
Vitena for beauty professionalsPhysiotherapy
Manual therapy, dry needling and treatment involving physical contact, plus the standing data-processing consent every practice needs.
Vitena for physiotherapistsPsychology and counselling
The therapeutic contract, the limits of confidentiality, recording, and guardian consent for a minor — captured once and kept as signed.
Vitena for psychologistsWhat this is not
- It is a simple electronic signature under eIDAS, not a qualified one (QES). If your jurisdiction demands a QES for a specific document, this is not that.
- It is not legal advice, and Vitena does not supply the consent wording for you. The templates are yours to write, in your words and to your professional body's requirements.
- It is not notarisation, and there is no third-party timestamping authority in the chain. The timestamp is Vitena's own record.
Frequently asked questions
Is an electronic signature legally valid for informed consent?
In the EU, eIDAS art. 25 is explicit that a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. Informed consent is the textbook case for a simple electronic signature; a qualified signature is not required. What carries the legal weight is the evidence around the signature — the frozen text, the timestamp, the IP address, the browser, the language and the method — and Vitena records all of it. Your own national rules on which procedures need written consent still apply.
Does the patient need an account or an app?
No. The signature screen opens from a one-time link with no account and no password, on the patient's own phone. In the clinic you can also hand them a tablet.
What happens if we change the consent text later?
Nothing happens to records already signed. The full text is copied into each record at signing time, so an edit creates a new version for future signatures and leaves every existing one exactly as it was agreed.
Can a patient withdraw consent?
Yes, and the original is never altered. A withdrawal is recorded as a new entry pointing back at the one it revokes, so the history shows both what was agreed and when it was withdrawn.
Which plan includes informed consent?
Consent is part of the clinical workspace that paid plans unlock, and paid plans can be trialled for 30 days without a card. Vitena's permanent free plan covers the front office — directory listing, online booking, client records and the client portal.
Stop chasing paper forms
Consent is included in the clinical workspace, alongside session notes, clinical forms with automatic scoring and branded reports. Try the whole thing for 30 days without a card.