Starting a check from photos
3 min read · Updated November 12, 2026
The fastest way to add a new patient is to let us read their cards. Drop a photo of the patient's photo ID and their insurance card, and we fill in the form: name, date of birth and address from the ID; carrier, member ID and group number from the card. Typed details are where most wrong answers come from, so photos save you a re-check.
Add a patient from photos
- On the Verification page, click New verification. Under New patient, click Upload photos.
- Add the photos. Drop them in their places, click a place to choose a file, or take
them with a camera:
- Front of the ID: the driver's license or other photo ID.
- Insurance card · front and Insurance card · back.
- Second card · front and back, if the patient has a second plan. These are optional.
- Check the details. As each photo is read, the form fills in. Fix anything we read wrong, and type in any empty box. Click a photo to see it large.
- Check the carrier. When the card names its company, we pick it for you: "Picked from the card: ‹company›. Check it is the right company." When the card only shows a brand that many companies share, pick the exact company from the list.
- Click Save and verify. We add the patient, save the photos and the card, and run the check.
Nothing is checked or saved until you click Save and verify. If the patient is already on your list, we recognize them as soon as the ID is read: the window links to their record and saves the photos onto it, so you never get two records for one patient.
Taking the photos with a camera
- Use your phone: click Phone camera. A code shows on the screen. Open the camera on your phone, point it at the code, and tap the link that pops up. Each photo you take shows up in the window and fills in the form.
- This computer's camera: click Computer camera and hold each card up to it.
A photo taken sideways or upside down is turned the right way up before it is shown or saved.
What we read, and what we keep
- From the ID: the name, date of birth and address. The ID number is never read out or stored. We keep the photo of the ID on the patient, under Cards on file.
- From the insurance card: the carrier, member ID, group number, plan, and whose name is on the card.
- When the card names someone other than the patient, the form asks how the patient is related to them. See Patients on someone else's plan.
- Reading a photo is on us. It is never billed to your office.
The same colors as the typed form apply: red boxes are needed for the check, yellow boxes say Helpful. See Running a check for one patient.
Frequently asked questions
Which files work? Photos and scans saved as JPG or PNG. A PDF doesn't work here, and neither does an iPhone HEIC photo in some browsers: save it as a JPG, or take a screenshot of it, and drop that.
The window says it could not read a photo. Drop a clearer photo, or type the details in. The photo can still be saved.
The card changed after the patient was added. Use Change card under Cards on file on the patient's page. See Cards on file.
