# Record a patient's medical history and files

> In Velarya, a patient's medical record sits on their profile's Clinical tab: medical alerts with a severity of Info, Warning or Critical, and a medical history of allergies, medications and conditions. Alerts show at the top of the profile for everyone who opens it. The Files tab keeps signed consents, IDs and outside records.

- Source: https://velarya.com/help/record-medical-history-and-files
- Who can do this: Medical history and medical alerts: Clinical details (sex at birth, meds, allergies) at edit (Admins by default). Files: Client documents & photos at add (Admins and Location Managers)
- Plans: Scale, Branded, Connected
- Time: 3 minutes
- Last verified: 2026-10-01

## Before you begin

- The patient has a profile in Clients: Add a patient.

## Add a medical alert

A medical alert in Velarya is a short safety warning on a patient, such as a severe allergy or a blood thinner, graded **Info**, **Warning** or **Critical**. It shows at the top of the patient's profile for everyone who opens it.

1. Select **Clients** in the left sidebar and open the patient. Select the **Clinical** tab.
2. In the **Medical Record** card, select **Add alert** beside **Alerts & flags**. **Add medical alert** opens.
3. Type the warning in **Alert**, up to 500 characters.
4. Choose the **Severity**: **Info**, **Warning** or **Critical**. It starts on **Warning**.
5. Select **Add alert**. "Alert added" appears, and the alert joins **Alerts & flags** with your name and the date.

![Add medical alert dialog with a latex allergy warning in Alert and Severity set to Critical](https://velarya.com/assets/help/record-medical-history-and-files/medical-alert-dialog-9a905e24.webp)

To change an alert, select its pencil, edit it in **Edit medical alert** and select **Save**. To remove one, select its bin and confirm with **Delete**. The banner drops it at once.

## Record allergies, medications and conditions

A patient's medical history in Velarya is the **Medical history** section of the **Medical Record** card: allergies, medications, medical conditions, sex at birth, pregnancy, breastfeeding and a clinical background.

1. On the patient's **Clinical** tab, select **Edit** beside **Medical history**. **Edit medical record** opens.
2. Type the patient's **Allergies**, or tick **No known allergies**.
3. Fill in **Medications** and **Medical conditions**.
4. Choose **Sex at birth**: **Female**, **Male**, **Intersex** or **Unspecified**. Switch on **Pregnant** or **Breastfeeding** when either applies.
5. Add lasting context in **Clinical Background**, such as "keloid-prone, pre-numb 30 minutes".
6. Select **Save**. "Medical record saved" appears, and the section lists each field, with "None recorded" where one is blank.

![Edit medical record dialog with the patient's allergies, the No known allergies box, medications and medical conditions](https://velarya.com/assets/help/record-medical-history-and-files/edit-medical-record-ac09d6b5.webp)

Forms and charts keep the history current. When a patient submits a form with a connected question, or you complete a chart with one, the answer replaces that field, and a chart you start fills its connected questions from the history. [Send intake and consent forms](https://velarya.com/help/send-intake-and-consent-forms) covers the forms patients fill.

## Upload a file to the patient's record

The **Files** tab in Velarya keeps documents about a patient: a signed paper consent, a copy of their ID, records from another provider.

1. Open the patient's profile and select the **Files** tab.
2. Select **Upload**. **Upload file** opens.
3. Drop the file on the box, or select the box to choose it: a PDF or a JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC image, up to 5 MB.
4. Type a **Label**, such as "Signed consent form". Left blank, the file keeps its own name.
5. Choose the **Category**: **Consent**, **ID**, **External record** or **Other**. It starts on **Other**.
6. Select **Upload**. "File uploaded" appears, and the file joins the list.

![Upload file dialog with the drop box for PDFs and images up to 5MB, a Label and Category set to Consent](https://velarya.com/assets/help/record-medical-history-and-files/files-upload-dialog-acbd1edd.webp)

The list shows each file's **Name**, **Category**, **Uploaded by**, **Date** and **Size**, and the tabs above it filter by category. Open a row's menu to **Download** or **Delete** a file, or tick several rows to do either at once. Documents attached to a History comment or a visit note are saved here too.

## Where do medical alerts show?

Medical alerts in Velarya show on the patient's profile, on each of their sales and on their **Clinical** tab.

- On the patient's profile, in the **Alerts** banner at the top, for everyone who can open the profile, Front Desk included. Each alert carries its severity badge, and the banner turns red when any alert is **Critical**.
- On the patient's sales in **Transactions**, above the stats, under "Medical alert" ("Medical alerts" when there are several), for staff who can open the sale and hold **Clinical details (sex at birth, meds, allergies)** at **view**. Visits are charted from the sale, as [Chart a visit](https://velarya.com/help/chart-a-visit) shows.
- Under **Alerts & flags** on the **Clinical** tab, newest first, with who added each alert and when.

![Alerts banner at the top of a patient's profile with a Critical lidocaine allergy warning](https://velarya.com/assets/help/record-medical-history-and-files/profile-alerts-banner-0f9b6e1d.webp)

The same banner carries the patient's scheduling alert, with a **Scheduling** badge. That one is for front desk instructions, as [Add notes, tags and alerts to a patient](https://velarya.com/help/add-notes-tags-and-alerts) explains.

## How does the medical record behave?

Velarya keeps the medical history, alerts and files in the patient's clinical record: each sits behind its own permission, the medical history's text fields and every stored file are encrypted, and every access is logged.

| Situation | What Velarya does |
|---|---|
| Medical history text | **Allergies**, **Medications** and **Medical conditions** hold up to 5,000 characters each, and **Clinical Background** up to 10,000. All four are stored encrypted. |
| A form or chart answers a connected question | The answer replaces that field in the medical history. A blank answer changes nothing. |
| A medical alert is deleted | It leaves the banner and **Alerts & flags**. Velarya keeps the deleted alert in the record, with who deleted it. |
| A file is uploaded | Velarya checks that its contents match its type, stores it encrypted and opens it through a private link that expires after five minutes. |
| A file is deleted | It leaves the list. Velarya keeps the stored copy for the record retention period. |
| Someone views, changes or downloads any of it | It appears in the patient's **Access history**, with who and when. |
| Two profiles of the same patient are merged | The duplicate's medical alerts and files move to the profile you keep, and its medical history is combined with the kept profile's, as [Merge duplicate patients](https://velarya.com/help/merge-duplicate-patients) explains. |
| A patient is deleted | Their medical history, alerts and files are erased with the profile. Archiving the patient keeps them. |

| Permission | View | Change |
|---|---|---|
| **Clinical details (sex at birth, meds, allergies)** | Admins, Location Managers, Service Providers | **edit**: Admins |
| **Client documents & photos** | All four built-in roles | **add**: Admins, Location Managers. **remove**: Admins |

An Admin can build a custom role that holds **edit**, such as one for a medical director, in **Organization settings** > **Roles & Permissions**. [How patient privacy works](https://velarya.com/help/how-patient-privacy-works) explains each permission.

## If something goes wrong

**The profile has no Clinical tab.** Your role does not hold **Clinical details (sex at birth, meds, allergies)** at **view**, which Front Desk does not hold by default. Ask an Admin if your work needs it.

**Add alert and Edit are missing on the Clinical tab.** Your role holds **Clinical details** at **view**, which reads the record but does not change it. Only Admins hold **edit** by default.

**The profile has no Files tab, or Files has no Upload button.** **Files** needs **Client documents & photos** at **view**, and **Upload** needs **add**. Admins and Location Managers hold **add** by default.

**"… exceeds the 5MB limit".** The file is larger than 5 MB. Save a smaller copy, such as a PDF scanned at a lower resolution, and upload that.

**"… is not a supported file type" or "File content does not match its type".** The file is not a PDF or a JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC image, or its name claims one type while its contents are another. Save or export it again as a PDF and upload that.

**Delete is missing from a file's menu.** Deleting files needs **Client documents & photos** at **remove**, which Admins hold by default.

**"File is attached to a clinical note and cannot be removed".** The file is part of a visit note, so it stays with that note in the record.

**"Couldn't open the file".** The download link could not be created. Select **Download** again; each select makes a fresh link.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who can see a patient's medical alerts?

Everyone who can open the patient's profile, including the Front Desk, sees each medical alert's text and severity in the Alerts banner at the top of the profile. That is on purpose, so a safety warning reaches everyone who opens the patient's profile, whatever their role. The Clinical tab, the medical history and who added each alert need Clinical details (sex at birth, meds, allergies) at view.

### What files can I upload to a patient's record?

PDF documents and JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC images, up to 5 MB each. Give each file a label and a category, Consent, ID, External record or Other, so the category tabs on Files find it later. Velarya checks that each file's contents match its type, stores it encrypted and opens it through a private link that expires after five minutes.

### Do intake forms fill in the medical history?

Yes, when a question is connected to the medical history. A connected answer for allergies, medications, medical conditions or sex at birth replaces that field when the patient submits the form, or when you complete a chart that asks it. A blank answer leaves the field as it was, and an allergy recorded this way clears No known allergies.

### Can patients see their medical history or files?

No. The medical history, medical alerts and files are for your team only, and they stay out of the patient app. Patients add to their own history by answering your intake forms, which reach them by email or text. Each submitted form appears on the Charts card of the patient's Clinical tab, and its connected answers update the medical history.

### How is a medical alert different from a scheduling alert?

A medical alert is a clinical safety warning, such as an allergy or a blood thinner, with a severity, and adding one takes Clinical details at edit. A scheduling alert is one front desk instruction, such as parking or timing, confirmed before the patient is marked arrived. Both show in the Alerts banner on the profile, the scheduling alert with a Scheduling badge.

### What happens to the medical record if a patient is deleted?

It's erased with the profile. Deleting a patient removes their medical alerts, medical history, files, charts, signed consent forms, visit notes and photos, and the Permanently Delete Client? dialog lists each one before an Admin confirms. To keep the medical record, archive the patient instead, as Update, archive or delete a patient explains.