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How to Set Up Annual Physical Exam Requests with Automated Compliance Alerts
Managing student physical exams can be challenging—especially when physicals are only valid for one calendar year and requests need to go out continuously throughout the school year. Instead of manually tracking expiration dates and repeatedly following up with families, August allows you to automate this entire process.
By combining student groups, standing form requests, requirement sets, and automated alerts, you can:
Send one ongoing physical exam request
Automatically track which students are compliant or non-compliant
Notify families only when a physical is expired or about to expire
Reduce manual work while ensuring compliance year-round
This article walks you step by step through setting up an annual physical exam workflow that runs in the background for you.
Overview of the Process
You will:
Create a student group
Send a standing physical exam form request to that group
Create a requirement set to track valid physicals
Set up automated alerts for non-compliant students
Review submitted physical exams
The video below walks through each step of this process, start to finish!
Step 1: Create a Student Group
Start by creating a group of students who will receive the physical exam request.
Navigate to Students → Roster
(Optional) Use column filters to narrow by:
Grade level
Graduation year
If you request physicals from all students, do not apply any filters
Click Create student group
Name the group clearly (for example, All Students – Physical Exams)
Save the group
💡 Tip: Student groups automatically update as students are added or removed, making them ideal for standing requests. For more details on creating and managing groups, see the Student Group Help Center article here.
Step 2: Send a Standing Physical Exam Form Request
Next, send a form request that will live in the parent portal and be reused throughout the year.
Navigate to Forms & Templates
Locate your Annual Physical Exam template
Use the filter funnel to search, or
Click New Template to create one
(Optional) Edit the form content if needed
Set Visibility to Nurse, so all nurses can review submissions
In the Subjects field, select the student group you just created
Refresh Settings (Important)
Refresh Nightly
✅ Recommended if setting this up at the beginning of the school year
❌ Not recommended if you are enrolling new students later and don’t want families notified before enrollment is complete
Stop Refresh Date
Use this if you know when new enrollments end (for example, February)
Step 3: Configure Request Details (Best Practices)
Review the Request Title
This is what parents will see in the portal
Customize the Description
Appears in a blue box and provides instructions to families
Do not set a due date
Physicals expire at different times for different students
Do not enable alerts on the form request
Alerts will be handled by the requirement set instead
Submit the request to the group. It may take a few minutes to generate.
Step 4: Create a Requirement Set for Annual Physicals
Requirement sets allow August to evaluate whether students are compliant based on document status.
Navigate to Requirements
Click New Requirement Set
Name it (for example, Annual Physicals)
Select the applicable school sections (Elementary, Middle, High, etc.)
Set Visibility to All Nurses
Click Confirm
Step 5: Add and Configure the Physical Exam Requirement
Open the requirement set
Click New Requirement
Select the Annual Physical form or document type
Expand the requirement rule to edit it:
Confirm the correct tag name is selected
Update Status to Expiration Status
This allows the system to calculate whether physicals are active, expired, or expiring soon
Save changes
Understanding Compliance Lists
Compliant: Students with current, active physicals
Non-Compliant: Students whose physicals are:
Expired
Inactive
Expiring within the next month
Step 6: Create Automated Alerts for Non-Compliant Students
Now you’ll notify families only when action is needed.
Open the Alerts tab in the requirement set
Click Create Alert
Enter an alert title (for example, Annual Physical Exam Required)
Set the Triggering Event:
All requirements become non-compliant
Select Guardians of the student as recipients
Enable Initial Message to send an alert immediately
Customize the message title and description
Instruct parents to log in to the portal and complete the form request
Step 7: Set Up Reminder Alerts (Recommended)
To follow up automatically with families who haven’t responded:
Check Send reminders
Choose Recurring Schedule
Click the + icon to add a reminder
Copy your original message and add “Reminder” to the title
Select:
Day of the week (for example, Wednesday)
Frequency (weekly is recommended)
Leave start and end dates blank if you want reminders to run continuously
Click Create
You can edit reminder content anytime using the pencil icon.
Step 8: Parent Experience & Reviewing Submissions
What Parents Do
Receive an alert
Log in to the August Portal
Navigate to Requests
Open the Annual Physical Exam request
Upload the completed physical exam
Click Submit
How Staff Review Submissions
Go to Forms & Requests
Locate the physical exam request
Use filters if multiple requests are active
Review and process submitted documents
Need Help?
If you have questions or would like assistance setting this up, reach out to the August Support Team using the question mark icon in the upper-right corner of the platform.