# Enrich your care flow with baseline data
URL: https://docs.awellhealth.com/docs/design-care-flows/enrich-your-care-flow-with-baseline-data

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.awellhealth.com/llms.txt).





**Baseline data points**, sometimes called baseline information, carry data from another system into a
care flow: a surgery date, a surgeon, an insurance provider, or anything else the flow needs but doesn't
collect itself.

Once inside, they behave like any other data point, so logic can read them.

## Create a baseline data point [#create-a-baseline-data-point]

1. Go to the **Settings** tab.
2. Select **General** in the left menu.
3. In the **Baseline data points** section at the bottom, click **Create**.
4. Provide the **key** and the **value type**. For a String, the possible inputs can be defined as
   label and value pairs.
5. Under **Optional**, decide whether the data point is mandatory when the care flow starts, or can
   arrive later while the flow is already running.

<img alt="A care flow's general settings, with the baseline data points it expects when a patient is enrolled" src="__img0" />

## An optional data point read by logic halts the flow [#an-optional-data-point-read-by-logic-halts-the-flow]

> Where logic in a care flow reads an optional data point, the flow halts if that value is missing. It
> doesn't fail or warn: it reaches the logic, finds nothing to evaluate, and stops.

Pair optional baseline data used in logic with **when value is known** and **when value is unknown**
conditions, so both cases have a defined path. A missing value then follows that path, usually to a step
that asks the other system for it, instead of stopping the patient's flow.

## Next steps [#next-steps]

**Next:** [Publish and set your care flow live](/docs/design-care-flows/publish-set-your-care-flow-live).