# Create patients
URL: https://docs.awellhealth.com/docs/run-care-flows/create-patients

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





Care flows only run for patients, so a patient record is a prerequisite.

* **Manual creation** through the Awell Care interface.
* **Integrated creation** through the Orchestration API, when another system should create patients.

## Create a patient manually [#create-a-patient-manually]

1. Go to the **Patient list** in Awell Care.
2. Click **Create patient** in the top right.
3. Fill in the mandatory fields: first name, last name, date of birth, sex, and email.
4. Click **Create patient** at the bottom.

<img alt="The Create patient form, with sections for identifiers and personal information" src="__img0" />

Identifiers sit above the personal details, so an external identifier can be attached as the patient is
created rather than added later.

Awell Care then opens the new patient's profile, ready to
[start a care flow](/docs/run-care-flows/start-a-care-flow).

Any Send email action in a care flow uses the email address, so a missing or wrong address means those
messages go nowhere.

## Create patients through the API [#create-patients-through-the-api]

Use the `createPatient` mutation in the Orchestration API. See
[Patients in the API reference](/api-reference/reference/patients).

This is the right route when patients originate in another system, such as an electronic medical record,
so nobody retypes them.

Anonymous patients are also possible, which suits an intake form filled in before the person's identity
is known.

## Next steps [#next-steps]

**Next:** [Start a care flow](/docs/run-care-flows/start-a-care-flow) for the new patient.