Update existing MS List items using the new MS Lists Forms?

Question

Can the new MS Lists Form be used to update EXISTING list items - in addition to adding new item rows?

Use case: I support emergency operations for 200 healthcare clinics. We have an MS List with all the clinics, addresses, leaders, contact info etc. When it snows, each clinic uses an OLD Microsoft Form to report weather impacts and recommend closures/late starts. Executives approve closures, then we move to an MS List to mark which clinics have altered hours. So we go back and forth between the MS Forms excel data sheet and an MS List. I would love to consolidate these into a single MS List where clinic managers can log their status and closure requests, where execs can review and approve in one place.

The list of clinics/items is discrete/static. We have 200 clinics so we don't want to be adding new/duplicate rows for the same clinic. In other words, we would like each row/item to represent a single clinic that can be updated by the form - not a new row for each submission. After a given weather event, we would go in and clear the requests & decisions data, ready for new entries at the next event.

Is that possible? Or is MS Lists Forms only built to add NEW rows/items to an existing list?

CURRENT - MS Form & info in Excel format:

Then we have to move to the MS List, find the clinics reported, and enter decision data:

MS List for tracking decisions - and where we would in FUTURE state to add closure requests/status updates via MS Lists Form entered by clinic managers for each discrete location (instead of using MS Forms).

Note, I am familiar with the ability to Power Automate form responses into MS Lists, however I am not advanced enough to get into a complex Flow for automating lookup of existing rows, finding the right columns to update from the form, including some questions which have Choice/array format answers. I was more hoping the inbuilt tool MS Lists Form tool could give external users the ability to directly select and update the list item that belongs to them.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Answer 1

Hi Andrew,

As per the detailed description, it seems like you have a very specific and important use case for managing your clinic operations during weather events. From my understanding, the key is to update the existing item in the list instead of creating new ones each time for the weather events.

In this situation, currently there has no build-in feature to automatically erase the existing items and replace with new ones after an event reset. And it is suggested to use Power Automate to create a flow that updates existing items in your list based on the form submissions. Here’s a general outline of how you can set this up:

1. Create a Power Automate Flow: Start by creating a new flow in Power Automate. You can set the trigger to be when a new response is submitted in your Microsoft Form.
2. Get Response Details: Use the "Get response details" action to retrieve the details of the form submission.
3. Search for Existing Items: Use the "Get items" action to search your Microsoft List for the existing item that matches the clinic information provided in the form submission.
4. Condition to Check for Existing Item: Add a condition to check if the item exists. If it does, use the "Update item" action to update the existing item with the new information from the form. If it does not exist, you can handle this case as needed (e.g., notify someone or log the issue).
5. Update the List Item: Use the "Update item" action to update the existing list item with the new data from the form submission.

By setting up this flow, you can ensure that each clinic's status and closure requests are updated in the same list item, avoiding the creation of duplicate rows. This approach allows you to consolidate your operations into a single MS List where clinic managers can log their status and closure requests, and executives can review and approve them all in one place.

I do understand there may have some detailed steps and actions required further support on building a more appropriate workflow based on your scenario, so I suggest post in the related Microsoft Power Platform Community - Power Automate Forum Thread for expert assistance. This is a specific channel related with Power Automate and you will get the most qualified pool of respondents, and other partners who read the forums regularly can share their knowledge and provided detailed guide on building your own flows in the most efficient way.

Please correct me if I made any misunderstanding or if there have anything else I can do for you.

Your patience is highly appreciated. Hope you a nice day and stay safe!

Best Regards,

Mia