Telehealth Use Soars

Use of the Department of Veterans Affairs telehealth video for appointments went up 1,000% between February and May. The VA attributes this massive increase to veterans guarding against getting or passing along the COVID-19 virus.

If you were one of the veterans who made use of the telehealth video for appointments instead of going in-person, good for you. And thank you.

For those who don't know, telehealth is a program that allows veterans to have a video appointment with VA care teams (both physical and mental health) right on a device from home.

Telehealth (known as VA Video Connect) is probably one of the best ideas that the VA has had. The program is so strong that it can handle over 25,000 appointments per day and is hitting other big milestones as well. Two million prescriptions have been refilled online in one month. Downloads at the VA's app store went up 259% in one month.

Additionally, over 26,000 tablets have been distributed to veterans who need a device to access their care, with the major wireless carriers providing access with no data charges to veterans who need telehealth.

If you're using telehealth and are incurring data charges, call your carrier and tell them you're a veteran who needs the service to access your medical team. You might be able to get those data charges dropped. If you need to know more about that, go online to mobile.va.gov/app/va-video-connect. The VA is working on restructuring the program so no veteran has data charges.

If you haven't used telehealth, go to that same link and scroll down. Read about which devices can be used — Apple iPads and iPhones, Windows, macOS and Android devices all will work.

Read the guide at the link and learn how to how to set up your device, connect for appointments and much more. For tech help, you can call 866- 6513180 Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. through 11 p.m. EST.