How VA Telehealth Works: Virtual Care for Veterans Explained

Leah breaks down exactly how VA telehealth services work and why they’re a game changer for veterans. She explains how virtual care makes it easier for vets to connect with providers, access appointments, manage chronic conditions, and get mental health support, no matter where they live. Leah shares real examples of using secure video visits, messaging through My HealtheVet, and remote monitoring devices, emphasizing the huge increase in telehealth use since the pandemic and how the VA now leads in virtual care. She highlights benefits like convenience, faster access to care, and privacy, while also addressing common questions about eligibility and getting started. 


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Welcome to The Veterans Disability Nexus, where we provide unique insights and expertise on medical evidence related to VA-rated disabilities. Leah Bucholz, a US Army Veteran, Physician Assistant, & former Compensation & Pension Examiner shares her knowledge related to Independent Medical Opinions often referred to as “Nexus Letters” in support of your pursuit of VA Disability every Tuesday & Wednesday at 7AM Central.

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Leah Bucholz: 00:02

Hey, It's Leah B from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I'm a US Army veteran physician assistant and former compensation and pension examiner. So today I wanna come on and discuss telehealth at the VA. It's a service that I personally use and that many veterans use. And I just wanted to shine a light and kind of some awareness on those services and how veterans access them.

Leah Bucholz: 00:24

So telehealth and the VA. So how can virtual care change veterans healthcare and how has it changed veterans healthcare? So I don't know that I typically used a lot of telehealth before the pandemic, but I definitely has changed the landscape of how I utilize healthcare and how, like I said, many of you guys use utilize healthcare. So whether you're in a rural area, you're juggling work and appointments, or you just prefer the convenience of using telehealth, VA telehealth services are helping veterans connect with their providers, healthcare professionals, psychologists, whoever in ways that were once unimaginable. So telehealth usage has surged in recent years according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Leah Bucholz: 01:11

Telehealth visits increased by 63 fold during the pandemic. And today over one in four Americans use telehealth or some form of telemedicine. So the VA alone conducted over 5,600,000 telehealth appointments in a single year making it one of the largest providers of virtual care in the country. So what is telehealth? How can you use it through the VA?

Leah Bucholz: 01:34

And so we're gonna break some of that down today. I'm gonna show you some resources. So again, what is VA telehealth? So telehealth means using technology to deliver healthcare services remotely. So for veterans this can include phone calls, video chat, secure messaging through My HealtheVet portal.

Leah Bucholz: 01:52

I do that all the time and even remote monitoring for chronic conditions. So VA has developed one of the largest and most advanced telehealth systems in the country. Again, so services range from mental health, primary care, specialty consults, rehab, all from the comfort of your own home, or a nearby VA clinic, like if you're at a smaller clinic, reaching out to a larger clinic with more resources. So how does that work? So there's several ways, to use telehealth with the VA.

Leah Bucholz: 02:24

So VA Video Connect, I have utilized that myself. So you can meet with your provider via secure video on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. So My HealtheVet, you can use this portal. I use it all the time to send secure messages, request refills, ask for appointments, review test results, remote patient monitoring. So devices like blood pressure cuffs or glucose monitoring devices send data directly from your care about your care to your team, your CPAP also.

Leah Bucholz: 02:53

Atlas sites, these are designated locations like VFW halls or community centers equipped with telehealth tools. Perfect if you don't have high speed internet at home, okay? So what are some of those benefits of VA telehealth? So telehealth isn't just convenient, it's life changing. Again, like you just have the access to care at your fingertips.

Leah Bucholz: 03:15

So for accessibility, especially for rural veterans or those with limited mobility, you have timeliness so you can get care sooner without waiting weeks for in person visits, especially if you're using that secure messaging. So you can maintain routine check ins, mental health therapy, chronic condition management. Just drop your provider a note. Right? So many veterans say they feel more com more at comfort or at ease discussing set sensitive issues like PTSD, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, erectile dysfunction, whatever.

Leah Bucholz: 03:46

So who can use it and how to enroll? So most enrolled VA patients can use telehealth services, but availability may be based on your location and needs. So to get started, most veterans need to have a VA HealtheVet premium account you can look that up on myhealthyvet.va.gov. You can talk to your VA care team about scheduling a video visit. You can download the VA Video Connect app from your device's app store.

Leah Bucholz: 04:16

And if you're not tech savvy, the VA provides tech support to help you get through this. So I'm gonna jump really quick over to va.gov to kinda show you some of the resources. Let's see here. Hang on one second. All right.

Leah Bucholz: 04:36

So what is telehealth? This is va.gov. Hang on one second. So we have nationwide access. It says VA's telehealth technologies provide mobility and enhanced access to care.

Leah Bucholz: 04:51

Those real time interactive video visits we talked about, in home mobile health remote monitoring, devices that gather and store data. Okay. So it says here in 2021, over two million veterans received care through VA health. Any veteran who qualifies to receive VA healthcare and lives in one of the 50 US states or US territory is eligible. And then this is again, this is telehealth.va.gov.

Leah Bucholz: 05:20

So you can see tons of stuff. So what is telehealth? We just went over that. There's types. So there's home telehealth.

Leah Bucholz: 05:27

Let me jump over to that page. Again, I've done this myself. You can do video appointments. We talked about that, about doing that VA video connect, remote patient monitoring. Let's see.

Leah Bucholz: 05:44

So interestingly in the clinic, okay? So telehealth technology in the clinic brings specialty staff. So maybe your VA is smaller and it doesn't have something like oncology at it, but maybe they can remote into another VA health center that does have oncology, okay? So nationwide medical centers from your community clinic. I think that's pretty awesome.

Leah Bucholz: 06:11

So tele primary care, I request refills all the time for my medications. My doc is great about secure messaging. Know I I'm gonna get a lot of hate from that because a lot of y'all always jump on and say, well, my doctor sucks. Well, some some not all doctors are created equally. I just happen to have a good experience at Audie Murphy VA.

Leah Bucholz: 06:29

Shout out. So let's see. Again, specialty care, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, podiatry, etcetera. That doesn't mean you may need to see those guys. Your primary care probably needs to refer you over to them.

Leah Bucholz: 06:50

Let's see, in the hospital. If you're in the hospital, can get, maybe you're admitted like this lady here, she's admitted and they're contacting another resource. K? That's something that happens in a lot of healthcare facilities too, not just VA, but it's great to see VAs doing it. So, I'm not gonna bore you guys with all these links.

Leah Bucholz: 07:11

I just wanted you to see where all these different links are, how it works, talk to your doctor, you know, where you can find a resource to get more information. And that's the big thing is shedding that light on on more resources for all of our veteran community. And I think telehealth is pretty awesome. There's even like a secure area in there that you can just journal about, like, your exercise routine. So it's getting documented to your VA medical records.

Leah Bucholz: 07:36

Hey. I wasn't able to, work out this week because my knee hurts, whatever, and you're just keeping a journal. Maybe it's a migraine journal. You wanna log whatever your migraine episodes are. Let's see.

Leah Bucholz: 07:49

Yeah, so great stuff, My Healthy Bev, VA Mobile, Connected Care, privacy and security. I'm guessing this talks about telehealth and patient privacy. Okay. So great info. Let me jump off this screen share.

Leah Bucholz: 08:01

So I hope that was helpful to you guys. Telehealth is changing stuff. I know it's hard. I know it's hard because I come from a generation, we didn't have computers all over the place when I was a kid either. So I understand some of you guys are not jumping at the opportunity to do it, but it really can revolutionize and change your life and provide more access to care for you.

Leah Bucholz: 08:20

So I hope this was helpful to some of you guys. Please drop some comments. And, as always, thank you for watching.