“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found more than 900,000 Veterans used VA telehealth services in fiscal year 2019 (FY) as revealed in a mid-October report.”
“The 17% increase over the prior fiscal year contributed to VA’s delivery of more than 2.6 million episodes of telehealth care in FY 2019…”
“This comes as VA improves its efforts to inform Veterans about telehealth service options, and with completion of the first full fiscal year of VA’s Anywhere to Anywhere initiative. The telehealth program allows VA health care teams to treat Veterans regardless of their location, including across state lines. By the end of FY 2020, all primary care and mental health providers will be able to deliver care to patients, both in-person and via a mobile or web-based device.”
“Use of the VA Video Connect app, which connects Veterans to their care teams through a secure video session, increased by 235% in FY 2019. More than 99,000 Veterans used the app at home, eliminating a trip to the nearest VA facility. More than 200,000 or approximately two-thirds of the 294,000 VA Video Connect appointments in FY 2019 were for tele-mental health visits…” Read the full press release here.
Source: VA reports significant increase in Veteran use of telehealth services – November 22, 2019. VA.
