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New: Send A Secure Message To Your Health Care Team

Veteran Sammy Stewart is taking an active role in his health care by using My HealtheVet.

Friday, January 28, 2011

More than 1,000 VA Pittsburgh patients have full access to My HealtheVet's benefits.

Veterans can refill prescriptions, view VA appointments, track vital signs, maintain food and exercise journals and much more at www.myhealth.va.gov.

Sammy Stewart, a Veteran and VA employee, signed up a little more than a month ago. Since then, he's been accessing it weekly.

"Refilling and managing my prescriptions is a lot easier now," Stewart says. "I can actually see how many refills I have left, so I know when it's time to get to the doctor."

Health care teams are currently training to use secure messaging, a feature that will allow patients and providers to communicate via encrypted, online messages. VAPHS plans to begin implementing this feature in February.

Dr. Timothy Burke, vice president of primary care, is leading the way with secure messaging, and its capabilities thrill him.

"This keeps the VA well ahead of the curve in delivering coordinated, patient-centered care," Burke says. "Messaging will eventually displace the phone, as the car displaced the horse and buggy. It will eliminate unnecessary travel, endless hold queues and phone tag. Say goodbye to voicemail oblivion."

The possibilities are endless for My HealtheVet. National teams are developing technology that in the future will allow patients to view lab results, make copayments and access portions of their health records. A phone application is also in the works.

While anyone can register for a basic account on the website, the enhanced features require a one-time process known as In-Person Authentication, or IPA. For this, a Veteran must visit a VA facility to verify his or her identity.

Veterans can learn all about My HealtheVet, register and do IPA with VA Pittsburgh's My HealtheVet coordinators—Karon Campbell, Jocelyn Girlardo and Matthew Rowley—who are located at University Drive and can be reached at 412-360-6838.

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