The Department of Veterans Affairs aims to establish a secure communications system to connect veterans with their physicians through the My HealtheVet portal by March 2011, Government Health IT reports.
Veterans will be able to use the secure messaging system to discuss:
- Appointments and cancellations;
- Prescription medications;
- Symptoms; and
- Test results.
Veterans can opt in to the service after reading terms and conditions.
David Douglas, the project's leader, said patients can conduct a search for their health care providers to determine if they have connected to the system.
VA has tested the secure e-mailing system at 40 facilities so far (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 12/7).