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VA GETS IT RIGHT WITH MYHEALTHeVET -- Veterans'
Advocate
Jim Strickland looks at the VA's system that
allows
veterans to access their medical records
online.
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland
provides regular columns for
VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim about
his columns, you can email him here...
The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
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I enjoy being able to applaud the Department of Veterans Affairs when
they get it right.
It's an easier task to write a column when I'm not responding to an
unfair situation. It's rewarding to meet and speak with VA employees who
are so genuinely committed to their work of improving the lives of our
country's heroes. To be honest, it's sometimes a bit breathtaking to see
the depth of the dedication and caring that so many VA staff exhibit
when they speak of "their" Veterans. Many of these folks who are charged
with leadership within VA aren't Veterans themselves. They're often wide
eyed and in awe of us when they hear us speak from our perspective as a
POW, door gunner, combat medic, Iwo Jima or Tinian survivor or any of
the other slices of our history that we Veterans sometimes take for
granted. They recognize us for what we are; a vital team member, a part
of the mightiest fighting force that ever put boots down on the planet.
And as a rule, when VA gets it right, it isn't halfway or maybe...it's
done up with ribbons and bows. Consider what the Veterans Health
Administration has accomplished in the last 20 years. The more
"experienced" of us recall a time when not only was there never a
parking place near a VA Medical Center, we wouldn't have parked there
anyhow. The parking hasn't improved much at most VAMCs but there's a
different reason for it today. The word is out that VA health care is
the best in America and even the most discontented old grunts are
climbing over fences in a full frontal assault to get in the door.
One oft-noted reason for success at VHA is the vision to the future.
It's recognized that it's easier and much less expensive to keep us well
and healthy with preventive care than to wait for us to become ill and
treat the crisis that results. That's the opposite of the driving forces
at civilian health care businesses. They only get paid if they treat
your acute illness and they have no particular motive to be concerned
about you prior to that event.
The VA believes, and I agree, that the future of preventive care is
knowledge and that to be effective that knowledge must be in the hands
of the Veteran. The more the Veteran patient understands about their
body and their health, the better they will care for themselves and the
better they will understand how to best use the wide range of services
VA provides.
No matter who you are, no matter how anti-technology you may be, no
matter that you may be so inept you can't get $20.00 from an ATM on your
best day, your life today and into the future rides along on a knowledge
generating machine we call the Internet. Love it, hate it,
whatever...its impact on humanity has been as extraordinary as the
printing press or the automobile. The young soldier today can't recall
life without a computer and wireless Internet access on a cell phone
that is also a movie camera. And you thought the remote control for your
new Zenith color TV was pretty cool back in the day.
Your VA has committed to providing Veterans with knowledge. Veterans are
unique. We have needs, demands, that others will never have. VA has
undertaken a mammoth project; to build and maintain a presence on the
Internet that is designed to allow all American military Veterans access
to the knowledge they need to understand how to improve their health for
today and far into the future.
The HealtheVet project at
www.myhealth.va.gov is as unique as the Veteran it serves. I
can't think of any other web portal designed to meet the expectations of
a more demanding and often loudly critical audience than "EVet".
Veterans don't sit quietly if they're given a promise that doesn't work
as expected. The data and information presented has to be right the
first time, every time or we will usually do what we do best, establish
a perimeter and move in. Knowing that their audience is demanding, the
EVet staff also have accepted the awesome responsibility of protecting
us from the cyber-terrorists that would invade and damage our personal
health records.
You'll have to appreciate that when anyone mentions "data" and
"security" in the same sentence around VA today, a lot of nervous
glances get cast around. Some VA executives become pale and tug at their
collars. The infamous laptop debacle was embarrassing and costly and has
become an everlasting legend of top down incompetence. It isn't often
that VA news becomes a part of the everyday "civilian" news reporting
but this was as juicy as it gets and was front page news for months.
So, the EVet team may be seen as a bit sensitive to security issues. Add
to that the factor that the EVet team has begun to allow us access to
parts of our VISTA medical record and this project suddenly becomes
revolutionary. Try to imagine the reaction after asking your civilian
hospital or health care providers to allow you to see what they've said
about you through your computer screen while you sit in your pajamas at
home. Frequently, they can't access it all themselves. Your doctor's
office communicates with scraps of paper to your hospital and they
scribble notes to the radiology center down the street. A fax machine is
still considered a high tech communication device. X-Rays are shuffled
back and forth by a courier who sets his own pace. Your records are
often considered top secret even to you and if they give them to you
without a fight, you'll pay a dollar a page for the copy.
Now comes along the HealtheVet project. It started a few short years ago
as a small window onto the web. There was some health info, most of
which could be had at other sites. Graphics were flowery and cute and
registration was a challenge even for the uber-geek. But the design and
implementation teams had patience. They brought Veterans into their
facilities in Washington and elsewhere and sat them down to ask them
questions and listen. I was one of those Veterans in July 2005. I met a
lot very smart people then. It was explained to me (when I commented
that features should be added more quickly) that the project wasn't a
sprint, it was a marathon. Sure, this is happening for us, the Veteran
of today. More importantly, it's being done right for the Veteran of
tomorrow. Over a 2 day period, I was interviewed and most importantly, I
was heard. It was disconcerting at times to see them hang on my words.
Yeah, OK...I love to hear me talk but they were really interested in
what I said.
Then, most amazing of all, deeds followed words. Along with dozens of
other Veterans, my comments, compliments and gripes were acted upon. The
site was cleaner. Flowery graphics were replaced with military icons.
The provided health information became more meaningful to the Veteran. A
special section had been developed for the youngsters of Veterans to go
into. Communication with the EVet team improved to an unheard of level
and if a Veteran needed some tech help, it was almost real time. Data
collection tools were added and the site was quickly becoming more
relevant. Suddenly we had prescription refill available to us on-line.
No more fumbling with punching in numbers over a telephone after
navigating the endless menu choices. Log in, click the box next to what
you need, electronically transfer the message directly to your CMOP and
log out. Amazing!
I volunteer for my Primary Care Clinic in Savannah, GA. I also do a fair
amount of volunteer work at the Ralph H Johnson VA Medical Center in my
hometown of Charleston, S.C. The EVet "Point of Contact" (POC) for our
area is a delightful and dedicated lady, Susan Haidary. Susan is the
VAMC Health Care Education Specialist and had a full plate of her own
work already in progress when she was tasked with the POC title. Her
enthusiasm for the project was viral and so began my involvement. In the
last 18 months or so, in addition to travel to Washington and speaking
to health care providers, I've been asked to participate in nationwide
conference calls with other POCs and thus my opening comments about the
level of dedication and commitment I've seen associated with EVet. This
is one of the biggest projects ever for VA and it is totally dedicated
to the health and well being of the Veteran. We've seen tremendous
response from Veterans in our area and we expect rapid growth will
continue in 2007.
This month the EVet team is rolling out the next level of functions to
meet their commitment to continuing improvements of the site for
Veterans. We can access all the information about our prescriptions now.
Previously we could do pharmacy refills but that was sometimes awkward
as we couldn't see the name of the medicine, only the prescription
number. As I mentioned, our VISTA medical record is becoming available
to us. While we aren't simply able to jump into our file today and see
and copy it all, it's coming along piece by piece. If you need
information about your benefits, the links to the appropriate sites are
built in to EVet. Need a form to apply for a benefit? Go to EVet to find
it quickly. Would you like to build a calendar to remind you of
appointments, both VA and civilian? EVet has one for you. Want some help
keeping track of your blood sugar, your weight, your blood pressure or
almost any other parameter you can think of? Check out that EVet site.
You should always know all about the medicines you take. What are the
side effects and how do they interact with other medicines or food? It's
all there on EVet. A real plus is that the information on EVet is
reliable. Other Internet sites may give you the wrong information or try
to sell you an alternative therapy that just isn't safe. You can trust
EVet.
Finally, security is paramount. The EVet team accepts that your medical
record is the most sensitive and private data imaginable to you and they
are using the most sophisticated technology available today to ensure
your safety. You must register securely and registration still requires
a few minutes of your time and some thought. If you want to access the
advanced features of EVet, you must view a movie and sign a form and
present the form and picture identification in person to your VAMC to
become "authenticated" and given access.
You may view that movie right now by clicking here
http://www.myhealth.va.gov/noncmscontent/multimedia/mhv-ipa-vid.wmv
and then head to the site at
http://www.myhealth.va.gov for more information.
The future of EVet is to continue the push to take health care out to
the Veteran..."Outreach" at it's best. Your ability to see your
appointments and make appointments on-line will be a valued piece of the
site as well as being able to open, view and copy important segments of
your medical record to share with any civilian providers you may see. I
look forward to the day when I can "triage" by computer and communicate
directly with my health care team the very instant I'm not feeling well.
A quick email or instant message or two and I'll know what my doctor
wants me to do. I'll be able to get valuable information from a
pharmacist when I need it and avoid any long waits on a telephone. Web
cameras and live images are here today and are likely to be a part of
the future for any on-line health care service.
With that wealth of information and the variety of services available,
you probably won't need any other VA related bookmarks or favorites in
your computer other than
http://www.myhealth.va.gov and
http://vawatchdog.org You'll stay up-to-the-minute informed
about VA news and be healthier for it. Who could ask for more?
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Larry Scott
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