My HealtheVet is an online Personal Health Record that was developed by the VA to help veterans manage their health information, and to utilize some of the VA’s services online. The goal of this site is to change the way health care is delivered to veterans by providing all of their health care information in one place. The program is web-based, and veterans must register in order to access the multiple features of the site, including over 18 million pages of health information designed to help educate veterans on different health topics.
What does My HealtheVet provide?
My HealtheVet gives veterans resources and information to improve their overall health and wellness. The site helps veterans manage their health in several ways:
- By allowing veterans to view, download, and print their personal health information and military service information
- By allowing veterans to record and store important health and military history information
- By providing access to VA health care and information twenty-four hours a day
Once veterans have uploaded their health information, they can share it with health care providers, family members, or caregivers safely and securely through My HealtheVet. The site is designed to encourage collaboration between physicians and patients and provides essential health record information in an online environment.
Types of accounts
There are many different services that can be accessed through My HealtheVet, but what veterans can utilize depends on the type of account selected when they sign up.
There are three types of My HealtheVet accounts: Basic, Advanced, and Premium.
Any individual who registers on the site begins with a Basic Account. This type of account provides limited access to My HealtheVet features and does not allow veterans to see their personal health information that is in DoD or VA systems.
Those with a Basic account can:
- Create a personal health journal that includes information about allergies, health history, medications, and more
- Record information about health insurance, health care providers, and emergency contacts
- Track personal health measurements like cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, weight, temperature, and blood sugar level
- Print an ID card with personal health information
- Set personal health goals and identify obstacles to overcome in order to reach those goals
An Advanced account is only available to VA patients and veterans, and provides a higher level of access to features on My HealtheVet. In addition to the features included with a basic account, an advanced account allows users to:
- View certain information in their VA and DoD records
- Refill prescriptions online
A Premium account is also only available to veterans and VA patients, and requires users to go through an authentication process. This process verifies a veteran’s identity, either online or in person, and requires My HealtheVet information like social security number, gender, and date of birth to be linked to VA/DoD records. Once a user’s identity has been authenticated, they can access features such as:
- Lab results from the VA
- VA Admissions and Discharges
- Future VA appointments, as well as those from the past two years
- Immunizations received from the VA
- VA pathology reports
- VA Wellness Reminders
Premium account holders can also access various mobile apps to help make using My HealtheVet even more convenient. These include:
- PTSD Coach, which allows veterans to take a self-assessment and access tools to help manage PTSD
- VA Video Connect, which allows veterans to connect with their health care team from any mobile or web-based device
- MOVE! Coach, which lets veterans set and track goals on exercise, diet and weight loss
- Stay Quit Coach, which offers resources to help veterans quit smoking and provides tools to help deal with urges to smoke
- Mindfulness Coach, which provides information and exercises to practice mindfulness
Features
In addition to the features that are available through different types of My HealtheVet accounts, veterans can also access services to help them manage their health and medical care. These include:
- HealtheLiving Assessment: Veterans can answer questions about their medical history and health choices, and receive a personalized summary that includes current health status, risks of developing major diseases, and a list of healthy changes that they can make now to improve their current and future health.
- Pharmacy: Veterans can refill prescriptions, keep track of their medications, and get information about the status of their mailed medications.
- VA Appointments: My HealtheVet allows veterans to view upcoming appointments, request, schedule, or cancel appointments, and join video appointments with a physician. Veterans can also schedule their own appointments for primary care or mental health, and add non-VA appointments to a Health Calendar on the site.
- Secure messaging: Veterans can receive updates on their health, ask for a refill of their medication, and communicate with their health care providers online. Secure messaging allows veterans to ask non-emergency and non-urgent health questions, update their health team on their condition, and manage VA appointments. Veterans can use this tool to communicate with providers who have chosen to participate in secure messaging. This feature is only available to veterans who have a Premium account.
Veterans can also use My HealtheVet to organize their medical records, and share them with health care providers within and outside of the VA. This can be done through two main systems, the Blue Button and the VA Health Summary.
Using the Blue Button, veterans can:
- Customize and download a report of their health information to share with both VA and non-VA providers
- Print a summary of their health records to bring to medical appointments
- Send health information to providers through secure messaging
- Build a Personal Health Record (PHR) by entering their self-tracked health data
Veterans can also utilize the VA Health Summary, if they have a Premium account. The Health Summary:
- Is considered a Continuity of Care Document (CCD)
- Allows health information to be shared electronically from one health care system to another
Through each of these features, My HealtheVet works to make accessing health information easy and convenient for veterans, and to help them take charge of their health care and stay connected with their health care team.
